Deborah Cresswell

Southern refined to Southern hick, think the opposites of Flo of "kiss my grits" to the upscale Dixie Carter of Designing Women, standard British and Cockney, Irish, I do a Fabulous WITCH with a wickedly wonderful cackle, Tallulah Bankhead is relatively easy for me.

HORROR! GAMES! RADIO! STAGE! SCREEN! TV! SOAPS! Right after graduating from Vanderbilt University, and returning from my first season of Summer Stock at The Barn Theatre, I took a job as Assistant Director of Theatre at Georgia State University. While there, the Director and head of the department, James E. Sligh and I, created and did a Radio show for the student radio station, in which we critiqued films. We initially called it TWO ON THE AISLE, but soon that name was taken by a Television Show, so we renamed the program FRONT ROW CENTER. In addition to "typical" voiceover venues, I have performed voice overs in such varied instances as police dispatcher or 911 operator for Soap Operas such as "As The World Turns", or the voice of a mysterious Bag in a horror film. (see my IMDb listings) I also opened the Off-Broadway play "Selling Off" with a phone-call voiceover (later I was seen live in several scenes) at the John Houseman Theatre on 42nd Street. I played a nurse in a spooky science-fiction game for L'Orange Studios. Many people relish my voice for its deep, sexy sound, but I have tons of fun with quirky voices, witches and accents as well. In grammar school and high school I was always in the school plays. Also at church and at Day Camp. I was in my first professional production at the age of 14 at Atlanta's Chastain Park, Theatre Under The Stars in the musical "Bye, Bye, Birdie" starring Van Johnson and Wisa D'Orso. College: B.A. with Major in Drama and Minor in Music at Vanderbilt University. The day after I graduated I took a 17-hour bus ride to THE BARN THEATRE in Augusta, Michigan -- one of the oldest Summer Stock Theatres in the USA (over 50 years in existence). I spent 2 seasons there, and in between became the Assistant Director of Theatre at Georgia State University where I directed, among other shows, their very first musical, and taught an after-school acting class. After a short stint there I left for New York to further pursue my OWN acting career, and performed on stage, screen and television. In New York I studied with John Strasberg (yes, Lee Strasberg's son) at The Real Stage and also with both Geraldine Page and Betty Buckley while there. I later studied with David Man. And then I went on to study with Gene Feist (founder of The Roundabout Theatre in New York) at his Roundabout Theatre Conservatory. I also became Gene Feist's assistant and "right-hand" as well as becoming Registrar for The Conservatory. I was later asked to teach a Beginner's class for the Conservatory and did so for 2 years. I was also a private coach and career-consultant in New York, and continued to coach and consult after a brief respite, upon moving to Los Angeles in 2003. I have taken voiceover classes with wonderful, talented individuals as varied as Dan Duckworth in New York to Kalmenson and Kalmenson and the VERY talented Rick Zieff in Los Angeles. I furthered my acting and improvisation studies with the well-known Stephen Book here in Los Angeles. And I have attended many and various seminars and workshops with Casting Directors, Directors, Teachers, Actors, Agents, etc. Most recently completed a course called "Get A-Listed" with the talented Casting Director, Bonnie Gillespie. I own a fantastic Blue Microphones Snowball USB Microphone. With it, I can certainly record auditions at the very least. If absolutely necessary, I may have access to a friend's studio that is completely sound-proofed and has the latest equipment (which they would be running, while I am recording). I am an extremely quick study, and performed 8 different accents in a staged reading with Larry Bryggman and several other soap stars in Hudson, New York. I first joined a church children's choir when I was 3 years old by special permission of renowned Atlanta music artist Mabel Boyter (no longer living). After winning awards in singing for high school, I was offered a scholarship to New England Conservatory of Music, but turned it down in favor of a Liberal Arts Education at Vanderbilt University where I majored in Drama and minored in Music (voice) in conjunction with Peabody School of Music.