# Most distinctive voice in movies? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 2, 2010, 9:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-distinctive-voice-in-movies/541617 "2010-06-02T09:25:28Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Promethea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Promethea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Promethea)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2010, 9:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-distinctive-voice-in-movies/541617/1 "2010-06-02T09:25:28Z")
Ever sat idly reading with the TV on and a character starts talking and you just know _instantly_ who you’re going to see when you look up? Who for you had the most instantly recognisable voice in cinema? Topic inspired because I was idly watching _The Shootist the other day and I wasn’t watching the screen for a few minutes. Then all of a sudden a new voice pipped up and I knew instantly it was going to be Harry Morgan, best known for his role as Col Potter in MA_S\*H. However, I think of the all time voices that it’s hard to beat James Mason with Cary Grant a close second. For the female stars, I was thinking Gloria Grahame but I have the feeling I’m missing actresses more obvious. Anyway, share yours! ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2010, 9:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-distinctive-voice-in-movies/541617/2 "2010-06-02T09:38:06Z")
I’d say Vincent Price and Christopher Walken would be among the most obvious. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2010, 9:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-distinctive-voice-in-movies/541617/3 "2010-06-02T09:39:48Z")
> [@Promethea](#): > > For the female stars, I was thinking Gloria Grahame but I have the feeling I’m missing actresses more obvious. I’d say Katharine Hepburn, but Kate Mulgrew exists. ---
**Author:** ![aruvqan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aruvqan/32/2891_2.png) [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2010, 10:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-distinctive-voice-in-movies/541617/4 "2010-06-02T10:07:56Z")
Kathleen Turner for female Tie for men - Sean Connery, James Earl Jones, James Stewart and Vincent Price ---
**Author:** ![BrotherCadfael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@BrotherCadfael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrotherCadfael)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2010, 10:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-distinctive-voice-in-movies/541617/5 "2010-06-02T10:59:34Z")
Mason Adams, late of _Lou Grant_ and the Smucker’s commercials. ---
**Author:** ![Alka\_Seltzer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c89c15/32.png) [@Alka\_Seltzer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alka_Seltzer)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2010, 11:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-distinctive-voice-in-movies/541617/6 "2010-06-02T11:04:01Z")
Joe Pesci maybe. Or Kermit the Frog. ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2010, 11:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-distinctive-voice-in-movies/541617/7 "2010-06-02T11:14:43Z")
It may come from having spent the early years of my life listening to radio dramas, but voices have been as recognizable as faces most of my life. The thing that has always bothered me, and which I have toyed with starting a thread about, is how jarring it can be to see the face that goes with a voice after you have formed a mental image of what that voice’s face ought to look like. As for “most distinctive” voice, I wouldn’t know where to start. Those already mentioned are good, but consider: Gene Kelly Lee J. Cobb Alan Ladd Carol Channing Bill Cosby Redd Foxx Phyllis Diller Richard Pryor Johnny Carson Tex Ritter Burt Reynolds Clint Eastwood Jerry Lewis Frank Sinatra Walter Cronkite Howard Cosell ---
**Author:** ![C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b2d939/32.png) [@C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/C_K_Dexter_Haven)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2010, 11:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-distinctive-voice-in-movies/541617/8 "2010-06-02T11:29:23Z")
A voice that you immediately recognize, but might not know his face: Sterling Holloway. ---
**Author:** ![cornflakes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9d8465/32.png) [@cornflakes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cornflakes)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2010, 11:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-distinctive-voice-in-movies/541617/9 "2010-06-02T11:37:39Z")
Peter Lorre. ---
**Author:** ![Sparky812](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/eb9ed0/32.png) [@Sparky812](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sparky812)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2010, 11:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-distinctive-voice-in-movies/541617/10 "2010-06-02T11:38:46Z")
How about: Jimmy Durante Bela Lugosi Marlon Brando Arnold Schwarzenegger Gilbert Gottfried Ethel Merman I think they all beat out James Mason and Cary Grant. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2010, 11:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-distinctive-voice-in-movies/541617/11 "2010-06-02T11:40:54Z")
This may be a little odd, but the first one that came to my mind is **Wallace Shawn**. Maybe it’s because he has so many great lines in _The Princess Bride_. When he did the voice of Bertram on _Family Guy_ it was instantly recognizable. I wonder if that’s his natural speaking voice, of if he exagerates the shrillness a bit when he’s acting. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2010, 11:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-distinctive-voice-in-movies/541617/12 "2010-06-02T11:42:33Z")
An extremely distinctive voice for those of my generation, although I’ll bet most people couldn’t name it, or put a face to it, would be **Paul Frees**. He narrated lots of Disney work and was active in cartoons (where he was the voice of Ludwig von Drake and Boris Badenov, among others). He’s in mainstream films, too, and it’s his voice that asks which one of the defeated gladiators is Spartacus. He also provided vouices in science fiction films in the 1950s (including the alien voice in **Earth vs. the Flying Saucers** , in which he had an extremely rare on-screen performance). He also did dubbing in cheapie foreign films, so if you’ve seen **The Sword and the Dragon** , **Godzilla** , or **Rodan** , you’ve heard his work. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2010, 11:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-distinctive-voice-in-movies/541617/13 "2010-06-02T11:43:07Z")
Patrick Stewart would have to be on the list. This is a particularly good game to play with voiceover artists. ---
**Author:** ![GoodOmens](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/d26b3c/32.png) [@GoodOmens](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GoodOmens)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2010, 11:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-distinctive-voice-in-movies/541617/14 "2010-06-02T11:44:37Z")
Steve Bucemi? Not an attractive voice, but certainly distinctive. ---
**Author:** ![Musky\_Moon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/90db22/32.png) [@Musky\_Moon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musky_Moon)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2010, 12:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-distinctive-voice-in-movies/541617/15 "2010-06-02T12:07:45Z")
I’m going to go with Ted Levine. You can’t misidentify that voice. Second would be Harvey Firestein (sp?) ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2010, 12:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-distinctive-voice-in-movies/541617/16 "2010-06-02T12:12:20Z")
> [@C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](#): > > A voice that you immediately recognize, but might not know his face: Sterling Holloway. Good one. Let’s not forget Gilbert Gottfried. Among the women, Marilyn Monroe is pretty distinctive. ---
**Author:** ![ministryman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f6c823/32.png) [@ministryman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ministryman)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2010, 12:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-distinctive-voice-in-movies/541617/17 "2010-06-02T12:14:51Z")
Hello??? James Earl Jones! ---
**Author:** ![MsWhatsit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/eb8c5e/32.png) [@MsWhatsit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsWhatsit)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2010, 12:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-distinctive-voice-in-movies/541617/18 "2010-06-02T12:19:26Z")
I would say that Henry Fonda deserves to be on this list. ---
**Author:** ![Justin\_Bailey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/justin_bailey/32/8792_2.png) [@Justin\_Bailey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Justin_Bailey)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2010, 12:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-distinctive-voice-in-movies/541617/19 "2010-06-02T12:33:17Z")
Shohreh Aghdashloo, she could covered in layers of green latex to turn her into some kind of alien being and her distinctive voice would still be the first thing you notice. ---
**Author:** ![Sparky812](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/eb9ed0/32.png) [@Sparky812](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sparky812)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2010, 12:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-distinctive-voice-in-movies/541617/20 "2010-06-02T12:42:47Z")
> [@twickster](#): > > Let’s not forget Gilbert Gottfried. I didn’t! > [@Sparky812](#): > > How about: > Jimmy Durante > Bela Lugosi > Marlon Brando > Arnold Schwarzenegger > Gilbert Gottfried > Ethel Merman > > I think they all beat out James Mason and Cary Grant. > [@ministryman](#): > > Hello??? > > James Earl Jones! Hello??? Post #4!🙂 > [@aruvqan](#): > > Kathleen Turner for female > Tie for men - Sean Connery, James Earl Jones, James Stewart and Vincent Price Of course, ther’e the most recognizable voice of all time…Casey Kasem! [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-distinctive-voice-in-movies/541617.md?page=2)