Rupert Joel Degas (born 17 August 1970) is an Anglo-Australian actor. He is best known for his voice work in animation and audiobooks. Since the 1980s, he has worked in audiobooks, film, podcasts, radio productions, television, theatre, and video games, and as a producer.

Early life and education

Degas was born on 17 August 1970 in

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 ...

, to producer and screenwriter

Brian Degas Brian R. Degas (2 October 1935 – 3 April 2020) was an English producer and writer, merchandiser, and creative packager of ancillary rights. Early career Degas was born to English parents on 2 October 1935 in Buenos Aires, Argentina. As ...

and radio/television presenter Maggie Clews. He was educated at

Hill House School Hill House International Junior School is an independent preparatory day school primarily in the Knightsbridge district of London. It was founded in September 1949 by athlete and Liberal Party politician Lt-Col Stuart Townend with his wife, Be ...

Knightsbridge Knightsbridge is a residential and retail district in central London, south of Hyde Park, London, Hyde Park. It is identified in the London Plan as one of two international retail centres in London, alongside the West End of London, West End. ...

and

Emanuel School Emanuel School is an independent, co-educational day school in Battersea, south-west London. The school was founded in 1594 by Anne Sackville, Lady Dacre and Queen Elizabeth I and occupies a 12-acre (4.9 ha) site close to Clapham Junction ra ...

Wandsworth Wandsworth Town () is a district of south London, within the London Borough of Wandsworth southwest of Charing Cross. The area is identified in the London Plan The London Plan is the statutory spatial development strategy for the Gre ...

Career

Animation

Best known as the voices of Zoomer and Scrambler in ''

Bob the Builder ''Bob the Builder'' is a British animated children's television series created by Keith Chapman for HIT Entertainment and Hot Animation. The series follows the adventures of Bob, a building contractor, specialising in masonry, along with ...

'' from 2004 to 2011, he got his voice acting career for animation, including ''

Chop Socky Chooks ''Chop Socky Chooks'' is a computer-animated action series produced by Aardman Animations, Decode Entertainment, and Cartoon Network Europe that ran on Cartoon Network from 7 March 2008 until 24 July 2009. It was created and directed by Sergio ...

'', ''

Robotboy ''Robotboy'' is a Anglo-French-American animated television series produced by Gaumont Animation (originally Alphanim) for France 3 and Cartoon Network Europe, in association with studios LuxAnimation and Cofinova 1 for ''Series 1'' only. In a to ...

'', ''

Thomas & Friends ''Thomas & Friends'' (originally known as ''Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends'' and later ''Thomas & Friends: Big World! Big Adventures!'') is a British children's television series that aired across 24 series from 1984 to 2021. Based on ''The ...

'' and ''

The Amazing World of Gumball ''The Amazing World of Gumball'' is an animated sitcom created by Ben Bocquelet for Cartoon Network. The series concerns the lives of 12-year-old Gumball Watterson, an anthropomorphic blue cat, and adoptive goldfish brother Darwin, who attend ...

''. He also played several characters in the animated feature film ''

Planet 51 ''Planet 51'' is a 2009 computer-animated science fiction comedy film directed by Jorge Blanco and co-directed by Javier Abad and Marcos Martínez, from a script by Joe Stillman, based on an original idea by Javier Abad, Jorge Blanco, Marcos ...

''. Since moving to Australia, Degas has provided voices for ''

The Wild Adventures of Blinky Bill ''The Wild Adventures of Blinky Bill'' is an Australian animated television series based on Dorothy Wall's books about Blinky Bill, and a sequel series to the 2015 film '' Blinky Bill the Movie''. Plot Blinky Bill is back to bring his tradema ...

'', '' Kitty Is Not a Cat'', '' The Strange Chores'', '' Maya the Bee: The Honey Games'', '' Bluey'', ''

Alien TV ''Alien TV'' is an animated series produced by Entertainment One and Pop Family Entertainment for Netflix. The plot revolves around a television news crew consisting of the extraterrestrials Ixbee, Pixbee and Squee, who are sent to learn about the ...

'', ''

Kangaroo Beach ''Kangaroo Beach'' is an Australian animated television series for preschool children which debuted on ABC Kids on 25 January 2021. It was created by Tim Bain, who is also a writer with Charlotte Rose Hamlyn, Simon Dodd and Samantha Carroll. P ...

'', '' 100% Wolf'', and '' Peter Rabbit 2: The Runaway''. In 2021, he narrated two episodes of ''

The Wheel of Time ''The Wheel of Time'' is a series of high fantasy novels by American author Robert Jordan, with Brandon Sanderson as a co-author for the final three novels. Originally planned as a six-book series, ''The Wheel of Time'' spans 14 volumes, in a ...

''.

Audiobook narration

Degas has narrated over 300 audiobooks. He has received particular critical acclaim for his performances of ''

The Name of the Wind ''The Name of the Wind'', also referred to as ''The Kingkiller Chronicle: Day One'', is a heroic fantasy novel written by American author Patrick Rothfuss. It is the first book in the ongoing fantasy trilogy ''The Kingkiller Chronicle,'' followe ...

'' by

Patrick Rothfuss Patrick James Rothfuss (born June 6, 1973) is an American author. He is best known for his duology ''The Kingkiller Chronicle'', which has won him several awards, including the 2007 Quill Award for his debut novel, ''The Name of the Wind''. Its ...

, and ''

Skulduggery Pleasant ''Skulduggery Pleasant'' is a series of dark fantasy novels written by Irish author Derek Landy. The books revolve around the adventures of fledgling detective Valkyrie Cain, her mentor Skulduggery Pleasant, along with other friends and allie ...

'' by

Derek Landy Derek Landy (born 23 October 1974) is an Irish author and screenwriter, best known for the ''Skulduggery Pleasant'' book series. Career Landy has written two screenplays that have been made into films, the IFTA award-winning '' Dead Bodies'' an ...

. Degas says of audiobooks, "I do accents. It's my specialty." ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'' called his voice performances "shape-shifting".. In 2022, Degas was inducted as a Golden Voice by ''AudioFile'' magazine.

Film and television

Degas' first film appearance was in Jerry Schatzberg's ''

Reunion Reunion may refer to: * Class reunion * Family reunion Reunion, Réunion, Re-union, Reunions or The Reunion may also refer to: Places * Réunion, a French overseas department and island in the Indian Ocean * Reunion, Commerce City, Colorado, U ...

'', followed by television appearances in ''Dead Romantic'', '' Over Here'', ''

A Touch of Frost A, or a, is the first letter and the first vowel of the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''a'' (pronounced ), plural ''aes'' ...

'' and ''Passport to Murder''. Other notable television appearances include ''

EastEnders ''EastEnders'' is a Television in the United Kingdom, British soap opera created by Julia Smith (producer), Julia Smith and Tony Holland which has been broadcast on BBC One since February 1985. Set in the fictional borough of Walford in the Ea ...

'', ''

Lovejoy ''Lovejoy'' is a British television comedy-drama mystery series, based on the novels by John Grant under the pen name Jonathan Gash. The show, which ran to 71 episodes over six series, was originally broadcast on BBC1 between 10 January 19 ...

'', ''

Van Der Valk ''Van der Valk'' is a British television crime drama series produced for the ITV network. The first series ran from 1972 to 1992; followed by a remake in 2020. Created by Nicolas Freeling and based on his novels about a detective in Amsterd ...

'', '' Waiting For God'', ''Lycée Alpin'', ''

Holby City ''Holby City'' (stylised on-screen as HOLBY CIY) is a British medical drama television series that aired weekly on BBC One. It was created by Tony McHale and Mal Young as a spin-off from the established BBC medical drama ''Casualty'', and pr ...

'', ''

Love Soup ''Love Soup'' is a British television comedy drama produced by the BBC and first screened on BBC One in the autumn of 2005. It stars Tamsin Greig as Alice Chenery (a role written especially for her) and Michael Landes as Gil Raymond (Series 1 on ...

'', ''

Shoot the Messenger "Shooting the messenger" is a metaphoric phrase used to describe the act of blaming the Porter (carrier), bearer of bad news. Until the advent of modern telecommunication, messages were usually delivered by human envoys. For example, in war, a ...

'', '' Nathan Barley'', and ''

Red Dwarf ''Red Dwarf'' is a British science fiction comedy franchise created by Rob Grant and Doug Naylor, which primarily consists of a television sitcom that aired on BBC Two between 1988 and 1999, and on Dave since 2009, gaining a cult following. T ...

''. Degas also provided the voice of the demon in both '' Exorcist: The Beginning'' and the 2013 film ''

Evil Dead ''Evil Dead'' is an American horror film franchise created by Sam Raimi consisting of four feature films and a television series. The series revolves around the ''Necronomicon Ex-Mortis'', an ancient Sumerian text that wreaks havoc upon a gro ...

''.

Theatre

Having been a regular ''Newsrevue'' performer at the Canal Café Theatre and at the Edinburgh Fringe, Degas made his West End theatre debut in '' Stones in His Pockets'' at The Duke of York's Theatre and the New Ambassadors Theatre, and then in the original Olivier Award winning London cast of '' The 39 Steps'' at The Tricycle Theatre before transferring to The Criterion Theatre in Piccadilly Circus. He has also performed in several plays at The Battersea Arts Centre, Latchmere Theatre and The Southwark Playhouse.

Radio and podcasts

On radio, Degas has performed in over eighty plays and series, most notably ''Grovers Mill'', and the BBC productions of ''

The Brightonomicon ''The Brightonomicon'' is a novel by British fantasy author Robert Rankin. The title parodies that of the fictional grimoire ''Necronomicon'' from the Cthulhu Mythos. The author lives in Brighton, England, and the book is set in an accurate fic ...

'', ''

Dirk Gently Dirk Gently (born Svlad Cjelli, also known as Dirk Cjelli) is a fictional character created by English writer Douglas Adams and featured in the books '' Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency'', ''The Long Dark Tea-Time of the Soul'' and '' T ...

'', ''

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy ''The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy'' (sometimes referred to as ''HG2G'', ''HHGTTG'', ''H2G2'', or ''tHGttG'') is a comic science fiction, comedy science fiction franchise created by Douglas Adams. Originally The Hitchhiker's Guide to th ...

'', and ''

Starship Titanic ''Starship Titanic'' is an adventure game developed by The Digital Village and published by Simon & Schuster Interactive. It was released in April 1998 for Microsoft Windows and in March 1999 for Apple Macintosh. The game takes place on the ep ...

''. He also played Pantalaimon in the full cast audio production of ''

His Dark Materials ''His Dark Materials'' is a trilogy of fantasy novels by Philip Pullman consisting of '' Northern Lights'' (1995; published as ''The Golden Compass'' in North America), ''The Subtle Knife'' (1997), and ''The Amber Spyglass'' (2000). It follows ...

''. Degas is also a regular contributor to the weekly satirical podcast ''A Rational Fear''.

Awards and honours

* ''AudioFile'' Earphones Award - 18 honours as of April 2022. * 2008

Odyssey Award The Odyssey Award for Excellence in Audiobook Production is an annual award conferred by the American Library Association upon the publisher of "the best audiobook produced for children and/or young adults, available in English in the United State ...

for ''Skulduggery Pleasant'' * 2021

Australian Book Industry Awards The Australian Book Industry Awards (ABIA) are publishers' and literary awards held by the Australian Publishers Association annually in Sydney "to celebrate the achievements of authors and publishers in bringing Australian books to readers". ...

(ABIAs) - Shortlisted for Audiobook of the Year - ''Mammoth'' by Chris Flynn * 2022 ''AudioFile'' Golden Voice

References

External links

Rupert Degas Website
*

{{DEFAULTSORT:Degas, Rupert 1970 births Living people 20th-century British male actors 21st-century British male actors Audiobook narrators English film producers English male child actors English male film actors English male stage actors English male television actors English male voice actors English voice directors People educated at Emanuel School People educated at Hill House School Blinky Bill British emigrants to Australia