The 24 Most Famous Voices in Hollywood History

Born in Northern Ireland, Neeson’s voice can be reassuring and menacing in turns. He is the star of the Taken movie series, “Clash of Titans,” and “Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace.” He also played the titular role in “Schindler’s List,” for which he was nominated for his lone Oscar.

With 209 acting credits to his name, prolific is an almost inadequate description of Samuel L. Jackson’s career. The Washington, D.C., native got his first credited film role in the period piece “Ragtime” in 1981, and has appeared in Star Wars and has appeared in five Quentin Tarantino movies and narrated a sixth. Lately, Jackson has been appearing in a series of banking commercials.

Jennifer Tilly is almost chameleon-like in her ability to be funny, sympathetic, and sexy in rapid succession. Born Jennifer Tilly Chan in Los Angeles, she’s amassed 132 acting credits for films such as “Bound” and “Bullets Over Broadway,” for which she was nominated for a Best Actress Oscar.

Fellow actors and impressionists have mined comedy gold from Christopher Walken’s stop-and-start speaking pattern and quirky demeanor. The Oscar winner (“Best Supporting Actor in “The Deer Hunter”) has among his 143 acting credits the comedies “Annie Hall,” “Hairspray,” and “Wedding Crashers,” and the Quentin Tarantino classic “Pulp Fiction.” Walken has also made memorable appearances on the comedy-skit show “Saturday Night Live.”

Morgan Freeman’s fluid and calming voice has provided the narrative for films such as “The Shawshank Redemption” and “The War of the Worlds.” The Tennessee-born Oscar winner “Million Dollar Baby”) has played God twice, and lesser moral authorities such as Nelson Mandela in the movie “Invictus,” for which he received his fifth Academy Award nomination.

Mississippi-born James Earl Jones took drama lessons in his youth to calm himself down. That discipline comes across in his distinctive authoritative voice. He has 189 acting credits over a 70-year career that include voicing Darth Vader in the Star Wars series, “Field of Dreams,” “Field of Dreams,” “The Great White Hope,” and “Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb.”

American audiences know Alan Rickman as the antagonist opposing Bruce Willis’ John McCain in the terrorism thriller “Die Hard.” The English-born Rickman used his clipped voice and condescending gaze to great effect as Professor Severus Snape in the Harry Potter films.

The swarthy, muscular Scot with the slight burr originated the James Bond character as the quintessentially phlegmatic and resourceful British spy. Connery did not allow Bond to define his career. He appeared in adventure films such as “The Man Who Would Be King” and “Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade,” and war epics like “A Bridge Too Far” and “The Longest Day.”

The archetypical Hollywood cowboy, John Wayne perfected the laconic demeanor of the frontiersman. Often parodied for his swaying gait, the Iowa-born Oscar winner (“True Grit”) has 184 acting credits dating back from the first talking motion pictures. He’s famous for appearing in Westerns such as “Stagecoach,” “Red River,” and “The Searchers.” Wayne also starred in films with history themes such as “The Alamo,” “Sand of Iwo Jima,” and “The Longest Day.”

The three-time Oscar winner from Neptune, New Jersey, with the killer smile and often lecherous leer has 80 acting credits to his name. After appearing in mostly television series in early 1960s, Nicholson became a star via the counterculture classic “Easy Rider” in 1969 and has been an A-lister ever since. Among his noteworthy films are “Chinatown,” “The Departed,” “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest,” “Terms of Endearment,” and “The Shining.”

Jennifer Coolidge is one of the busier actors in Hollywood, appearing in such films as “American Pie,” “A Mighty Wind,” and “Legally Blonde,” among her 130 acting credits. The Boston native won a Supporting Actress Emmy in 2022 for the anthology series”The White Lotus.” Coolidge’s voice can be frequently heard in animated movies and TV series such as “The Emoji Movie” and “Gravity Falls.”

The now-silver-haired and wiry Sam Elliott embodies the American West in voice and appearance. He made his film debut in “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid” in 1969, and nearly 50 years later, appeared in the remake of “A Star is Born.” In between, the California-born Elliott has provided voice-overs for countless television shows (and a beer commercial) and appeared in many television series.

English actor Andy Serkis is a familiar screen presence. He’s appeared in three highly successful movie franchises: as Gollum in The Lord of the Rings trilogy, as Supreme Leader Snoke in the Star Wars movies, and as Caesar in the rebooted Planet of the Apes series.

Stewart is famous as Capt. Jean-Luc Picard in the Star Trek projects “Star Trek: The Next Generation” “Star Trek: Picard,” and four feature films. The English actor with his distinct theatrically trained voice has provided voice overs for animated movies such as “Dragon Rider” and television series like “Family Guy.”

Sultry motion picture actress who became a star opposite eventual husband Humphrey Bogart in 1940s’ classic films “To Have and Have Not” and “The Big Sleep.” The New York-born Bacall worked for 70 years right up until her passing in 2014, when she provided the voice for a character in the animated TV series “Family Guy.”

Shohreh Aghdashloo became one of Iran’s most recognizable actors in the 1970s, with star turns in the films “The Report” and “Desiderium.” After the Islamic Revolution in 1979, she left Iran and continued her career in the United States. Aghdashloo played the wife of Ben Kingsley’s character in “The House of Sand and Fog,” and she appeared in the primetime television thriller “24.”

Turner is the husky-voiced star of such films as ‘Body Heat,” “Peggy Sue Got Married,” and “Romancing the Stone.” She was the uncredited voice of sexpot Jessica Rabbit in the animated movie “Who Framed Roger Rabbit.” The Missouri native has provided voices for a number of characters in television series, such as “The Simpsons,” “Stories from My Childhood,” and “King of the Hill.”

Gilbert Gottfried started out as a stand-up comedian and then became a cast member of the comedy sketch show “Saturday Night Live.” His recognizable raspy voice kept him busy throughout a career with 195 acting credits. Those included voicing the character Iago in the Disney animated hit “Aladdin.” The Brooklyn-born Gottfried also appeared in the movies “Look Who’s Talking Too” and “Beverly Hills Cop II.” You can also hear his voice in characters on the animated TV series “Family Guy,” “Smiling Friends,” and “Kamp Koral: SpongeBob’s Under Years.”

Maggie Wheeler is a well-traveled actor with 75 acting credits. She frequently appears on television shows such as “Shameless,” “Hot in Cleveland,” “Seinfeld,” “Friends,” and “CSI: Crime Scene Investigation.” The New York native has provided the voices for characters in movies such as the animated movie version of “The Addams Family” and appeared in “The Parent Trap.”

Fran Drescher’s nasally Brooklyn accent helped launch her to stardom in the titular role of the television series “The Nanny.” She’s stayed busy by appearing in television series such as “Gravesend,” “Mr. Mayor,” and “Indebted,” and provided the voice for a character in the animated film “Hotel Transylvania 4: Transformania.”

One of film’s greatest action heroes, the laconic Stallone has starred in two lucrative movie franchises — Rocky and Rambo — and has been one of cinema’s most bankable stars for almost 40 years. The New York-born actor’s recognizable voice has been heard in animated movies such as “Animal Crackers,” “Zookeeper,” and “Liberty’s Kids.”

The very image of the suave leading man, Cary Grant was famous for his transAtlantic accent. The accent of Grant, an immigrant from England, was an American-British fusion of speaking that conveys upper-class status and an air of sophistication. Grant was American Film Institute’s second-greatest film star of all time, largely because of screen successes such as “North by Northwest,” “His Girl Friday,” “The Philadelphia Story,” and “Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House.”

One of America’s greatest creative talents, Welles’ booming voice stood him in good stead as a radio performer with the Mercury Theater group. The Wisconsin native went to Hollywood and made what many film experts believe is the greatest film ever, “Citizen Kane.” The iconoclastic Welles appeared in movies such as “The Lady from Shanghai,” “Touch of Evil,” “Jane Eyre,” and “Chimes at Midnight.” He also lent his singular voice to countless documentaries and TV series as a narrator.

One of silver screen’s largest personalities, Davis’s diva persona and clipped New England accent were fodder for impressionists. Davis, who also effected a transAtlantic accent, won two Academy Awards and starred in such classics as “All About Eve,” “The Little Foxes,” “Dark Victory,” and “Whatever Happened to Baby Jane?”