Michael Brandon (born on 20 April 1945 in Brooklyn, New York City, New York, USA as Michael Feldman) is an American actor who narrated from the seventh to sixteenth series (2004-2012). He also narrated some of the Thomas DVD menus of Hooray for Thomas and Other Adventures, Thomas' Sodor Celebration, Tales from the Tracks and Come Ride the Rails in 2006, and re-narrated six episodes from the sixth series, and all episodes from the seventh series, as Michael Angelis replaced Alec Baldwin briefly.
He currently holds the record as the longest running narrator for the US and fifth overall after Michael Angelis, Aku Laitinen, Sky du Mont and Leo Morimoto.
Brandon has appeared in other television shows and films such as Dempsey and Makepeace, The Nanny, Dinotopia, The Division, Ally McBeal, The Catherine Tate Show, Murder She Wrote, New Tricks, Try This One for Size and Doctor Who.
He was first married to Lindsay Wagner. He later married Dempsey and Makepeace co-star Glynis Barber, best known for her role in EastEnders.
Voices
US
- Diesel (thirteenth - sixteenth series)
- Mr. Bubbles (thirteenth - fifteenth series)
Filmography
Film
TV
Video Games
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Trivia
- Brandon is the third narrator who has narrated episodes in series prior to the one in which he begins as narrator in the US, the first being George Carlin.
- Since voice actors for individual characters were introduced, Brandon is the only narrator to also voice at least one character in his respective region's script at the same time as narrating the script.
- When the first several episodes of the seventeenth series were aired on PBS, Brandon was mistakenly credited as the narrator instead of Mark Moraghan.
- Because Brandon joined after Shining Time Station ended, he was the first US narrator not to play Mr. Conductor.
- Michael Brandon is credited alongside Alec Baldwin on the US version of a promotional DVD for Thomas and the Jet Engine, even though the disc only had the episode Thomas and the Jet Engine, which was narrated by Alec Baldwin.
- He, alongside Óscar Gómez, Ron Druyan, Aku Laitinen, Dan Schatzberg and Blanche Ravalec have been the only narrators in the CGI series to both narrate and voice characters.
- According to a YouTube interview with YouTube channel, Jake's Happy Nostalgia Show!, when Michael Brandon was asked who his favourite characters are, he said Diesel, Cranky, Toby, and Gordon are his favourites. As for his favourite episode, he was not very sure which one to pick, especially the ones he narrated during his tenure from the show.
- Coincidentally, both he and Christopher Awdry have Toby as their favourite character.
- He watched the TV series with his son for many years before he became narrator for the US dub of the show.
- Brandon was born in 1945, the same year the first book of The Railway Series was published.