Tuesday, August 11, 2015

Voice Artist Susan Sheridan R.I.P.

Susan Sheridan, who was the voice of , Trillian in the BBC radio show The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy and the voices of characters in a host of animated TV shows and films, died on August 8 2015 at the age of 68. The cause was breast cancer.

Susan Sheridan was born Susan Thomas in Surbiton, Surrey. Miss Thomas displayed a gift for mimicry while still a child, capable of imitating a wide array of voices. She attended Brigidine Convent School in Windsor, and Ashford Grammar School in Middlesex. She trained in acting at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London. She acted in repertory in  Westcliff-on-Sea, Ayr, and Worthing. It was in 1975 when she was playing a West End production of the musical Winnie the Pooh that her talent for voices was recognised. Voice artist and character actress  Miriam Margolyes put Miss Thomas in touch with her voice agent and she auditioned for BBC Radio. In 1976 she married actor Michael Sheridan and "Susan Sheridan" as her stage name thereafter.

It was in 1978 that Mrs. Sheridan voiced Trillian for the first time on the radio show Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. She performed with BBC Radio's acting company between 1980 and 1992.

Susan Sheridan made her television debut as a voice artist in 1978 voicing a child in an episode of Bless Me Father. She provided a voice for an episode of Armchair Theatre and appeared in front of the camera in an episode of Agony. The Eighties would prove to be a busy decade for her. Starting in 1990 she provided the English voice of Moomin in the anime TV series Moomin. She also provided voices for the animated shows The Family-Ness, Jimbo and the Jet-Set, Muzzy in Gondoland, and Muzzy Comes Back. She was the voice of  Eilonwy in the Disney animated feature The Black Cauldron (1985). She provided the English voices of Michael and Judy in the anime TV film Lupin the Third Bye Bye, Lady Liberty.

In the Nineties she provided voices for the stop motion animated TV programme Noddy's Toyland Adventures. She was the voice of Milady de Winter in the English dub of the French animated series Albert the 5th Musketeer. She provided voices for the TV specials Santa's First Christmas and Father Christmas and the Missing Reindeer.

In the Naughts she provided a voice for episodes of the animated shows The Lampies and Jambareeqi Reviews. In the teens she guest starred on Midsomer Murders.

Susan Sheridan was one of the greatest voice artists of all time. She could do a wide array of voices. Indeed, she was equally adept at doing the voices of children and adults. Susan Sheridan could do the voices of everything from an infant to an old woman, and always sounded convincing. There were very few voice artists who could ever match her.

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