Simon Micawber Prebble (born 13 February 1942) is an

English–American Multiple/dual citizenship (or multiple/dual nationality) is a legal status in which a person is concurrently regarded as a national or citizen of more than one country under the laws of those countries. Conceptually, citizenship is focused on t ...

narrator. Initially a stage actor, he has a wide-ranging career in television drama, was a game show announcer in Britain, and a

voice-over Voice-over (also known as off-camera or off-stage commentary) is a production technique where a voice—that is not part of the narrative (non-Diegetic#Film sound and music, diegetic)—is used in a radio, television production, filmmaking, th ...

narrator for television, and film. In recent years he has narrated a large number of audiobooks and received an

Audie Audie or Audy is a given name and a surname. Notable people with the name include: * Audie Bock (born 1946), American film scholar and politician who served in the California State Assembly from 1999 to 2000 *Audie Cole (born 1989), American Nation ...

(Audiobook award) in 2010.

Early life

Born and raised in

Croydon Croydon is a large town in south London, England, south of Charing Cross. Part of the London Borough of Croydon, a local government district of Greater London. It is one of the largest commercial districts in Greater London, with an extensi ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

, Simon Prebble is the son of the

novelist A novelist is an author or writer of novels, though often novelists also write in other genres of both fiction and non-fiction. Some novelists are professional novelists, thus make a living writing novels and other fiction, while others aspire to ...

screenwriter A screenplay writer (also called screenwriter, scriptwriter, scribe or scenarist) is a writer who practices the craft of screenwriting, writing screenplays on which mass media, such as films, television programs and video games, are based. ...

and

historian A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human race; as well as the stu ...

John Prebble John Edward Curtis Prebble, FRSL, OBE, (23 June 1915 – 30 January 2001) was an English journalist, novelist, and screenwriter. He is known for his studies of Scottish history. Early life He was born in Edmonton, Middlesex, England, but in 192 ...

and fashion artist Betty Prebble (both deceased). He is brother to Jolyon Gade Prebble and Sarah Bryony Prebble

Career

In 1960 he attended

Guildhall School of Music and Drama The Guildhall School of Music and Drama is a conservatoire and drama school located in the City of London, United Kingdom. Established in 1880, the school offers undergraduate and postgraduate training in all aspects of classical music and jazz ...

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

, and began his acting career in one of the UK's first live television

soap opera A soap opera, or ''soap'' for short, is a typically long-running radio or television serial, frequently characterized by melodrama, ensemble casts, and sentimentality. The term "soap opera" originated from radio dramas originally being sponsored ...

s, ''Home Tonight'', with

David Hemmings David Edward Leslie Hemmings (18 November 1941 – 3 December 2003) was an English actor and director. He is best remembered for his roles in British films and television programmes of the 1960s and 1970s, particularly the 1966 mystery film ' ...

. For the next eleven years he worked extensively on radio and television and in provincial repertory theatre, including a year with

Ian McKellen Sir Ian Murray McKellen (born 25 May 1939) is an English actor. His career spans seven decades, having performed in genres ranging from Shakespearean and modern theatre to popular fantasy and science fiction. Regarded as a British cultural i ...

's ''

Hamlet ''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play, with 29,551 words. Set in Denmark, the play depicts ...

''. In 1972, in a change of direction, he worked as a continuity announcer for Southern Television. Then, in 1973, Prebble joined

Capital Radio Capital London is a radio station owned and operated by the Global media company as part of its national Capital FM Network. As Capital Radio it was launched in the London area in 1973 as one of Britain's first two commercial radio stations. I ...

, the first legal commercial music station in the UK, where he hosted a daily news magazine programme ''London's Day''. He then embarked on a freelance career as a presenter and

announcer, including thirteen years as the promo voice of

Thames Television Thames Television, commonly simplified to just Thames, was a Broadcast license, franchise holder for a region of the British ITV (TV network), ITV television network serving Greater London, London and surrounding areas from 30 July 1968 until th ...

, and from 1984 he was the announcer for the British version of the game show ''

The Price Is Right ''The Price Is Right'' is a television game show franchise created by Bob Stewart, originally produced by Mark Goodson and Bill Todman; currently it is produced and owned by Fremantle. The franchise centers on television game shows, but also inc ...

'' with

Leslie Crowther Leslie Douglas Sargent Crowther, CBE (6 February 1933 – 29 September 1996) was an English comedian, actor, TV presenter, and game show host. Biography Crowther was born on Monday, 6 February, 1933 in West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire, son of ...

. In 1990, Prebble moved to

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

, where he continued doing voice-over work. As well as recording numerous radio and television commercials, he hosted and narrated several television documentary series, notably ''Target-Mafia''. He also voiced the Computer in ''

Courage the Cowardly Dog ''Courage the Cowardly Dog'' is an American animated comedy horror television series created by John R. Dilworth for Cartoon Network and distributed by Warner Bros. Domestic Television. It was produced by Dilworth's animation studio, Stretch Fil ...

'', which is probably the most famous role of his in the US. His film voice work includes playing

Ernest Shackleton Sir Ernest Henry Shackleton (15 February 1874 – 5 January 1922) was an Anglo-Irish Antarctic explorer who led three British expeditions to the Antarctic. He was one of the principal figures of the period known as the Heroic Age of ...

in the 2000 documentary ''

The Endurance ''The Endurance'' is a 2000 documentary film directed by George Butler about Ernest Shackleton's legendary Antarctic expedition in 1914. It is based on the book of the same name. ''Endurance'' was the name of the ship of Shackleton's expediti ...

''; he would reprise this role (as well as the complete narration) in 2007 for

Alfred Lansing Alfred Mark Lansing (July 21, 1921 – August 27, 1975) was an American journalist and writer, best known for his book '' Endurance: Shackleton's Incredible Voyage'' (1959), an account of Sir Ernest Shackleton's Antarctic explorations. Life Lansi ...

's seminal 1959 book '' Endurance: Shackleton's Incredible Voyage''. In 1996, he was a lead actor for a year (as the villain Martin Chedwyn) on the American daily soap opera ''

As the World Turns ''As the World Turns'' (often abbreviated as ''ATWT'') is an American television soap opera that aired on CBS for 54 years from April 2, 1956, to September 17, 2010. Irna Phillips created ''As the World Turns'' as a sister show to her other soa ...

''. In the US, his narration of

audiobook An audiobook (or a talking book) is a recording of a book or other work being read out loud. A reading of the complete text is described as "unabridged", while readings of shorter versions are abridgements. Spoken audio has been available in sc ...

s had now become his main occupation. Reviewing the

edition of

Jasper Fforde Jasper Fforde (born 11 January 1961) is an English novelist, whose first novel, ''The Eyre Affair'', was published in 2001. He is known mainly for his ''Thursday Next'' novels, but has published two books in the loosely connected ''The Big Over ...

's ''

The Big Over Easy ''The Big Over Easy'' is a 2005 novel written by Jasper Fforde. It features Detective Inspector Jack Spratt and his assistant, Sergeant Mary Mary. It is set in an alternate reality similar to that of his previous books: ''The Eyre Affair'', ...

'' in 2005, ''

Publishers Weekly ''Publishers Weekly'' (''PW'') is an American weekly trade news magazine targeted at publishers, librarians, booksellers, and literary agents. Published continuously since 1872, it has carried the tagline, "The International News Magazine of B ...

'' found that:

"Prebble's sonorous British voice is ideally suited to narrating this whimsical, fractured fairy tale; his tone and pacing match Fforde's prose perfectly, and his subtle vocal acrobatics enable him to amusingly bring to life the novel's wildly divergent cast of characters. Despite its many virtues, this is probably Fforde's weakest novel, lacking the literary sophistication of the Thursday Next books. But Prebble's performance easily makes this Fforde's best audiobook to date. Prebble's vibrant, all-star narration more than makes up for them".

As of 2020, he has recorded well over 950 titles. As one of '' AudioFile'' magazine's 'Golden Voices' and 'Best Voices of the Century', his work has gained him five 'Listen Up' awards, thirty-seven

Earphone awards ''AudioFile'' is a print and online magazine whose mission is to review "unabridged and abridged audiobooks, original audio programs, commentary, and dramatizations in the spoken-word format. The focus of reviews is the audio presentation, not the ...

, and in 2005, he was named 'Narrator of the Year' by ''Publishers Weekly''. Nominated seventeen times for the ' Audies' (the audiobook 'Oscars'), he was finally awarded a coveted 'Audie' in 2010, the year he was also named ''

Booklist ''Booklist'' is a publication of the American Library Association that provides critical reviews of books and audiovisual materials for all ages. ''Booklist''s primary audience consists of libraries, educators, and booksellers. The magazine is av ...

''s 'Voice of Choice'. In 2003, at

Chiswick House Chiswick House is a Neo-Palladian style villa in the Chiswick district of London, England. A "glorious" example of Neo-Palladian architecture in west London, the house was designed and built by Richard Boyle, 3rd Earl of Burlington (1694–1753 ...

, west London, he married Swedish graphic artist, Marie-Janine Hellstrom. In 2007, both he and his wife became US citizens.

References

External links

Simon Prebble
at the

British Film Institute The British Film Institute (BFI) is a film and television charitable organisation which promotes and preserves film-making and television in the United Kingdom. The BFI uses funds provided by the National Lottery to encourage film production, ...

*
Audio File Magazine Narrators recovered 11 Ap 2013
{{DEFAULTSORT:Prebble, Simon 1942 births Living people English male soap opera actors People from Croydon Audiobook narrators Game show announcers English male voice actors Naturalized citizens of the United States