Geoff Oldham

Voice Description

Natural RP accent, fairly deep, very warm, authoritative, re-assuring. Suitable for narrative, where its flexibility and dramatic sense are useful, and straight documentary, including technical topics because of its clarity, precision and convincing tone of intelligence and confidence.
Its capability for sensing and demonstrating irony and humour make it useful for commercial work.
Good for characters: can quickly pick up from the script itself the character of the speaker.
Very experienced in audio books.

Voice Genders and "Ages" I Can Perform

• Middle Age Male
• Senior Male

Language(s) of Which I Am a Native Speaker:

• English - British

I Offer my Services for these Recording Purposes

• Commercials
• Promos
• Training, business presentations, sales, and web sites
• Audiobooks
• Documentaries
• TV shows and movies
• Movie and game trailers
• Podcasts
• Adult content
• Others (on-camera, infomercials, live announcers, spokespersons)

Jobs I Am Willing to Take (Union-wise)

• Non-Union Jobs

• Jobs for British Equity signatories

My Union Affiliations and Memberships

• British Equity

My Recording and Delivery Capabilities

• I will go to any designated studio in my area

Pre-, Post- and Production Services I Offer

• I offer copywriting services

My Home Base

Ilkley (near Leeds/Bradford, United Kingdom

Accents, Impersonations, Characters and Dialects

Yorkshire, Lancashire, Manchester, Leeds: all of them native since I've lived half my life in one area and half in the other.

Other accents used professionally: American standard, New York, Italian Brooklyn, Southern American, Native American, Eastern European, Irish (Republican), Derby, London, Cockney.

Other accents in repertoire: Glasgow, Edinburgh, English Midlands, Rural South West England.

The voice is also an actor's, capable of inhabiting characters both serious and comic.
The natural voice (with slight adaptations) has been found useful for judges (I am told by casting directors that I have gravitas, but my doctor says she can do nothing about that), senior army officers, (years ago I was a junior one)clergymen, surgeons, politicians, grandfathers, pensioners, heavy fathers,

My Voice Experience

After a top management career in industry, I declared myself redundant in middle age and took up acting professionally and have now been at it for a quarter of a century and have 60+ decent film, TV and theatre credits on my cv.

For years, I did the odd bit of v/o work when it arose, mainly stuff for museums, educational programmes and the like. I read excepts from the novels of Jilly Cooper for a documentary about her on ITV.

About five years ago I obtained a job doing a spoken insert as an Indian Chief in a pop record for the Rednex called The Spirit of the Hawk, which went to number one in the European countries in which it was issued and sold 1.5 million copies. I am the oldest pop artist to have his debut single go triple platinum.

Since then, I have been more systematic about finding v/o work instead of expecting it to come along as part of my acting career. I've recently been an Arab granddad for the UAE and an OAP for a pensions firm.

My Training

BA Hons Class II(i)in English language and Literature from Manchester University. Numerous Actors' Centre workshops on v/o work (as well as a range of acting topics)
In 1983 attended a three-week course run by the British Drama League using tutors from the drama schools, the RSC and National Theatre, on voice.

My Studio Equipment

None at present, bur expect to be acquiring some soon. I have access to good local studios, but I claim no special technical knowledge.

Additional Skills

In my industrial career, in which ended as Chief Executive to an Industry Training Board. I did a great deal of public speaking and training. I have also done journalism for trade papers when in industry and some general free-lance stuff since (Guardian, Stage, Yorkshire Life etc). I wrote my own one-man show on John Donne which got me an Equity card, which was essential when I started.
I run an on-line book business specialising in the performing arts.

Payment Methods Accepted

• PayPal
• Personal checks, cashier's checks, or money orders in my local currency
• Wire transfers

Contact Information

To contact Geoff Oldham by email or phone, please click here.