- Peter Thomas (television narrator)
Infobox Person
name = Peter Thomas
image_size =
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birth_date =Birth date and age|1924|06|28
birth_place =Pensacola, Florida
death_date =
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residence =Naples, Florida
nationality = American
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known_for = His instantly recognizable voice.
education =
occupation =Narrator
spouse = Stella Thomas (??-present)
children = Peter Thomas, Jr.
parents = Dr. John D. Thomas Sibyl (Addenbrooke) Thomas
website =
footnotes =Peter Thomas (born
June 28 ,1924 ) is a well known American narrator oftelevision programs, including shows such as "Nova" and more recently "Forensic Files ". Thomas is known for his crystal clear voice and precise diction. He has been a narrator for over fifty years.Biographical sketch
Thomas was born in
Pensacola, Florida to Dr. John D. Thomas and Sibyl Addenbrooke. His Welsh father, a Presbyterian minister, and his English mother, a schoolteacher from Salisbury, stressed the importance of reading, education and memorization to their son. Thomas says that his father always stressed mental images as an important speaking tool. For example, he told his son if he were talking about horses he had to picture horses in his mind.Thomas began his career at fourteen as an announcer on a local
radio show. Since the station could not pay him, due to his age, they arranged for the sponsor,Piper Aircraft , to give him flying lessons in aPiper Cub . Within just a few years, Thomas would be hostingBig Band remotes.With the onset of
World War II he volunteered into theUnited States Army in 1943, after being offered anArmed Forces Radio deferment, and served with the First Infantry Division in five major campaigns, including theBattle of Normandy and theBattle of the Bulge . He was issued aBattle star for each of the five campaigns. He was also awarded the Bronze Star, thePurple Heart , the Unit FrenchCroix de guerre , and BelgianFourragère .Thomas has received many awards for his work but cites, as one of his best, the Oscar won by a documentary he narrated, "One Survivor Remembers." The film, produced by
HBO , chronicles the personal experience of Gerda Weissman Klein, who was interned at theNordhausen Concentration Camp when she was a teenager. Thomas' unit participated in the haunting liberation of Nordhausen. Klein and Thomas met during the post-production of the documentary, and again at its premier. Thomas also participated in an HBO film on the battle for the Hürtgen Forest, in which he fought with the1st Infantry Division (United States) . Thomas was also the narrator for a miniseries that ran on The Discovery Channel in 1993 entitled "How The West Was Lost".Mr. Thomas is married to Stella Thomas, formerly Stella Ford Barrineau, and lives in
Naples, Florida . He is involved in work with veterans, having served on the board of the National D-Day Memorial Foundation and in other similar roles.He works out of his home and, through
ISDN , at recording studios all across the country. Also using ISDN, he continues narrating at recording studios inNew York City , where he worked for the bulk of his narration career. Prior to pursuing narration full-time, he was a New York anchor forCBS News . He still keeps an apartment in midtown Manhattan for recordings which require his actual presence there. He has recorded in many European capitals and in various cities across this country, as well.He is the father of
Peter Thomas, Jr , who is also a professional narrator.Other notable work
Peter Thomas has also performed voice-overs for hundreds of television commercials, including
Coca-Cola ,IBM ,NBC ,United Technologies ,Burger King ,Yoo-hoo chocolate-flavored beverage, and "The Greatest Hits ofSlim Whitman ."His was the voice heard in Paul Hardcastle's controversial 1985 song "19," which Mr. Hardcastle composed after being inspired by a 1984 ABC documentary on the
Vietnam War , entitled "Vietnam Requiem" which was narrated by Mr. Thomas.His voice is also heard as the digitized voice for Philips' HeartStart series of automated external defibrillator (AED) units used by emergency services nationwide. Thomas' voice prompts instruct emergency personnel on when to perform such tasks as starting and stopping CPR, when to press the button to deliver a shock and when the AED is analyzing the patient.
He is also in high demand for political advertisements. He has also narrated the CD version of "Tuck Everlasting", a novel by Natalie Babbitt.
Recently, Peter has been narrating the Burger King "Whopper Freakout" commercials.
External links
* [http://www.forensicfiles.com/petertribute.htm Peter Thomas Tribute] - from truTV's "
Forensic Files ".
* [http://www.bizjournal.com/content/article.php?id=164 Article on Peter Thomas at the "Blue Ridge Business Journal"]
* [http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0859354/bio Internet Movie Database Biography of Peter Thomas]
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