Katie Leigh
Voice Actor
Councilor of the Voice Actors Branch for The Creators Society
The subject of this week’s Member Spotlight article is about a person whose work we are all familiar with. Katie Leigh, Councilor of the Voice Actors Branch for The Creators Society, has acted in personal TV favorites of mine such as “Gummi Bears,” “Rugrats,” and “Darkwing Duck.” She has also taken on roles that span generations, i.e. Baby Rowlf in “Jim Henson’s Muppet Babies'' and Dumbo in “Dumbo’s Circus.” We often hear about people being “made for a career” or that things seem “destined” for certain people. I don’t know about all that, but if voice acting had its own Yellow Brick Road, Katie Leigh found some awfully comfy ruby slippers quite early into her journey.
Ms. Leigh was born in Carmel, CA, then raised in the San Fernando Valley. People would comment on her voice and tell her that she should try voice over work. She didn’t take it seriously until she moved to San Francisco for school. “I was told I needed a demo, and I found Lucille Bliss in San Francisco. She was the voice of Smurfette,” Katie recalls, “Anyway, I audited the last session of a series of VO classes she had been teaching. I think she promised her students a demo at the end. Somehow we just put together some scripts and went to the studio and recorded my demo sometime after that. I never really took her course. I guess she thought I could do it.”
Well, Ms. Bliss thought right. After that initial demo was produced, Katie set her sights on getting representation in Los Angeles. “I got my LA agent when I called Cunningham, Escott & Dipene (Now CESD) to inquire about representation, and one of the voiceover agents actually answered the phone because the receptionist was on a break! She really liked my voice and invited me to come into the office and read for them. I had just graduated and took a bus to Los Angeles to meet them.”
At this point in her young career many people obviously thought that Katie had promise, but she was not taking anything for granted. She remained focused, even imposing a timeline for herself. “I really didn't know if I had what it took to be successful. When I moved back to Los Angeles, I gave myself 2 years to make it work. If I wasn't successful after 2 years, then I would pursue something else. Thankfully, it didn't come to that,” she said.
Not by a long shot. Katie Leigh has been working consistently in voiceover for decades. She has even been voicing the character of Connie Kendall in the radio program “Adventures in Odyssey” since 1987. That is career longevity that any actor would be jealous of.
When I asked Katie how she has managed to have such an impressive body of work for so long, she kept it very simple, “Well, part of it is a growing circle of "friends" or colleagues you develop with each gig or series. People, in general, like to work with people they know, like, and can count on to provide them with what they need. I suppose as people get to know me, they know my range and what I can provide. It isn't like everybody is working all the time with the same people. It is more like an overlapping supply of gigs. Just when one job ends, you might hear from someone you worked with five years ago. So longevity in the business and persistence is important. I also have tried to maintain a certain presence so people know I'm still alive!”
Even though Ms. Leigh has been working for quite some time, do not think that she has become complacent or banal in her approach to the craft of voice acting. I wanted to know how she keeps her work and her characters fresh.
She said, “Every scenario and situation is fresh to whatever character I'm playing. So I think it's more about keeping my reactions and attitude fresh. Being open to new experiences for my characters, just like being open to new experiences in my real life keeps everything fresh, I think.”
She has, however, adjusted and learned a thing or two over her years in the business. She says that, “My approach to work, maybe, has changed in the way I look for it and evaluate it, if you are talking about new jobs. I also have to admit that after 40 years of reading scripts, there is a certain amount of predictability regarding characters and plots. So I feel more like I have a handle on what is going on most of the time.” Katie also adds, “As far as characters evolving, well, yes my characters have matured and so have I, so I get to tap into that and so do the writers. Let's face it, I only read what is given to me and fortunately my voice has stayed pretty consistent over the years. However, my voice has also developed so that I can play much more mature roles than I could when I was younger. My life experience helps inform that as well.”
With a long, successful career comes more and more recognition and, in Katie Leigh’s case, a touch of fame. I wanted to know what it was like going from a working VO actor to someone that people were asking her for autographs and asking her to give talks at ComiCon, and the like – When did she start to feel that she had arrived at an iconic professional level? I wanted to know what it was like adjusting to that new reality - if it was challenging in any way?
“I have lived long enough to know that things don't always last, so I try to enjoy every minute,” she wisely responds. “Just this past weekend I was signing autographs with the creator of Adventures in Odyssey (the radio show mentioned earlier) and he asked me if I realized that we were rather famous and how it feels rather strange. I think it surprised me at first because that kind of "iconic" level is only experienced by actors who live long enough to experience it. So, I am thankful to still be alive! I appreciate hearing the impact my work has had on people who share their experiences with me at the conventions. It is rather surreal. Most actors I know, including myself, who find themselves in the same position are touched and humbled by it all. I just try to be thankful and enjoy it all one day at a time. Keep in mind that most of our fans were in elementary school when the work was on the air. It takes a long time to be a happy childhood memory for people, so this kind of thing doesn't happen overnight and it is a pleasant surprise.”
Although, with a seemingly perfect career, Katie Leigh, like all of us, had moments in her early career when she wasn’t perfect. She offers this bit of caution that we could all benefit from hearing: “I made the mistake of assuming things would never change. I made the mistake of thinking I was more important than I was. I made the mistake of thinking that showing up late was ok. I made the mistake of turning down work and thinking it would be there when I got ready to do it again. I also made the mistake of sharing negative thoughts about situations and people. This is a very small world. Everybody knows everybody.”
Indeed. The animation and voiceover worlds are very small, however Katie Leigh is doing her part to spread her knowledge and talent with an up-and-coming generation of aspiring voice actors through coaching. A couple of tips that she offered to a young person wanting to break into animation was to, “Read children's picture books out loud. Develop the ability to produce character voices on the spot. Take improv classes. Get out and meet people and learn everything you can for free on the internet. Find someone you truly admire and ask if you can shadow them, if they are open to it without being weird.” Yeah, it's always a good idea not to be weird. My wife would probably say that I could use a little practice in that regard. Ha!
In recent years, Ms. Leigh has taken on directing. I wanted to know how she got started and if being on the other side of the table has given her an insight to acting for animation that she hadn’t seen before. “Oh yes!” she exclaimed, “I have learned so much, and have so much more to learn. I decided I wanted to direct so I started telling people I was a director, believe it or not. Then I was asked to direct! I also help with casting which I enjoy tremendously because I like to get people work. It's satisfying, like matchmaking. I really love directing, but the work behind the scenes is more than I anticipated. I also am trying to learn a less wordy vocabulary as a director.” And if wearing that many hats weren’t enough, Katie has a new internet show to promote.
“I just started a YouTube show with a guy I've worked with the most in my life, Will Ryan (who once was president of ASIFA, btw). It is called “Tell Ya Later” and we discuss our careers and old actors and trivia and everything under the sun. It's like a variety show ‘Where you learn so much about so little, and vice versa!’ We also wrote a book together called Adventures in Oddity.”
Katie also wanted to tell us that “Shimajiro” will be coming back with new episodes. She tells me that it is a cartoon for little kids in which she plays many characters. “Shimajiro” is also adapted, directed and produced by one of our fellow Creators Society members, Valeria Zunzun. Gotta love Creators working together!
Katie Leigh is quite the remarkable person. Not only is she “The Voice of Your Childhood,” as it says on her website, but she is an incredibly kind, talented and hard-working person who has proven herself time and time again. As a voice actor myself, Katie Leigh is truly an inspiration and someone that, we as an animation community, are lucky to have amongst us.
