A Voice Heard Round The World - Jim Dale's Performance Of The Harry Potter Audiobooks

Kids a long time from now will know Jim Dale's voice. Now 75, Jim is the voice of Harry Potter and more than two hundred various other voices in the Harry Potter audiobooks.

What a lot of folks don't know however is that Jim was in the entertainment business long before he started reading the Harry Potter audiobooks. Jim was a singer, a comedian, a broadway star, and more in the entertainment business for nearly sixty-five years before he came across Harry Potter... or rather, before they came across him.

Back in 1999, Listening Library bought the legal rights (in the United States) to the audiobook for Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone for merely $15k. Tim Ditlow, the son of the founders of the company, was at a social gathering with a number of theatre goers and they mentioned Jim for the part. And even though Dale had only read 1 audiobook previously, Tim ended up offering him the part. Rowling and the producers were quite clear that they needed a british accent for Harry on the audiobooks and that coupled with Jim's performing experiences fit the bill.

Jim says that when he was first presented with the part he had never heard of Potter and asked to read the book. After reading it he says that he was "completely immersed in the Harry Potter World" and realizing that the book was extremely well-written, witty, and that there was a possibility of 6 more books definitely "whetted my appetite."

When Jim was recording the audio books he was typically the 1st or 2nd person after Rowling's publisher to read one of the soon to be released books (and nearly always the first person in the United states to do so). Truly a gift and a curse, as Dale was required by contract not to expose any plot details before the book's release.

Since recording all 7 Harry Potter audio books, Jim has gone on to receive two Grammy awards, 7 Grammy nominations, a record 10 Audie awards, and 13 Earphone awards for his work. He is also the narrarator for the Harry Potter video games and most of the extras in the Harry Potter DVDs.