Neil David Ross is a British–born actor. Noted for his Trans-Atlantic accent, he has provided voices in many American

cartoon A cartoon is a type of visual art that is typically drawn, frequently Animation, animated, in an realism (arts), unrealistic or semi-realistic style. The specific meaning has evolved, but the modern usage usually refers to either: an image or s ...

s, most notably ''

G.I. Joe ''G.I. Joe'' is an American media franchise and a line of action figures owned and produced by the toy company Hasbro. The initial product offering represented four of the branches of the U.S. armed forces with the Action Soldier ( U.S. Army), A ...

'', '' Spider-Man: The Animated Series'', '' My Life as a Teenage Robot'', '' Voltron'', and ''

Transformers ''Transformers'' is a media franchise produced by American toy company Hasbro and Japanese toy company Tomy, Takara Tomy. It primarily follows the heroic Autobots and the villainous Decepticons, two Extraterrestrials in fiction, alien robot fac ...

'', as well as video games. Ross has also provided voice roles (such as radio announcers) for many movies, including ''

Back to the Future Part II ''Back to the Future Part II'' is a 1989 American science fiction film directed by Robert Zemeckis from a screenplay by Bob Gale; both wrote the story. It is a sequel to the 1985 film ''Back to the Future'' and the second installment in the Back ...

'', '' Babe'', and '' Quiz Show''. He currently serves as the announcer for the primetime version of ''

Press Your Luck ''Press Your Luck'' is an American television game show created by Bill Carruthers and Jan McCormack. Contestants answer trivia questions to earn "spins" on a randomly cycling game board. The board's spaces display cash, prizes, extra spins, sp ...

'' on ABC. Ross was the announcer for the 75th Annual Academy Awards Telecast in 2003, and the

Emmy Awards The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the year, each with their own set of rules and award categor ...

Telecast in 2004. He has also narrated numerous episodes of A&E's ''

Biography A biography, or simply bio, is a detailed description of a person's life. It involves more than just basic facts like education, work, relationships, and death; it portrays a person's experience of these life events. Unlike a profile or curri ...

'', and many editions of ''

NOVA A nova ( novae or novas) is a transient astronomical event that causes the sudden appearance of a bright, apparently "new" star (hence the name "nova", Latin for "new") that slowly fades over weeks or months. All observed novae involve white ...

'' on

PBS The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcaster and non-commercial, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly funded nonprofit organization and the most prominent provider of educat ...

(including ''Mars – Dead or Alive'', which was nominated for an Emmy Award in 2004).

Career

He started working in radio when he finished school. His first station was KMUR in

Salt Lake City, Utah Salt Lake City, often shortened to Salt Lake or SLC, is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of cities and towns in Utah, most populous city of the U.S. state of Utah. It is the county seat of Salt Lake County, Utah, Salt ...

. Following this, he moved on to KORL,

KGMB KGMB (channel 5) is a television station in Honolulu, Hawaii, United States, serving the Hawaiian Islands as an affiliate of CBS. It is owned by Gray Media alongside dual NBC/Telemundo affiliate KHNL (channel 13) and Kailua-Kona–licensed KFVE ...

and KKUA in

Honolulu, Hawaii Honolulu ( ; ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Hawaii, located in the Pacific Ocean. It is the county seat of the Consolidated city-county, consolidated City and County of Honol ...

, before moving to KCBQ in

San Diego San Diego ( , ) is a city on the Pacific coast of Southern California, adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a population of over 1.4 million, it is the List of United States cities by population, eighth-most populous city in t ...

in 1969. He stayed in California, working on KYA San Francisco and KMPC Los Angeles. He made his last broadcast in 1985. He began his voice-over work in 1978 when he moved to Los Angeles. His first role was as a salesman in an episode of '' Richie Rich'' for

Hanna-Barbera Hanna-Barbera Cartoons, Inc. ( ; formerly known as H-B Enterprises, Hanna-Barbera Productions, Inc. and H-B Production Co.), simply and commonly known as Hanna-Barbera, was an American animation studio and production company, which was acti ...

. Ross has voiced radio and television

commercials A television advertisement (also called a commercial, spot, break, advert, or ad) is a span of television programming produced and paid for by an organization. It conveys a message promoting, and aiming to market, a product, service or idea. ...

for companies including

Wal-Mart Walmart Inc. (; formerly Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.) is an American multinational retail corporation that operates a chain of hypermarkets (also called supercenters), discount department stores, and grocery stores in the United States and 23 other ...

AT&T AT&T Inc., an abbreviation for its predecessor's former name, the American Telephone and Telegraph Company, is an American multinational telecommunications holding company headquartered at Whitacre Tower in Downtown Dallas, Texas. It is the w ...

Volkswagen Volkswagen (VW; )English: , . is a German automotive industry, automobile manufacturer based in Wolfsburg, Lower Saxony, Germany. Established in 1937 by German Labour Front, The German Labour Front, it was revitalized into the global brand it ...

Coca-Cola Coca-Cola, or Coke, is a cola soft drink manufactured by the Coca-Cola Company. In 2013, Coke products were sold in over 200 countries and territories worldwide, with consumers drinking more than 1.8 billion company beverage servings ...

Mattel Mattel, Inc. ( ) is an American multinational corporation, multinational toy manufacturing and entertainment company headquartered in El Segundo, California. Founded in Los Angeles by Harold Matson and the husband-and-wife duo of Ruth Handler, ...

, Goodyear,

Disney The Walt Disney Company, commonly referred to as simply Disney, is an American multinational mass media and entertainment industry, entertainment conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios (Burbank), Walt Di ...

, Hoover,

Anheuser-Busch Anheuser-Busch Companies, LLC ( ) is an American brewing company headquartered in St. Louis, Missouri. Since 2008, it has been wholly owned by Anheuser-Busch InBev SA/NV (AB InBev), now the world's largest brewing company, which owns multiple ...

Southwest Airlines Southwest Airlines Co., or simply Southwest, is a Major airlines of the United States, major airline in the United States that formerly operated on a low-cost carrier model. It is headquartered in the Love Field, Dallas, Love Field neighborhood ...

, and

Kelloggs Kellanova, formerly known as the Kellogg Company and commonly known as Kellogg's, is an American multinational food manufacturing company headquartered in Chicago, Illinois, US. Kellanova produces and markets convenience foods and snack f ...

, and has done promo works for

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS (an abbreviation of its original name, Columbia Broadcasting System), is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainme ...

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. It is one of NBCUniversal's ...

, ABC, TBS and

Fox Kids Fox Kids (originally known as Fox Children's Network and later as the Fox Kids Network; stylized in all caps) was an American children's programming block and branding for a slate of international children's television channels. Originally a j ...

, using an American accent in all of his performances. His best-known work in that field was as the promotional announcer for

Game Show Network Game Show Network (GSN) is an American basic cable channel owned by the television network division of Sony Pictures Television. The channel's programming is primarily dedicated to game shows, including reruns of acquired game shows, along wit ...

through the late 90s into the mid-2000s.

Filmography

Animation

Live action

* ''

'' – Announcer / Whammy (voice) * '' Superhuman Samurai Syber-Squad'' – Skorn ("His Master's Voice", "An Un-Helping Hand", "Loose Lips Sink Microchips"), Stupid Virus ("Cheater, Cheater, Megabyte Eater") (voices)

Movies

* '' Lifepod'' (1981) – Main Cerebral (voice) * '' The Transformers: The Movie'' (1986) – Bonecrusher /

Hook A hook is a tool consisting of a length of material, typically metal, that contains a portion that is curved/bent back or has a deeply grooved indentation, which serves to grab, latch or in any way attach itself onto another object. The hook's d ...

Springer Springer or springers may refer to: Publishers * Springer Science+Business Media, aka Springer International Publishing, a worldwide publishing group founded in 1842 in Germany formerly known as Springer-Verlag. ** Springer Nature, a multinationa ...

/ Slag (voice) * ''

An American Tail ''An American Tail'' is a 1986 American animated musical adventure comedy-drama film directed by Don Bluth and written by Judy Freudberg and Tony Geiss from a story by David Kirschner, Freudberg and Geiss. The film stars the voices of Phi ...

'' (1986) – Honest John (voice) * '' G.I. Joe: The Movie'' (1987) –

Buzzer A buzzer or beeper is an audio signaling device, which may be mechanical, electromechanical, or piezoelectric (''piezo'' for short). Typical uses of buzzers and beepers include alarm devices, timers, train and confirmation of user input such ...

/ Dusty / Monkeywrench /

Shipwreck A shipwreck is the wreckage of a ship that is located either beached on land or sunken to the bottom of a body of water. It results from the event of ''shipwrecking'', which may be intentional or unintentional. There were approximately thre ...

(voice) * ''

Innerspace ''Innerspace'' is a 1987 American science fiction comedy film directed by Joe Dante and produced by Michael Finnell, inspired by the 1966 film ''Fantastic Voyage''. The film stars Dennis Quaid, Martin Short, Meg Ryan, Robert Picardo, and Kevin ...

'' (1987) – Pod Computer (voice) * '' Little Nemo: Adventures in Slumberland'' (1989) – Oompa (voice) * ''

'' (1989) –

Biff Tannen Biff Tannen is a fictional character in the ''Back to the Future'' trilogy. Thomas F. Wilson plays Biff in all three films as well as the Universal Studios ride, and voiced the character in the animated series. Aidan Cutler played him in the or ...

Museum Narrator (voice) * ''

Dick Tracy ''Dick Tracy'' is an American comic strip featuring Dick Tracy, a tough and intelligent police detective created by Chester Gould. It made its debut on Sunday, October 4, 1931, in the '' Detroit Mirror'', and was distributed by the Chicago T ...

'' (1990) – Radio Announcer #3 (voice) * '' Gremlins 2: The New Batch'' (1990) – Announcer (voice) * ''

The Little Engine That Could ''The Little Engine That Could'' is an American folktale existing in the form of several illustrated children's books and films. The story originated and evolved in the early 20th century, but became widely known in the United States after publi ...

'' (1991, Short) – Doc / Control Tower / Handy Pandy (voice) * '' FernGully: The Last Rainforest'' (1992) – Elder (voice) * '' The Town Santa Forgot'' (1993) – Pout the Elf (voice) * '' Batman: Mask of the Phantasm'' (1993) – (voice) * ''

Thumbelina Thumbelina (; ) is a literary fairy tale written by Danish author Hans Christian Andersen. It was first published by C. A. Reitzel on 16 December 1835 in Copenhagen, Denmark, with "The Naughty Boy" and "The Travelling Companion" in the se ...

'' (1994) – Mr. Bear / Mr. Fox (voice) * '' A Troll in Central Park'' (1994) – Pansy (voice) * '' Quiz Show'' (1994) – Twenty-One Announcer * '' The Pebble and the Penguin'' (1995) – Scrawny (voice) * '' Babe'' (1995) – (voice) * '' The Secret of NIMH 2: Timmy to the Rescue'' (1998) – Doctor Valentine's assistant * '' Scooby-Doo! and the Witch's Ghost'' (1999) – Mayor Corey (voice) * '' Scooby-Doo and the Alien Invaders'' (2000) – Sergio (voice) * '' It's the Pied Piper, Charlie Brown'' (2000, TV Movie) – Interviewer (voice) * ''

The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie ''The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie'' is a 2004 American adventure comedy film, animated adventure comedy film based on the television series ''SpongeBob SquarePants''. It was co-written, co-produced, and directed by series creator Stephen Hill ...

'' (2004) – Cyclops Diver (voice) * '' Son of the Mask'' (2005) – Deep Alvey Avery (voice) * '' Tom and Jerry: The Fast and the Furry'' (2005) – Dr. Professor (voice) * '' The Ant Bully'' (2006) – Wasp #1 / Wasp #5 (voice) * ''

Garfield Gets Real ''Garfield Gets Real'' (also known as ''Garfield 3D'' in some regions) is a 2007 American animated adventure comedy film based on the comic strip ''Garfield''. It was produced by Paws, Inc. in cooperation with Davis Entertainment, and The An ...

'' (2007) – Wally / Charles (voice) * '' Dragonlance: Dragons of Autumn Twilight'' (2008) – Fizban / Paladine (voice) * ''

Garfield's Pet Force ''Garfield's Pet Force'' is a 2009 animated superhero comedy film based on characters from the Jim Davis comic strip ''Garfield'' and loosely based on the Pet Force novel series. It is the third installment of the animated movie series, follow ...

'' (2009) – Wally / Charles (voice) * '' The Outback'' (2012) – Monty (voice) * '' The Reef 2: High Tide'' (2012) – Schliemann (voice)

Video and computer games

* '' Command & Conquer: Renegade'' – Additional Voices * '' Command & Conquer: Generals'' – Additional Voices * '' Disney Universe'' – VIC * ''

Doom 3 ''Doom 3'' is a 2004 first-person shooter, first-person shooter game developed by id Software and published by Activision. ''Doom 3'' was originally released for Microsoft Windows on August 3, 2004, adapted for Linux later that year, and Vide ...

'' – Sergeant Kelly * '' Eternal Darkness: Sanity's Requiem'' – Dr. Edwin Lindsey * ''

Final Fantasy VII Remake is a 2020 action role-playing game developed and published by Square Enix for the PlayStation 4. It is the first in a planned trilogy of games remaking Square's '' Final Fantasy VII'' (1997), originally released for the PlayStation. An enhan ...

'' – Mayor Domino * '' Legacy of Kain'' – Malek the Paladin, King Ottmar, Elzevir the Dollmaker,

Rahab Rahab (; ) was, according to the Hebrew Bible in Joshua 2:1-24, a Canaanite who resided within Jericho in the Promised Land and assisted the Israelites by hiding two men who had been sent to scout the city before their attack. In the New Testam ...

* '' Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty'' –

Navy SEAL The United States Navy Sea, Air, and Land (SEAL) Teams, commonly known as Navy SEALs, are the United States Navy's primary special operations force and a component of the United States Naval Special Warfare Command. Among the SEALs' main funct ...

* '' Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater'' – Colonel Volgin * '' Monkey Island 2 Special Edition: LeChuck's Revenge'' – Wally B. Feed * '' The Curse of Monkey Island'' – Wally B. Feed * '' Ninja Gaiden'' – Murai * '' Onimusha 3'' – Guildenstern * '' Onimusha Blade Warriors'' – Guildenstern * '' RAGE 2'' – Dr. Kvasir, Wellspring Guard * '' Return to Monkey Island'' – Wally B. Feed * ''

Revenant In folklore, a revenant is a spirit or animated corpse that is believed to have been revived from death to haunt the living. The word ''revenant'' is derived from the Old French word (see also the related French verb ). Revenants are part o ...

'' – Sardok, Verhoevan, Townsmen * '' Rosewater'' - Doc Sedgwick, Oberlin, Quentin Ellis, Perry Cloud Smith, Buford, Roderick Nethersole * '' Spyro: Year of the Dragon'' – Moneybags, Bentley * '' Spyro: Enter the Dragonfly'' – Moneybags * ''

Spider-Man 3 ''Spider-Man 3'' is a 2007 American superhero film based on the Marvel Comics character Spider-Man. Produced by Columbia Pictures, Marvel Entertainment, and Laura Ziskin Productions, and distributed by Sony Pictures Releasing, it was directe ...

'' – Luke Carlyle * '' Star Wars: Rogue Squadron'' –

Han Solo Han Solo () is a fictional character in the ''Star Wars'' franchise. He was introduced in the 1977 film ''Star Wars (film), Star Wars'', and later appeared in ''The Empire Strikes Back'' (1980), ''Return of the Jedi'' (1983), ''Star Wars: The F ...

, General Rieekan * '' Star Wars: Rebellion'' – Han Solo, Stormtrooper, Imperial Command Center Communications Officer * '' Star Wars: X-Wing Alliance'' – Admiral Nammo, Concourse PA Announcer, Imperial Officer, Rebel Pilot * ''

The Bard's Tale ''The Bard's Tale'' is a fantasy role-playing video game franchise created by Michael Cranford and developed by Brian Fargo's Interplay Productions (1985–1992) and inXile Entertainment (2004–present). The initial title of the series was ...

'' – Additional voices * '' Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines'' – Gary Golden

References

External links

*
Voice demos
* *

Neil Ross interview
on Insomniac Mania {{DEFAULTSORT:Ross, Neil Living people British emigrants to the United States English male video game actors English male voice actors English radio personalities Game show announcers Year of birth missing (living people) 20th-century British male actors 21st-century British male actors 20th-century English male actors 21st-century English male actors