Martin T. Sherman (born 28 November, 1966) is an American actor, voice actor, voice director, writer and director who provided voices for the US dub of Thomas & Friends from 2009-2015.
He started acting around the age of 9 at a local Jewish community centre in Florida. He also provides voices for several video games. Two of his better known roles are Pac-Man in the video game Pac-Man World 3 and Ryan from DreamWeb.
Voices
US
- Thomas (2009-2015)
- Henry (declined)
- Percy (2009-2015)
- Diesel (2013-2015)
- The Bird Watcher (Henry's Good Deeds)
- Some Children (Time for a Story, Pop Goes Thomas and Toby and Bash)
- Some Sodor United Soccer Players (Pingy Pongy Pick Up)
- The Tree Specialist (Day of the Diesels only)
Songs
Series 18
- I Do Like to be Beside the Seaside (performed)
Miscellaneous
- It's Great to be an Engine (performed)
- Surprises (performed)
- Sounds (performed)
- Sir Topham Hatt (performed)
- Really Useful Engine (performed)
- Let's Have a Race (performed)
- Thomas' Anthem (performed)
Departure from the Series
In 2014, it was announced that Sherman would leave his roles on Thomas & Friends due to contractual disagreements with the production team. He announced his departure via The SiF Blog in July. In the post, he claimed to be feeling exploited and complained about the low wage the series was paying him. He also apologised to any fans who might be affected by his departure.
Later that month, in an interview with The Guardian, he stated that HiT Entertainment contacted his agent and had threatened to take legal action against Sherman, if the blog post was not removed. Sherman said he felt bullied and silenced and was reportedly seeking legal advice regarding the blogpost. The blog post was later removed. In the same Guardian interview, HiT Entertainment refused to comment on the contracts it has with its talent and wished Martin Sherman the best in his future professional endeavours.[1]
After his Departure
Joseph May took over the US voice of Thomas starting with The Adventure Begins, Christopher Ragland took over the US voice of Percy in Sodor's Legend of the Lost Treasure and Kerry Shale began voicing Diesel in the US as well as continuing to voice him in the UK dub starting with the nineteenth series.
During an interview in December 2020, he apologised again to the fans for putting them in the middle of the situation, along with apologising to David Menkin for asking him to not accept the offer to voice Thomas, in order to show support towards Sherman. However, Sherman stated he regretted this decision and thought that Menkin would have done very well with voicing Thomas.[2]
Filmography
Film
Television
Games
|
Trivia
- In an interview with Sodor Island Fansite, he explained that he played Thomas based of himself at age fifteen and he played Percy as the little brother he never had.[3]
- In the same interview with Sodor Island Fansite, he said he had auditioned for the US voice of Henry, However, he was declined in favour of Kerry Shale.[3]
- Sherman was also a performer in the 2011 North American tour of the live show Thomas Saves the Day, playing the role of Stephen Hatt.
- In a 2020 interview, when he was asked about the criticism of the series for its writing during the thirteenth to sixteenth series from longtime fans (especially criticism directed toward former head writer, Sharon Miller), Sherman responded saying;
“ | I think you need to understand that writing for a show like Thomas with long standing adult fans and children coming in is very difficult. There is the constant push to change, to keep up with the times and to remain the same. Sharon did her best to walk that razor’s edge. But, personally, I avoid reading comments because I don’t want to be thinking about that when I am trying to work. I rely on people directing me like Ian, Sharon and Greg to synthesize the fan’s feedback into the show."[2] | ” |
- Sherman's favourite Thomas & Friends project was Day of the Diesels. He said in the 2020 interview that it gave him the chance to explore some complicated emotions between Thomas and Percy.[2]
- In the same interview from 2020, he stated after one year in doing the show, he pitched the concept of Thomas globetrotting (meaning Thomas would explore the world outside of Sodor). Although HiT Entertainment turned down the idea at the time, it would become the basis for both Really Useful Around the World one year after his departure, and Big World! Big Adventures! under Mattel four years after Sherman's departure from HiT Entertainment in 2014 and a year after the release of Really Useful Around the World.[2]
- Sherman worked as a voice actor on David Mitton's unfinished "Adventures on Orsum Island" series.
- The Strasburg Railroad still used Sherman's voice samples for their Thomas rides, even after his departure, until the CGI era was supplanted by All Engines Go.
Gallery
References