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Michael Brandon (born on 20 April 1945 in Brooklyn, New York City, New York, USA as Michael Feldman) is an American actor who narrated from the seventh to sixteenth series (2004-2012). He also narrated some of the Thomas DVD menus of Hooray for Thomas and Other Adventures, Thomas' Sodor Celebration, Tales from the Tracks and Come Ride the Rails in 2006, and re-narrated six episodes from the sixth series, and all episodes from the seventh series, as Michael Angelis replaced Alec Baldwin briefly.

He currently holds the record as the longest running narrator for the US and fifth overall after Michael Angelis, Aku Laitinen, Sky du Mont and Leo Morimoto.

Brandon has appeared in other television shows and films such as Dempsey and Makepeace, The Nanny, Dinotopia, The Division, Ally McBeal, The Catherine Tate Show, Murder She Wrote, New Tricks, Try This One for Size and Doctor Who.

He was first married to Lindsay Wagner. He later married Dempsey and Makepeace co-star Glynis Barber, best known for her role in EastEnders.

Voices

US

Filmography

Film

  • Lovers and Other Strangers (1970)
  • Jennifer on My Mind (1971)
  • Four Flies on Grey Velvet (1971)
  • Heavy Traffic (1973)
  • FM (1978)
  • Promises In the Dark (1979)
  • A Change of Seasons (1980)
  • Rich and Famous (1981)
  • Présumé dangereux (1990)
  • The Difference of Kevin Johnson (1996)
  • Déjà Vu (1997)
  • Thomas & Friends: Calling All Engines! (2005)
  • The Detonator (2006)
  • Are You Ready for Love? (2006)
  • Me and Orson Welles (2008)
  • Thomas & Friends: Hero of the Rails (2009)
  • Thomas & Friends: Misty Island Rescue (2010)
  • Labrats (2010)
  • Captain America: The First Avenger (2011)
  • Thomas & Friends: Day of the Diesels (2011)
  • Thomas & Friends: Blue Mountain Mystery (2012)
  • Born of War (2014)
  • The Time of Their Lives (2017)

TV

  • The Impatient Heart (1971)
  • Man in the Middle (1972)
  • Owen Marshall, Counselor at Law (1972)
  • The Strangers in 7A (1972)
  • Love, American Style (1972)
  • Love Story (1973)
  • The Third Girl from the Left (1973)
  • Medical Center (1969-1974)
  • Hitchhike! (1974)
  • The Red Badge of Courage (1974)
  • Police Surgeon (1975)
  • Queen of the Stardust Ballroom (1975)
  • Cage Without a Key (1975)
  • Police Story (1975)
  • James Dean (1976)
  • Insight (1974-1976)
  • Scott Free (1976)
  • Red Alert (1977)
  • The Comedy Company (1978)
  • A Vacation in Hell (1979)
  • A Perfect Match (1980)
  • Between Two Brothers (1982)
  • St. Elsewhere (1983)
  • Venice Medical (1983)
  • The Seduction of Gina (1984)
  • Emerald Point N.A.S. (1983-1984)
  • Deadly Messages (1985)
  • Dempsey and Makepeace (1985-1986)
  • Screen Two (1987)
  • Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color (1988)
  • Tales of the Unexpected (1988)
  • Divided We Stand (1988)
  • Try This One for Size (1989)
  • Have a Nice Night (1990)
  • Want to Stay Alive (1990)
  • The Care of Time (1990)
  • Dynasty: The Reunion (1991)
  • Home Fires (1992)
  • Shattering the Silence (1993)
  • Murder, She Wrote (1994)
  • CBS Schoolbreak Special (1994)
  • Murder of Meory? Moment of Truth (1994)
  • The Marshal (1995)
  • Silk Stalkings (1996)
  • Gone in the Night (1996)
  • The Apocalypse Watch (1997)
  • The Nanny (1997)
  • Ally McBeal (1998)
  • The Knock (1999)
  • The Practice (1998-1999)
  • JAG (1997-1999)
  • CI5: The New Professionals (1999)
  • Jonathan Creek (1999)
  • The Division (2001)
  • Dark Realm (2001)
  • The Lost Battalion (2001)
  • Dinotopia (2002-2003)
  • Hawking (2004)
  • Thomas & Friends (2004-2012)
  • Dead Man Weds (2005)
  • The Catherine Tate Show (2004-2005)
  • Roman Vice (2005)
  • Agatha Christie's Marple (2006)
  • Trial & Retribution (2007)
  • The Bill (2007)
  • Casualty (2007)
  • Doctor Who (2008)
  • Bones (2008)
  • After You've Gone (2008)
  • Toscanini in His Own Words (2009)
  • New Tricks (2009)
  • The Last Days of Lehman Brothers (2009)
  • Rosamunde Pilcher's Shades of Love (2010)
  • Hustle (2011)
  • Death in Paradise (2013)
  • Mr Selfridge (2013)
  • Blandings (2014)
  • Galavant (2015)
  • Tracey Ullman's Show (2016)
  • Loaded (2017)
  • Episodes (2012-2017)

Video Games

  • Eraser - Turnabout (1996)

Trivia

  • Brandon is the third narrator who has narrated episodes in series prior to the one in which he begins as narrator in the US, the first being George Carlin.
  • Since voice actors for individual characters were introduced, Brandon is the only narrator to also voice at least one character in his respective region's script at the same time as narrating the script.
  • When the first several episodes of the seventeenth series were aired on PBS, Brandon was mistakenly credited as the narrator instead of Mark Moraghan.
  • Because Brandon joined after Shining Time Station ended, he was the first US narrator not to play Mr. Conductor.
  • Michael Brandon is credited alongside Alec Baldwin on the US version of a promotional DVD for Thomas and the Jet Engine, even though the disc only had the episode Thomas and the Jet Engine, which was narrated by Alec Baldwin.
  • He, alongside Óscar Gómez, Ron Druyan, Aku Laitinen, Dan Schatzberg and Blanche Ravalec have been the only narrators in the CGI series to both narrate and voice characters.
  • According to a YouTube interview with YouTube channel, Jake's Happy Nostalgia Show!, when Michael Brandon was asked who his favourite characters are, he said Diesel, Cranky, Toby, and Gordon are his favourites. As for his favourite episode, he was not very sure which one to pick, especially the ones he narrated during his tenure from the show.
    • Coincidentally, both he and Christopher Awdry have Toby as their favourite character.
  • He watched the TV series with his son for many years before he became narrator for the US dub of the show.
  • Brandon was born in 1945, the same year the first book of The Railway Series was published.

External Links

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