David Frederick Case (April 25, 1932 – October 1, 2005), alias Frederick Davidson, was a prolific English narrator of over 700 audiobooks, primarily in the 1980s and 90s when the commercial audiobook industry was maturing. He was one of the first inductees into the "Golden Voice" hall of fame started by the trade publication '' AudioFile''.

Early life

Case was born in London on April 25, 1932, to a father who made tombstones during the

Great Depression The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...

. As a child he enjoyed mimicking actors and he was later awarded a singing scholarship to St Edward's School, Oxford. After graduating he enrolled at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art to be an actor. He worked with a

repertory company A repertory theatre is a theatre in which a resident company presents works from a specified repertoire, usually in alternation or rotation. United Kingdom Annie Horniman founded the first modern repertory theatre in Manchester after withdrawing ...

northern England Northern England, also known as the North of England, the North Country, or simply the North, is the northern area of England. It broadly corresponds to the former borders of Angle Northumbria, the Anglo-Scandinavian Kingdom of Jorvik, and the ...

, and made about 13 TV appearances between 1959 and 1964, including as "Bob" on the BBC show '' Maigret'' (1962) for one episode, but his acting career was not overly successful. He played minor and occasional roles.

Career

In 1976, he moved to

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with his companion, Graham Watts. They had a business in Oakland importing antiques. In his spare time, he directed

community theater Community theatre refers to any theatrical performance made in relation to particular communities—its usage includes theatre made by, with, and for a community. It may refer to a production that is made entirely by a community with no outside hel ...

productions, including one show that included British-born actress Wanda McCaddon who became friendly with Case. McCaddon, who was working at

Books on Tape A book is a medium for recording information in the form of writing or images, typically composed of many pages (made of papyrus, parchment, vellum, or paper) bound together and protected by a cover. The technical term for this physical arra ...

at the time, introduced him to the world of audiobook narration, an industry which was coming into maturity during the 1980s. "When he found out I was doing books on tape, he said, 'That sounds like something I'd like to do'", McCaddon remembered. Sigrid Hecht, co-founder of Books on Tape, was initially skeptical of his breathy interpretations. However he would excel at British works, recording 13 novels by

Anthony Trollope Anthony Trollope (; 24 April 1815 – 6 December 1882) was an English novelist and civil servant of the Victorian era. Among his best-known works is a series of novels collectively known as the '' Chronicles of Barsetshire'', which revolves ar ...

, 36 by P. G. Wodehouse and the entire "Forsyte" chronicles by

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. He worked as a freelance artist mostly for Books on Tape and Blackstone Audio during the 1980s and 1990s. Depending on the publisher, he recorded as David Case (Books on Tape), Frederick Davidson (Blackstone), Edward Raleigh, James Nelson, and Ian McKay. Case was a popular narrator, "Readers said, 'Give me anything by Frederick Davidson,'" recalled Lysa Williams of Blackstone Audio. '' AudioFile'' editor and founder, Robin Whitten, said Case recorded three times as many books as most other performers. Some listeners found his style off-putting, "the most frequent criticism is that he sounds snooty and that his Continental accents all sound the same — sort of

Austro-Hungarian Austria-Hungary, often referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire,, the Dual Monarchy, or Austria, was a constitutional monarchy and great power in Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. It was formed with the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of ...

", observed Katherine Powers. But he had fans, ''The Washington Post'' obituary by Adam Bernstein said "The English-born, classically trained Mr. Case was among the finest". He was nominated for a

Grammy Award The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pres ...

and received numerous AudioFile Earphones Awards.

Death

Case, a lifelong smoker, developed throat cancer in 2000 but kept recording, though his output slowed. He refused to stop smoking and doctors were forced to remove his larynx in May 2005, after which he lost his voice entirely. He died at his home in El Sobrante, California on October 1, 2005, unable to utter a sound. Case once said, "I really believe I was born to record audiobooks."

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Case, David Frederick 1932 births 2005 deaths 20th-century English male actors 21st-century English male actors Male actors from London English male voice actors Audiobook narrators People educated at St Edward's School, Oxford English gay actors 20th-century LGBT people 21st-century LGBT people English LGBT actors Deaths from throat cancer Deaths from cancer in California Alumni of the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art English expatriates in the United States