Rupert Degas (born in London, August 17th, 1970) is an English actor and voice actor who provided voices for the UK and US narrations of Thomas & Friends. He was originally hired to voice Diesel 10 in Misty Island Rescue, but was later replaced by Matt Wilkinson. He was kept on and voiced several characters for the fifteenth and sixteenth seasons. In the fifteenth season, he voiced Den at one point but that role was later given to Keith Wickham. During the sixteenth season, the role of Butch was given to Matt Wilkinson. Rupert eventually left the voice cast after the sixteenth season due to him residing in Australia, and his remaining roles were given to Keith Wickham, Ben Small and Steven Kynman. The role of Flynn was then given to Glenn Wrage until later being given to Rob Rackstraw.
He has also lent his voice to other television shows including "Mr. Bean", "Bob the Builder", "Skatoony", "Robotboy", "Badgered", "Chop Socky Chooks", and "Red Dwarf". Other television credits include, "EastEnders", "Lovejoy", "Waiting for God", "The Amazing World of Gumball", "A Touch of Frost", and "Holby City".
Voices
UK
- Butch (fifteenth season only)
UK/US
- Dart (Day of the Diesels - sixteenth season)
- Den (Fiery Flynn only)
- Flynn (Day of the Diesels - sixteenth season)
- Bertie (fifteenth and sixteenth seasons)
He was originally cast to voice Diesel 10 in Misty Island Rescue in both the UK and US, but was cut and his role was taken over by Matt Wilkinson because his voice sounded too scary, camp and theatrical.
Trivia
- Following his departure from Thomas and Friends, some of his roles from "The Amazing World of Gumball" were given to other voice actors, such as his original role of Gaylord Robinson is now given to Stefan Ashton Frank. Degas has voiced characters in said show, alongside Kerry Shale and Teresa Gallagher. Guillermo Coria and Carlos Hernández also starred on it.
- Both he and Togo Igawa voiced characters from "Robotboy".
- Both he and William Hope voiced characters from "Headhunter: Redemption".
- He, Marc Seal, Laura Beaumont, Paul Larson, Helen Farrall, Lee Pressman, Simon Nicholson, Sharon Miller, Sam Barlow, Ross Hastings, Polly Churchill, James Mason, Rob Rackstraw, David Menkin, Lucy Montgomery, Gadi Levy, Dan Shatzberg, Holger Potzern, Simona Pahl, Steven Elford, Achim Schülke, Tobias Diakow, Jens Wendland, Marjolein Algera, Ernesto Lezama, Øyvind Borgemoen Lyse, Fabian Harloff, Dave Ingham, José Gilberto Vilchis, Nigel Chilvers, Lenora Hume, Miranda Larson, Stan Limburg, Lutz Harder, Francisco Colmenero, Steven Kynman, Knud Riepen, Eberhard Haar, Robert Kotulla, Ricardo Silva, Louise Kramskoy, Erik Schäffler, Douglas Welbat, Carlos Enrique Bonilla, Katja Brügger, Christian Rudolf, Jürgen Holdorf, Holger Mahlich, Robert Missler and TUGS voice actor Ian James Corlett have all worked on "Bob the Builder".
- He voiced characters from "Chop Socky Chooks" along with Rob Rackstraw and Jules de Jongh.
- Both he and Víctor Covarrubias voiced Larry Needlemeyer in "The Amazing World of Gumball" in their respective languages.
- Both he and Krzysztof Szczerbiński voiced Kurt from "Robotboy" in their respective languages.
- Both he and Stefan Knothe voiced Ambassador Mbolắ from Robotboy in their respective languages.
- Both he and Artur Pontek voiced Gus from "Robotboy" in their respective languages.
- Both he and Janusz Zadura voiced Constantine from "Robotboy" in their respective languages.
- Both he and Kerry Shale voiced characters in "Mr. Bean: the Animated Series". Christopher Skala is also an executive producer in the series.
- He, Jules de Jongh, William Hope, Christopher Ragland and Martin Sherman all voiced characters in "Driver: San Francisco".
- He, Shale and Menkin voiced characters in "Red Dwarf".