Dudley Knight (July 1, 1939 – June 27, 2013) was an American voice, speech, and dialect expert, as well as a stage and television actor. He was best known for his long career as a speech and dialect teacher and voice director for professional theatre.
He conducted workshops and lectures on voice and speech for actors and voice teachers worldwide.

Early life and career

Knight was born and raised in

Rochester, Minnesota Rochester is a city in the U.S. state of Minnesota and the county seat of Olmsted County. Located on rolling bluffs on the Zumbro River's south fork in Southeast Minnesota, the city is the home and birthplace of the renowned Mayo Clinic. Acco ...

. He became interested in Shakespeare at age 9, during a class outing to see Laurence Olivier's film version of '' The Chronicle History of King Henry the Fifth with His Battell Fought at Agincourt in France'' (1944). He graduated from the

Yale School of Drama The David Geffen School of Drama at Yale University is a graduate professional school of Yale University, located in New Haven, Connecticut. Founded in 1924 as the Department of Drama in the School of Fine Arts, the school provides training in e ...

. He was a co-founder of Long Wharf Theatre in New Haven, Connecticut. He retired from the

University of California, Irvine The University of California, Irvine (UCI or UC Irvine) is a public land-grant research university in Irvine, California. One of the ten campuses of the University of California system, UCI offers 87 undergraduate degrees and 129 graduate and pr ...

, where he taught for twenty years. Knight coached voice, text, and dialects at many theatres, including the

Utah Shakespearean Festival The Utah Shakespeare Festival is a theatrical festival that performs works by Shakespeare as their cornerstone. The Festival is held during the summer and fall on the campus of Southern Utah University in Cedar City, Utah, United States. Awar ...

, the

Colorado Shakespeare Festival The Colorado Shakespeare Festival is a professional acting company in association with the University of Colorado at Boulder. It was established in 1958, making it one of the oldest such festivals in the United States, and has roots going back ...

La Jolla Playhouse La Jolla Playhouse is a not-for-profit, professional theatre on the campus of the University of California, San Diego. History La Jolla Playhouse was founded in 1947 by Gregory Peck, Dorothy McGuire, and Mel Ferrer. In 1983, it was revived under ...

South Coast Repertory South Coast Repertory (SCR) is a professional theatre company located in Costa Mesa, California. Tony Award-winning South Coast Repertory, founded in 1964 by David Emmes and Martin Benson, is led by Artistic Director David Ivers and Managing Direc ...

, and

American Conservatory Theater The American Conservatory Theater (A.C.T.) is a nonprofit theater company in San Francisco, California, United States, that offers both classical and contemporary theater productions. It also has an attached acting school. History The Ameri ...

.Find a Teacher or Location
From the mid to late 1970s, Knight hosted a weekly radio series, "The Graveyard Shift", on

KPFK KPFK (90.7 FM) is a listener-sponsored radio station based in North Hollywood, California, United States, which serves Southern California, and also streams 24 hours a day via the Internet. It was the second of five stations in the non-commerci ...

, Los Angeles, where he read famous horror stories. He was a Master teacher of Fitzmaurice Voicework, which is based on the teachings of

Catherine Fitzmaurice Catherine Fitzmaurice is the originator of Fitzmaurice Voicework, whose purpose "is to support people in finding and using their unique voices — in healthy, clear, and creative ways — while developing greater freedom and presence" and which is t ...

.Knight, Dudley
He conducted workshops where he taught Knight-Thompson Speechwork, a skills-based approach to speech and accent training for actors that places emphasis on developing the speaker's detailed awareness of and engagement with the skills that make up language. His 2012 book, Speaking With Skill, is considered a major work in its field.

Acting work

As an actor, he played major roles at

Mark Taper Forum The Mark Taper Forum is a 739-seat thrust stage at the Los Angeles Music Center designed by Welton Becket and Associates on the Bunker Hill section of Downtown Los Angeles. Named for real estate developer Mark Taper, the Forum, the neighboring ...

, and the Utah and Colorado Shakespeare Festivals, among others. He is also known for roles in such films as the TV movie ''

The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman ''The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman'' is a 1971 novel by Ernest J. Gaines. The story depicts the struggles of African Americans as seen through the eyes of the narrator, a woman named Jane Pittman. She tells of the major events of her life f ...

'' (1974), '' The Candidate'' (1972) and ''

One Is a Lonely Number ''One Is a Lonely Number'' (also known as ''Two Is a Happy Number'') is a 1972 American drama film directed by Mel Stuart, and starring Trish Van Devere, Janet Leigh, and Melvyn Douglas. The screenplay, based upon the short story "The Good Humor ...

'' (1972), as well as appearances on numerous TV series such as ''

M*A*S*H ''M*A*S*H'' (Mobile Army Surgical Hospital) is an American media franchise consisting of a series of novels, a film, several television series, plays, and other properties, and based on the semi-autobiographical fiction of Richard Hooker. The ...

'', '' Police Story'', ''

Eight is Enough ''Eight Is Enough'' is an American television comedy-drama series that ran on ABC from March 15, 1977, until May 23, 1981. The show was modeled on the life of syndicated newspaper columnist Tom Braden, a real-life parent with eight children, who ...

'', '' The Facts of Life'', and ''

Knots Landing ''Knots Landing'' is an American prime time television soap opera that aired on CBS from December 27, 1979, to May 13, 1993. A spin-off of ''Dallas'', it was set in a fictitious coastal suburb of Los Angeles and initially centered on the lives of ...

''.

Personal life and death

He was married to noted American painter and sculptor Marta Whistler. Dudley Knight died of a heart attack at his home in

Newport Beach, California Newport Beach is a coastal city in South Orange County, California. Newport Beach is known for swimming and sandy beaches. Newport Harbor once supported maritime industries however today, it is used mostly for recreation. Balboa Island, Newport ...

Filmography

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Knight, Dudley 1939 births 2013 deaths Voice coaches American voice directors Male actors from Minnesota People from Rochester, Minnesota American male film actors American male television actors University of California, Irvine faculty Yale School of Drama alumni