William Dufris

William Dufris

William Dufris (aka William Duffy) (born February 1, 1958 in Houlton, Maine) is an American voice actor who has spent the bulk of his acting career in England. He attended the University of Southern Maine in Portland-Gorham and was a DJ on WMPG-FM before moving to London, England in 1986, where he resided for the next 13 years.

It was in London where Dufris began his audio career (radio plays, audio books, film/animation dubbing, language tapes). During this time, he had the privilege of sharing the microphone in a number of BBC Radio plays with Kathleen Turner, Sharon Gless, Stockard Channing, and Helena Bonham-Carter. Moreover, he worked with legendary director Dirk Maggs (of Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy fame) on his audio drama productions of Spider-Man (where he voiced the title role of Peter Parker), Judge Dredd, Voyage and An American Werewolf in London. He is best known as the original voice of Bob the Builder in the popular children’s show Bob The Builder for the US and Canada (series 1-9). He also voiced Rocky's best friend Elvis and Dougan the red walrus in the children's stop motion TV series Rocky and the Dodos for Cosgrove Hall and dubbed several anime films such as X, Appleseed and two of the Lupin III films.

These experiences led Dufris to co-found the audio production company The Story Circle, Ltd in the UK. Upon returning to the United States, Dufris founded Mind’s Eye Productions and co-founded Rocky Coast Radio Theatre and The AudioComics Company, for which he has been producer, director, actor and engineer. For AudioComics he directed Starstruck, the first season of Horrorscopes, Titanium Rain, Honey West, and The Batsons for the AudioComics Kids line. He also directed Arigon Starr’s audio comedy Super Indian for Native Voices at the Autry in Los Angeles.

Dufris has been nominated twelve times as an audio book finalist for the APA’s prestigious Audie Award (winning in 2012 - Best Non-Fiction), has garnered 24 Golden Earphones Awards through AudioFile Magazine, and was named by AudioFile as “One Of The Best Voices At The End Of The Century.” Dufris is on the Advisory Board of the National Audio Theatre Festivals, Inc. in addition to being a Norman Corwin Award Committee member. He was a guest instructor and performer at the 2005–2007 Audio Theatre Workshops, appearing in the world premiere works The Best Place to Grow Pumpkins, Rewind, Extra-Ordinary, and Histories. Publishers Weekly called his performance of Neal Stephenson's novel Anathem "a delight for the ears".[1]

Partial list of works

As voice actor

As audiobook reader

Tantor Media

Other titles

References

  1. ↑ "Audio Review: Anathem". Publishers Weekly. November 24, 2008. Retrieved November 1, 2012.

External links

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