# Best (male actor) speaking voice...



## editor (Sep 1, 2009)

I'd have to put Richard Burton near the very top for my favourite speaking voice, with James Mason not far behind. Hearing 'Under Milk Wood' spoken by Burton is a delight.

So who's your fave? Who can you listen to for hours and hours?



*hopes  for non frivolous answers


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## upsidedownwalrus (Sep 1, 2009)

Morgan Freeman


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## Orang Utan (Sep 1, 2009)

editor said:


> James Mason not far behind



i'm not sure about his voice - it's bizarre:

i think peter serafinovicz gives great voice. and andrew sachs of course.


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## Pip (Sep 1, 2009)

I can't remember his name, but he's British and his voice is really deep.


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## upsidedownwalrus (Sep 1, 2009)

Pip said:


> I can't remember his name, but he's British and his voice is really deep.



What things has he done?


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## quimcunx (Sep 1, 2009)

Tom Conti and Sean Connery.


I seem to have come over all patriotic.


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## upsidedownwalrus (Sep 1, 2009)

This is an awesome clip 

"You're going to relegate my history to a month?  Which month is white history month?"

  he turns the usual racist approach on its head.


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## Orang Utan (Sep 1, 2009)

Pip said:


> I can't remember his name, but he's British and his voice is really deep.



could be peter serafinovicz

or john shrapnel - THE authorative documentary voiceover artist


but also a massive fan of denis lawson for his masterly narration of the genius of photography:


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## red rose (Sep 1, 2009)




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## upsidedownwalrus (Sep 1, 2009)

red rose said:


>


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## Orang Utan (Sep 1, 2009)

best ever richard burton moment (apart from when eagles dare):

minds immeasurably superior to ours


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## teamB_macro (Sep 1, 2009)

James Earl Jones. lightsabers out!


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## albionism (Sep 1, 2009)

Steve Sweeney...Best voice ever.


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## Bakunin (Sep 1, 2009)

I'd go with Richard Burton, personally.

Here's the esteemed Mr Burton 're-educating' Joh Hurt in the film adaptation of '1984'. It was Richard Burton's final film role and, I think, one in which he's at his most chilling.

Oh and, by the way, this is not to be viewed by anyone with a phobia of rats:


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## RubyBlue (Sep 1, 2009)

I would probably say Burton - but for women - Anne Bancroft does it for me   As she got older she looked better - there is one line in a movie that I loved - sexy (RIP) Anne.  eta - apologies - I went into one about a female actor - off topic.


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## spring-peeper (Sep 1, 2009)

Sean Connery


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## Bakunin (Sep 1, 2009)

Of course, another nomination in the scary category would have to go to the actor Douglas Rains, who provided the voice of the HAL 9000 computer:






'Dave, I'm afraid I can't let you do that, Dave...'

'I am a HAL 9000 computer.'

'Daisy, Daisy...'

And so on.


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## red rose (Sep 1, 2009)

When my old computer started playing up I stuck a big shiny red sticker at the top of my monitor and altered some of the sounds so that when you started it up it said "I am a HAL9000 computer", when you shut it down it sang "Daisy daisy" and instead of that annoying Windows error ping it said "I'm sorry Dave, I'm afraid I can't do that".

It made it infinitely less annoying when it kept fucking up and crashing.


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## upsidedownwalrus (Sep 1, 2009)

Wicked!


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## mentalchik (Sep 1, 2009)

Another vote for James Mason......


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## janeb (Sep 1, 2009)

And another for Richard Burton


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## Sesquipedalian (Sep 1, 2009)

Alan Rickman.


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## 5t3IIa (Sep 1, 2009)

Not entirely serious answer: Tom Hollander has a lovely voice 

Serious: Christopher Walken, espcially in Mousehunt


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## xes (Sep 1, 2009)

Anthony Hopkins.


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## Mrs Magpie (Sep 1, 2009)

Carleton Hobbs


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## The Octagon (Sep 1, 2009)

Hugo Weaving


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## 5t3IIa (Sep 1, 2009)

Ooh oooh Alan Arkin


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## elevendayempire (Sep 1, 2009)

Tom Baker. Ooh, and Timothy Dalton. And Sean Connery.


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## butchersapron (Sep 1, 2009)

Roger Livesy


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## Kaka Tim (Sep 1, 2009)

Dont forget the world of classic kids cartoon and puppet shows - Kenneth Williams, Bernard Cribbins and Oliver Postgate.


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## Minnie_the_Minx (Sep 1, 2009)

Richard Burton
Cary Grant


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## QueenOfGoths (Sep 1, 2009)

Another vote for Richard Burton here. Anthony Hopkins and Patrick Stewart  would be my other suggestions.


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## skyscraper101 (Sep 1, 2009)

Simon Callow


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## Strumpet (Sep 1, 2009)

Richard Burton
Anthony Hopkins (that ad where he says "spook" makes me feel funny...in a good way!)
Sean Connery *flutter*


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## Andy the Don (Sep 1, 2009)

Sir Ian McKellen
John Hurt
Sir Laurence Olivier - World at War documentry series.


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## gnoriac (Sep 1, 2009)

Brian Blessed 
And for the real ac-tor voice, Donald Sinden.


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## Strumpet (Sep 1, 2009)

gnoriac said:


> Brian Blessed



Oooo yesss


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## Minnie_the_Minx (Sep 1, 2009)

I reckon this is just a thread to big-up the Welsh  







































and I've no problems with that whatsoever


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## DotCommunist (Sep 1, 2009)

Jon Hurt

He's particularly good in V is for Vendetta. England Prevails!


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## upsidedownwalrus (Sep 1, 2009)

Andy the Don said:


> Sir Ian McKellen



Hell yeah, he would definitely be my top choice out of UK actors.  He pretty much single-handedly made the Lord of the Rings films.


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## DotCommunist (Sep 1, 2009)

Pete Postlethwaite is a good accents man. Compare him in _Usual Suspects_ with him in _In the Name of The Father_


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## fogbat (Sep 1, 2009)

Jason Statham.


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## DotCommunist (Sep 1, 2009)

fogbat said:


> Jason Statham.



not a patch on Danny Dyer


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## littlebabyjesus (Sep 1, 2009)

Tom Cruise. I particularly love the way he goes all squeaky when he's excited.


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## fogbat (Sep 1, 2009)

DotCommunist said:


> not a patch on Danny Dyer



But the Stath is so versatile!

He can do British-American, American-British, Transatlantic...


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## Nanker Phelge (Sep 1, 2009)

I'll go for Richard Burton.

That spud hopkins is an cheap imitator!


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## Limejuice (Sep 1, 2009)

I have a copy of the Burton recording of Under Milk Wood - splendid voice.

I also admire the Irish actor Stanley Townsend. He was recently in an episode of New Tricks. His voice is like Guinness, which is what he's advertising in this clip: 



His more stagey voice is here:


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## elevendayempire (Sep 1, 2009)

What's wrong with the lot of you? Tom Baker FTW!


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## Orang Utan (Sep 1, 2009)

Andy the Don said:


> Sir Laurence Olivier - World at War documentry series.



the way he says 'bomber' never fails to make me snigger like a schoolboy


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## Lea (Sep 1, 2009)

Ralph Fiennes 

*swoon*


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## strung out (Sep 1, 2009)

brian cant


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## scifisam (Sep 1, 2009)

Sesquipedalian said:


> Alan Rickman.



Definitely. He could narrate the history of the toilet roll, and I'd put it on just for his voice.

Mind you, if there a show about the history of the toilet roll I'd probably put it on out of curiosity anyway.


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## London_Calling (Sep 1, 2009)

Charles Laughton?

James Mason used to make me laugh sometimes when he overdid it, otherwise he was ok.


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## Chz (Sep 1, 2009)

N'other vote for Rickman. 

Also, David Attenborough may not be an actor but nature shows don't sound right without him.

Maybe Vin Diesel when he did The Iron Giant.


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## Strumpet (Sep 1, 2009)

Minnie_the_Minx said:


> I reckon this is just a thread to big-up the Welsh
> 
> and I've no problems with that whatsoever


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## London_Calling (Sep 1, 2009)

Coming soon: Favourite male voice choir.


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## DotCommunist (Sep 1, 2009)

Sean Bean


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## lolo (Sep 1, 2009)

John Hurt
Joss Ackland
the late Ian Richardson


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## Rock Bottom (Sep 1, 2009)

I'm rather amazed that he hasn't been mentioned...

...Vincent Price


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## upsidedownwalrus (Sep 1, 2009)

DotCommunist said:


> Pete Postlethwaite is a good accents man. Compare him in _Usual Suspects_ with him in _In the Name of The Father_



I could never work out where his Usual Suspects Character was actually meant to be from.


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## upsidedownwalrus (Sep 1, 2009)

(which was good, it added to the mystery of it)


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## DotCommunist (Sep 1, 2009)

upsidedownwalrus said:


> I could never work out where his Usual Suspects Character was actually meant to be from.



Hong Kong was my guess. English looks, slight oriental tinge to the accent.


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## butchersapron (Sep 1, 2009)

upsidedownwalrus said:


> I could never work out where his Usual Suspects Character was actually meant to be from.



Liverpool.


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## upsidedownwalrus (Sep 1, 2009)

DotCommunist said:


> Hong Kong was my guess. English looks, slight oriental tinge to the accent.



It's a very interesting one, as I've asked many different people this question, and nobody's ever said the same thing... people have suggested eastern europe... they've suggested asia... they've said posh english.

It's a truly enigmatic character IMO.


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## upsidedownwalrus (Sep 1, 2009)

butchersapron said:


> Liverpool.


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## krtek a houby (Sep 1, 2009)

Ian McShane


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## Meltingpot (Sep 1, 2009)

Oliver Reed's closing speech in Ken Russell's "The Devils," just before he's burnt at the stake. Magnificent.


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## kittyP (Sep 1, 2009)

Oh my god Alan Rickman! (shivers with delight)

Also Steven Fry (obvious but still true in a very comforting way). 

John Hurt (so so distinctive)
Jeremy Irons (yummy)

Erm.... I am sure there are more. I'll be back.


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## paulhackett (Sep 1, 2009)

Kelsey Grammer?


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## kittyP (Sep 1, 2009)

Meltingpot said:


> Oliver Reed's closing speech in Ken Russell's "The Devils," just before he's burnt at the stake. Magnificent.



Oh my god yes! Brilliant!


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## ericjarvis (Sep 1, 2009)

Steve Toussaint.

Though many of the suggestions already made rank right up there.


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## agricola (Sep 1, 2009)

Julian Glover.  





edit:  also Gielgud


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## Minnie_the_Minx (Sep 1, 2009)

oh, I forgot to add Jimmy Stewart to my list


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## Cloo (Sep 1, 2009)

Patrick Stewart, mmmm 'Engage!'


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## Minnie_the_Minx (Sep 1, 2009)

Cloo said:


> Patrick Stewart, mmmm 'Engage!'




Make it so


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## llion (Sep 1, 2009)

Alec Guinness. Very hypnotic: 'Those aren't the droids you're looking for...'


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## lang rabbie (Sep 1, 2009)

The most authoritative male voice of recent time was surely Paul Vaughan, former presenter of _Horizon_

Dental surgery hygiene is made to sound like Milton's _Paradise Lost_
(Click on "Clip18. Cross Infection" to play)

ETA He was also the narrator in "Threads", Mick Jackson's dramatised imagining of a nuclear attack on Sheffield.   IIRC there was a tale (folk myth?) that the Government has asked him to be the official voice of their own public information films "in the event of a nuclear conflict" but he had turned down the job on principle.


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## Throbbing Angel (Sep 1, 2009)

Brian Cox


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## Cid (Sep 1, 2009)

For horror Christopher Lee and Vincent Price have to be at the top...

Allen Bennett's Pooh (more specifically his eeyore) is something that will stay with me for the rest of my life, and make me feel like a young child again every time I hear it. Roald Dahl's readings of his own books do the same thing.

e2a: Vincent Price's cooking programme is er...    Had a look but couldn't find on youtube.


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## Callum91 (Sep 1, 2009)

Cid said:


> For horror Christopher Lee and Vincent Price have to be at the top...
> 
> Allen Bennett's Pooh (more specifically his eeyore) is something that will stay with me for the rest of my life, and make me feel like a young child again every time I hear it. Roald Dahl's readings of his own books do the same thing.
> 
> e2a: Vincent Price's cooking programme is er...    Had a look but couldn't find on youtube.



You beat me to Christopher Lee


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## idioteque (Sep 2, 2009)

Pip said:


> I can't remember his name, but he's British and his voice is really deep.



Matt Berry? I don't think anyone's mentioned him yet


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## albionism (Sep 2, 2009)

Sid Owen






*runs*


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## such and such (Sep 2, 2009)

Cloo said:


> Patrick Stewart, mmmm 'Engage!'



*wibble* I agree


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## Upchuck (Sep 2, 2009)

He's not an actor, but anyone who heard Roald Dahl's recordings of his children's books would not dispute that he had a marvellous speaking voice.


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## 5t3IIa (Sep 2, 2009)

Michael Gambon has a good voice too


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## stavros (Sep 2, 2009)

5t3IIa said:


> Not entirely serious answer: Tom Hollander has a lovely voice



On a related note, how about Peter Capaldi. The shear intensity and prolificness of his swearing is something to behold.


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