# What the hell happened to Kathleen Turner's voice?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-hell-happened-to-kathleen-turners-voice/512758>\
**Category:** Cafe Society\
**Created:** [October 6, 2009, 1:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-hell-happened-to-kathleen-turners-voice/512758 "2009-10-06T01:39:13Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Ruffian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/71e660/32.png) [@Ruffian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ruffian)\
**Post date:** [October 6, 2009, 1:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-hell-happened-to-kathleen-turners-voice/512758/1 "2009-10-06T01:39:13Z")

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I am pleased to see Kathleen Turner on the newest season of _Californication_. I’ve always liked her as an actress, and it’s always a bonus to see an older actress in a good role. She’s gained a fair amount of weight, but again, it’s refreshing to see an actress who’s not a size 4 in a significant role. It has taken a little getting used to her new, erm, look, but that’s fine. I just like seeing her.

_Listening_ to her is something else, however. In the 80s, her voice was husky but with a sultry, smokey quality…this is probably why she voiced Jessica Rabbit. Now, however, she is heavy on the “smokey”–as in, she sounds like she’s smoked 3 packs a day for the last 20 years. Her voice is _so_ gravelly that it distracts me–I’m trying to figure out what she’s saying, and trying to get past, “Holy shit, what happened?”

But seriously–holy shit, what happened?

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**Author:** ![St.Anger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/5daacb/32.png) [@St.Anger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/St.Anger)\
**Post date:** [October 6, 2009, 1:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-hell-happened-to-kathleen-turners-voice/512758/2 "2009-10-06T01:58:00Z")

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She hit menopause and it all went down hill from there. She might even be a man at this point.

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**Author:** ![obfusciatrist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/4af34b/32.png) [@obfusciatrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/obfusciatrist)\
**Post date:** [October 6, 2009, 2:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-hell-happened-to-kathleen-turners-voice/512758/3 "2009-10-06T02:03:59Z")

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Don’t know if it has done anything to her voice, but a fair amount of the weight gain and puffiness has been the result of steroids and other medications she takes for pretty severe arthritis.

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**Author:** ![TWDuke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e495f1/32.png) [@TWDuke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TWDuke)\
**Post date:** [October 6, 2009, 2:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-hell-happened-to-kathleen-turners-voice/512758/4 "2009-10-06T02:14:11Z")

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I’m guessing the OP missed her recurring role on **[Friends](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0583516/)** as Chandler’s [father](http://www.imdb.com/character/ch0007164/quotes).