Susan Bennett
| Susan Bennett | |
|---|---|
| Born | Georgia, U.S. |
| Nationality | American |
| Years active | 1970s–present |
| Known for | Voice of Siri |
| Website | |
| susancbennett.com | |
Susan Bennett is an American voice-over artist. She is most known for being the female American voice of Apple's Siri since the service was introduced on the iPhone 4S on October 4, 2011.
Early life and education
Bennett was born in a small town in upstate New York and attended high school at Clinton Central School in Clinton, New York. In 1967, she enrolled in Pembroke College, but ended up graduating in 1971 from Brown University after the merger of the two schools.[1]
While at Brown, Bennett concentrated her studies in the classics and intended to become a teacher. She acted in Sock and Buskin theatrical productions,[1] was the member of a jazz band, and was a singer with the Chattertocks college a cappella group.[1] She performed in additional groups as well, one located at the Berklee School of Music.[citation needed]
Career
Bennett is one of the most widely used voice actors. She has a wide range of accents and voices in her repertoire from eastern European grandmother, to child-like, to sultry. Her career began in the 1970s when she was recorded as the voice of First National Bank of Atlanta's "Tillie the All-Time Teller," the first automated teller machine (ATM).[2] She has recorded messages for the public address system in all Delta Air Lines terminals worldwide, as well as voicing e-learning software, commercials, automated teller machines, and GPS navigation software,[3] and telephone systems.[4] Bennett's voice has been also used in a myriad of local television advertisements and national commercials for Ford, Coca-Cola, Fisher Price, McDonald's, The Home Depot, Goodyear, VISA, Macy's, Hot Pockets, Club Med, and The Cartoon Network, among others.
Siri
In June 2005, a software company named ScanSoft Inc. was looking for someone to be the voice for a database project involving speech construction. Scansoft reached out to GM Voices and picked Bennett, who happened to be present when the scheduled voice-over artist was absent.[5] She worked in a home recording booth more than four hours each day the entire month of July 2005, reading phrases and sentences. The recordings were then concatenated into various words, sentences, and paragraphs used in the Siri voice.[4] Bennett became aware she was the voice of Siri when a friend contacted her through email in October 2011.
Audio-forensics experts hired by CNN proved to a 100 percent certainty that Bennett and Siri are the same voice.[4]
Personal life
While at Brown University, Bennett met her first husband, Curt Bennett, who played in the National Hockey League[1] as well as for the United States national ice hockey team in the 1970s.
Susan Bennett now lives in Atlanta, Georgia and has a son.[6]
See also
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Nussenbaum, Kate (2013-10-22). "Alum revealed as voice of iPhone’s Siri". The Brown Daily Herald. Retrieved 2013-10-25.
- ↑ Cooper, Daniel (2013-10-04). "Susan Bennett confirms that she is the original voice of Apple's Siri (video)". engadget (AOL Inc.). Retrieved 2013-10-04.
- ↑ Boone, John (2013-10-04). "Meet Siri: Susan Bennett Reveals Herself as the Mysterious Voice Behind the iPhone". E! (E! Entertainment Television, LLC.). Retrieved 2013-10-04.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 Ravitz, Jessica (2013-10-04). "'I'm the original voice of Siri'". CNN (Cable News Network. Turner Broadcasting System, Inc.). Retrieved 2013-10-04.
- ↑ "Interview with Bennett". All Things Considered (WNYC on National Public Radio). December 9, 2013 at 10:00 pm, Eastern Time.
- ↑ "Interview with Bennett". All Things Considered (WNYC on National Public Radio). December 9, 2013 at 10:00 pm, Eastern Time.