TOS Voice-Over Actor?

[Christopher]

Remember what I said above about Walker Edmiston being used to dub a character who only appeared in outdoors scenes because it was easier than bringing back the guest star to do it? I think I just saw (or heard) the same thing done in the 1968 Mission: Impossible episode "The Elixir." There was a gate guard whose (dubbed) voice sounded a lot like Edmiston.

 

[cblmc1296]

^ One wonders if Nichols ever had the same mischievous twinkle in her eye while telling her MLK stories that Doohan had when talking about his 300-year-old Scottish accent. (She didn't on the versions I saw her tell.)

Although any mischievous twinkle in Nichele Nichols' eye is a nice thing! ;-)

 

[scotpens]

Vic Perrin (who was probably best known for the prologue voice-over on “The Outer Limits”) also did the voice of Nomad if I remember correctly and he appeared on screen as Tharn in Mirror Mirror. For some reason though, his voice credits were always easier to find than the one I originally inquired about.

His on-camera acting roles also include a George Reeves Superman episode, an appearance on Dragnet, and the Twilight Zone ep “People are Alike All Over” with Roddy McDowall and Susan Oliver.

. . . In actual fact, he may be “best known” - as in having his voice heard by the broadest group of people - for the recorded voice instructions in AEDs.

Which are what, exactly?

Jimmy Doohan actually talked about that quite frequently. It was his take on what a Scotsman might sound like 300 years in the future. He discussed it at some length with Tom Snyder on the Tomorrow Show in a 1976 appearance that also featured Koenig and De Kelley

And Martin Luther King, jr personally talked Nichols into staying on Star Trek.

Right. And Dick Van Dyke’s “mockney” accent in Mary Poppins was his take on what a London Cockney might sound like in . . . uh . . . in some parallel universe or something.

One wonders if Nichols ever had the same mischievous twinkle in her eye while telling her MLK stories that Doohan had when talking about his 300-year-old Scottish accent.

300 years hence, I assume you mean.

Yes, I figured Doohan was probably pulling our collective leg with that “future Scotsman” remark.

 

[cblmc1296]

Yes, I figured Doohan was probably pulling our collective leg with that “future Scotsman” remark.

No doubt. Although, as someone else pointed out earlier, if he had had done a more authentic Scottish burr we'd probably not have understood half his lines! ;-)

BTW, AED = Automatic External Defibrillator. It is my understanding that Mr. Perrin's voice was recorded for use in the defib devices' audio instructions.

 

[Christopher]

Yes, I figured Doohan was probably pulling our collective leg with that “future Scotsman” remark.

Even so, it's not without merit. Accents really do evolve over time. The Scottish accent of today would probably be unrecognizable to a Scot from 300 years ago, and so it stands to reason that a Scottish accent 300 years from now would be rather unlike the present one. Same with a Russian accent like Chekov's.

People sometimes complain about the Frenchman Jean-Luc Picard having an English accent. My response is, who's to say that isn't what a French accent will sound like 400 years from now?

 

[cblmc1296]

Yes, I figured Doohan was probably pulling our collective leg with that “future Scotsman” remark.

Even so, it's not without merit. Accents really do evolve over time. The Scottish accent of today would probably be unrecognizable to a Scot from 300 years ago, and so it stands to reason that a Scottish accent 300 years from now would be rather unlike the present one. Same with a Russian accent like Chekov's.

People sometimes complain about the Frenchman Jean-Luc Picard having an English accent. My response is, who's to say that isn't what a French accent will sound like 400 years from now?

Certainly true. If you listen carefully to Jimmy Doohan's attempt at a burr, he definitely gets some of it right - just as accents/dialects today undoubtedly retain some of what they sounded like in centuries past.

 

[Green Shirt]

AED = Automatic External Defibrillator. It is my understanding that Mr. Perrin's voice was recorded for use in the defib devices' audio instructions.

We've had these at work for a couple of years now. But too bad I can't open one to hear the voice since the alarm will go off.

 

[Gary7]

Yes, I figured Doohan was probably pulling our collective leg with that “future Scotsman” remark.

Even so, it's not without merit. Accents really do evolve over time. The Scottish accent of today would probably be unrecognizable to a Scot from 300 years ago, and so it stands to reason that a Scottish accent 300 years from now would be rather unlike the present one. Same with a Russian accent like Chekov's.

People sometimes complain about the Frenchman Jean-Luc Picard having an English accent. My response is, who's to say that isn't what a French accent will sound like 400 years from now?

James Doohan was well known for being able to pull off accents very convincingly. So, it does stand reason to believe he modified the accent to be more intelligible to the general audience (primarily USA at the time). And given how accents do shift in time, it fits in nicely with this hypothesis that it was a "futurized" version of a Scottish accent.

About Picard, I always took it as him being schooled in England as a young boy. I've met a number of folks from India who were schooled in England and most have a fairly prominent English accent. What would have been great in TNG is seeing Picard throw out a few French phrases here and there... which would have help bolster his French background. Or even running into a French friend in Starfleet, where they'd start off speaking a bit of French before shifting over to English.

 

[Christopher]

About Picard, I always took it as him being schooled in England as a young boy.

Yeah, me too, when I'm not being facetious. After all, with transporters, he could easily have commuted from his home in Labarre to school in England.

 

[cblmc1296]

About Picard, I always took it as him being schooled in England as a young boy. I've met a number of folks from India who were schooled in England and most have a fairly prominent English accent. What would have been great in TNG is seeing Picard throw out a few French phrases here and there... which would have help bolster his French background. Or even running into a French friend in Starfleet, where they'd start off speaking a bit of French before shifting over to English.

As I recall, the Picard character did lay some French stuff on us very early in TNG, referring to a fellow ship captain as "mon ami" and also waxing nostalgic about the order of the colors blue, white, and red in their appearance on the French flag.

 

[Christopher]

...and also waxing nostalgic about the order of the colors blue, white, and red in their appearance on the French flag.

Which was such a painfully stilted bit of writing that it made Chekov's nationalism seem subtle. With a setup like that, it's no wonder they dropped it later on.

 

[cblmc1296]

...and also waxing nostalgic about the order of the colors blue, white, and red in their appearance on the French flag.

Which was such a painfully stilted bit of writing that it made Chekov's nationalism seem subtle. With a setup like that, it's no wonder they dropped it later on.

Oh, I couldn't agree more! On a BBS though, you never know what another person may be thinking - so I figured it best to keep my opinion regarding the silliness of Picard's overt French sentimentality to myself. ;-)

 

[Gary7]

As I recall, the Picard character did lay some French stuff on us very early in TNG, referring to a fellow ship captain as "mon ami" and also waxing nostalgic about the order of the colors blue, white, and red in their appearance on the French flag.

I don't remember him ever saying "mon ami", but I'll take your word for it. At least we had "Q" throwing "mon capitaine" at him all the time. Also, I think "Q" did toss a few other French words his way, hoping to coax a little French of him. But Jean-Luc never takes the bait.

I did find this (don't know how accurate it is, because it had horrible spelling mistakes that I corrected):

Captain Picard claims to be French, but is actually English due to the Globalization of Earth. In the twenty-fourth century there are only two countries, USA (consisting of North America, the European mainland, Upper, Middle, and Lower East, Asia, South America, and Antartica)* and its dependent protectorate of Great Britain (consisting of Great Britain.)

That seems more plausible to me... although I'm sure anybody on TBBS who is French born-and-raised would be insulted at the idea that anyone French would allow their language and accent to fall by the wayside.

 

[Therin of Andor]

I'm sure anybody on TBBS who is French born-and-raised would be insulted at the idea that anyone French would allow their language and accent to fall by the wayside.

Merde.

(Doesn't Picard say that at least once?)

 

[Jonas Grumby]

Captain Picard claims to be French, but is actually English due to the Globalization of Earth. In the twenty-fourth century there are only two countries, USA (consisting of North America, the European mainland, Upper, Middle, and Lower East, Asia, South America, and Antartica)* and its dependent protectorate of Great Britain (consisting of Great Britain.)

That seems more plausible to me... although I'm sure anybody on TBBS who is French born-and-raised would be insulted at the idea that anyone French would allow their language and accent to fall by the wayside.

That may be plausible for TNG and later, but it certainly doesn't fit with TOS where, judging by the many and varied nationalities and accents we saw, Earth is still a very dynamic and diverse culture.

 

[scotpens]

. . . AED = Automatic External Defibrillator. It is my understanding that Mr. Perrin’s voice was recorded for use in the defib devices’ audio instructions.

“There is nothing wrong with your defibrillator. Do not attempt to adjust the voltage. We are controlling your heartbeat.”

 

[Christopher]

I did find this (don't know how accurate it is, because it had horrible spelling mistakes that I corrected):

Captain Picard claims to be French, but is actually English due to the Globalization of Earth. In the twenty-fourth century there are only two countries, USA (consisting of North America, the European mainland, Upper, Middle, and Lower East, Asia, South America, and Antartica)* and its dependent protectorate of Great Britain (consisting of Great Britain.)

That seems more plausible to me... although I'm sure anybody on TBBS who is French born-and-raised would be insulted at the idea that anyone French would allow their language and accent to fall by the wayside.

I don't know what Wikiality is, but that excerpt is entirely made up. Very little has been established about the geopolitical divisions of 24th-century Earth, although we do know there is a country called the European Alliance (mentioned in "The Price") and one called North Am which incorporates the former United States (because Thomas Raymond's address in "The Neutral Zone" is "Indianapolis, North Am, Earth").

 

[cblmc1296]

. . . AED = Automatic External Defibrillator. It is my understanding that Mr. Perrin’s voice was recorded for use in the defib devices’ audio instructions.

“There is nothing wrong with your defibrillator. Do not attempt to adjust the voltage. We are controlling your heartbeat.”

I love it!

 

[scotpens]

I don't know what Wikiality is, but that excerpt is entirely made up.

Uh, did you read the quote? Of course it’s entirely made up. Wikiality is a joke website.

 

[Christopher]

^Don't tell me, tell Gary7. He was the one who cited it as "plausible," and I was advising him not to take it seriously. And yes, it did sound like a joke to me, but not a very good one, so I couldn't be sure.