Interview with... Keith Scott

And now it is my honour to bring to you an interview I conducted with one of the most hardest working voice actors in Australia... Keith Scott.

From Blinky Bill, to George Of The Jungle, to The Adventures Of Rocky And Bullwinkle, you have no doubt heard Keith's voice here or there.



Here's the good man himself.

And yep, here's Blinky. Remember Blinky Bill?

Keith does. :)

Now on to the interview.

1. What drew you to voice-over work?

I was drawn to voice-over work from a very early age. Once we got a new-fangled TV set way back in 1959 (when I was just six), I was immediately aware of the tonalities of the actors doing voices for cartoons, and I was only in primary school! I took it so seriously, in fact, that in my teens I wrote to Daws Butler (voice of Yogi Bear, etc.), Bill Scott (original voice of Bullwinkle, etc.), June Foray (voice of Rocky the squirrel) and various other actors to ask about their careers and for advice on techniques, and I only kept getting more intrigued with the history and art of audio acting as the years went by. So I think I was destined to be a voice actor. And I was a mimic at school, due to possessing a pretty sharp ear for inflections.

2. What preparation work do you do before each production?

As to preparation before each production, I always try to bring something extra to whatever I’m asked to do, whether it’s an exaggerated accent, a zany cartoon voice or an impersonation. So I maintain a very large audio library of reference samples (voices of politicians, movie stars, cartoon characters, and so on). And I still study them diligently, as I like to be authentic.

3. You’ve worked on both Aussie and American icons (Blinky Bill, & Rocky And Bullwinkle respectively). What expectations and differences did you experience between the two?

There were no differences in expectations working on the bigger American productions. Just that the budget was bigger, the cast members more famous; but my approach was exactly the same as for local work. I simply believe in lots of pre-job practice, and trying to give 110 per cent in my performances.

4. You’ve done impersonations of some of Australia’s biggest political figures. Have you ever met them in person?

Yes, I’ve met various political big-wigs who have actually seen me performing (doing their voices) while they were sitting in the audience – pretty scary (they being Gough Whitlam, Malcolm Fraser, Bob Hawke, John Howard and others).

5. It seems these days that people believe they can step in and do voice-over work. What advice do you have for wannabe voice-over artists?

For wannabe voice-over artists my advice is try to be unique. Today there is MUCH more competition, and the trend has moved to more ordinary man/woman-in-the-street type voices. It’s also much more a youth market these days. So my advice is simply to be unique and don’t copy what sounds trendy. Years ago my advice was different – back then I would urge people to develop a large range of accents and voices, but that really no longer applies. I came from the last generation of radio actors and today that is a forgotten art-form, more’s the pity.

6. What was it like to work on the big US production, The Rocky And Bullwinkle Movie?

The Rocky & Bullwinkle Movie was a real dream come true for me, as I was the show’s biggest fan back in the late 1960s/early 70s. I ended up writing a book about all the cartoons from that studio (Jay Ward Productions). So it was an honour and a real kick to be flown to Hollywood (same thing for George of the Jungle which I narrated).

Well there you go everyone. I hope you enjoyed that as much as I did setting it up, composing the questions, and literally bugging Keith for his responses.

My apologises also to Keith for the delay in getting this blog finalised. I hope you like the finished product.

Thanks also for taking the time and answering my questions Keith. You're a top bloke and I really appreciate all the effort you went into making this interview happen.

Of course I wish you all the very best, as I'm sure my readers do too.

What did you think of this interview? Please comment, or email me directly at mgbouw@yahoo.com.au