Charles Daniel Hanks Jr. (July 21, 1940 – May 10, 2007), better known as Chuck Riley, was an American

voice actor Voice acting is the art of Acting, performing a character or providing information to an audience with one's voice. Performers are often called voice actors/actresses in addition to other names. Examples of voice work include animation, animated, ...

. He was famous for recording hundreds of movie trailers,

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. ...

, network promotions, and children's

audiobook An audiobook (or a talking book) is a recording of a book or other work being read out loud. A reading of the complete text is described as "unabridged", while readings of shorter versions are abridgements. Spoken audio has been available in sch ...

s. In his earlier years as a radio DJ, he was known as Chuck Dann and Charlie Tuna.

Life and career

Charles D. Hanks Jr. was born July 21, 1940, in Kaplan,

Louisiana Louisiana ( ; ; ) is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It borders Texas to the west, Arkansas to the north, and Mississippi to the east. Of the 50 U.S. states, it ranks 31st in area and 25 ...

. The first child born to Charles and Irene Hanks, he was nicknamed Danny. In 1952, the family moved to Duncan,

Oklahoma Oklahoma ( ; Choctaw language, Choctaw: , ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Texas to the south and west, Kansas to the north, Missouri to the northea ...

, where he graduated from high school in 1958. He was soon working at radio station KOMA in

Oklahoma City Oklahoma City (), officially the City of Oklahoma City, and often shortened to OKC, is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Oklahoma, most populous city of the U.S. state of Oklahoma. The county seat ...

, where he was first known as Chuck Dann, then later as Charlie Tuna. (It was at KOMA that Chuck Riley gave a young Art Ferguson his air name -- Charlie Tuna.) In 1964 he was on the air as Chuck Dann on CKY in

Winnipeg Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Manitoba. It is centred on the confluence of the Red River of the North, Red and Assiniboine River, Assiniboine rivers. , Winnipeg h ...

. From there he went to

WKYC WKYC (channel 3) is a television station in Cleveland, Ohio, United States, affiliated with NBC and owned by Tegna Inc. Its studios are located on Tom Beres Way (a section of Lakeside Avenue in Downtown Cleveland named after the station's lo ...

Cleveland Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located along the southern shore of Lake Erie, it is situated across the Canada–U.S. maritime border and approximately west of the Ohio-Pennsylvania st ...

in 1967, again as Chuck Dann. By 1972, he had married, had a son and was the dominant afternoon drive jock at WIBC in

Indianapolis Indianapolis ( ), colloquially known as Indy, is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Indiana, most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the county seat of Marion County, Indiana, Marion ...

as Chuck Riley, the name he would use from then on. Riley was also known throughout Indianapolis as the voice of Indy's 1st ever Rock 40 music station Stereo 93 WNAP having recorded the now legendary and iconic "The wrath of The Buzzard" TOH ID. During his years at WIBC, Riley would often travel to

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...

, to narrate various radio documentaries for CHUM 1050. He was first hired to be the 1st American imaging voice for the top rated CHUM AM, then in 1969, he narrated a 28 hour radio special titled ''"1050 CHUM's The history of Rock"''. Then in 1970, he was back in Toronto narrating ''"1050 CHUM's The story of The Beatles"'' a 12 hour history of the group that was also syndicated around the world. And then in 1976 came his biggest CHUM project yet ''"1050 CHUM's The evolution of Rock"'', a 64 hour special that took the CHUM listeners from the beginning of Rock 'N' Roll right up to 1976. ''"The evolution of Rock"'' won a prestigious Billboard Magazine Award for International Syndicated Special of the Year. The program was later syndicated around the world by TM Productions in Dallas. In 1979, Riley began a Hollywood voiceover career, moving his family to the San Fernando Valley in

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

. Within a year, he was one of the dominant voices in the industry. In the 1980s and 90s he did voice work for KMPC, KBIG, and KZLA-KPOL Los Angeles, CKY Winnipeg, KQWB Fargo N.D., WOGL Oldies 98.1 and WIBG Philadelphia, KVIL Dallas/Ft. Worth,

WQHT WQHT (97.1 FM broadcasting, FM, ''Hot 97'') is a commercial radio station, licensed to New York, New York, which broadcasts an urban contemporary music format. The station is owned by Mediaco Holding, a subsidiary of the Standard General hedge ...

Hot 103 and then Hot 97 New York, WLOL Minneapolis, WAVA Washington, D.C., and

KPWR KPWR (105.9 FM broadcasting, FM) – branded as ''Power 106'' – is a commercial radio station in Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California, broadcasting to the Greater Los Angeles area. KPWR is owned and operated by Alex Meruelo's Meruelo Group, t ...

Power 106

KXXX KXXX (790 AM broadcasting, AM) is a radio station broadcasting a farm and classic country radio format. Licensed to Colby, Kansas, United States, the station serves the tri-state region of Northwest Kansas, Northeast Colorado and Southwest Nebra ...

X-100

San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

, among others. In the early 1980s he became the voice of CBS television and Emmis Broadcasting. He went on to perform voice work for thousands of movies for the studios of

Warner Bros. Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (WBEI), commonly known as Warner Bros. (WB), is an American filmed entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California and the main namesake subsidiary of Warner Bro ...

, Universal, Fox and

Paramount Paramount (from the word ''paramount'' meaning "above all others") may refer to: Entertainment and music companies * Paramount Global, also known simply as Paramount, an American mass media company formerly known as ViacomCBS. **Paramount Picture ...

. In 1989, producer Doug Thompson, who'd worked with Chuck at CHUM Toronto moved to Los Angeles and hired Chuck to be the announcer on actor John Candy's weekly two-hour radio series, "Radio Kandy". He also narrated many productions and movies, such as Oliver Stone's ''

Nixon Richard Milhous Nixon (January 9, 1913April 22, 1994) was the 37th president of the United States, serving from 1969 until his resignation in 1974. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served as the 36th vice president under P ...

'', and CHUM's 1976 documentary ''The Evolution of Rock'', '' The Killing of America'', and ''Galaxies are Colliding''. He narrated hundreds of children's audio books, mainly Disney Read-Alongs, and was an announcer for numerous commercials. Up to his death, Riley was still recording voiceovers for

KABC-TV KABC-TV (channel 7) is a television station in Los Angeles, California, United States, serving as the West Coast flagship station of the ABC network. Owned and operated by the network's ABC Owned Television Stations division, the station mai ...

in Los Angeles.

Death

Chuck Riley died at age 66 of renal complications on May 10, 2007, in Sherman Oaks,

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

. He was survived by his five children.

Selected credits

*''

The Godfather ''The Godfather'' is a 1972 American Epic film, epic crime film directed by Francis Ford Coppola, who co-wrote the screenplay with Mario Puzo, based on Puzo's best-selling The Godfather (novel), 1969 novel. The film stars an ensemble cast inc ...

'' - Trailer voiceover * CHUM's 1976 radio documentary ''The Evolution of Rock'' - Narrator *'' E.T.'' - Trailer voiceover *'' The Killing of America'' – Narrator *''

Die Hard ''Die Hard'' is a 1988 American action film directed by John McTiernan and written by Jeb Stuart (writer), Jeb Stuart and Steven E. de Souza, based on the 1979 novel ''Nothing Lasts Forever (Thorp novel), Nothing Lasts Forever'' by Roderick ...

'' – Trailer voiceover *'' Child's Play 2'' – Trailer voiceover *'' Trump Card'' - Announcer *'' The Hand That Rocks the Cradle'' – Trailer voiceover *''Galaxies Are Colliding'' – Narrator *'' Il Postino'' – Trailer voiceover *Oliver Stone's ''

'' - Narrator *

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 ...

's '' The Hunchback of Notre Dame'' – Trailer voiceover *''

Boy Meets World ''Boy Meets World'' is an American coming-of-age sitcom created by Michael Jacobs and April Kelly that aired on ABC for seven seasons between September1993 and May2000. The series centers on Cory Matthews ( Ben Savage) and his friends and f ...

'' (TV Series) – Voice of the announcer *''Columbia TriStar Family Collection'' - Trailer voiceover *''

Titanic RMS ''Titanic'' was a British ocean liner that sank in the early hours of 15 April 1912 as a result of striking an iceberg on her maiden voyage from Southampton, England, to New York City, United States. Of the estimated 2,224 passengers a ...

'' - Trailer voiceover *'' Ronin'' – Trailer voiceover *''

Oklahoma City Bombing The Oklahoma City bombing was a domestic terrorist truck bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City, United States, on April 19, 1995. The bombing remains the deadliest act of domestic terrorism in U.S. history. Perpetr ...

'' (TV Special) – Narrator *''Susan Smith: Nine Days of Deception'' (TV Special) – Narrator *Disney's '' Treasure Planet: Disney Read Along'' – Narrator *''

Meet The Robinsons ''Meet the Robinsons'' is a 2007 American animated science-fiction comedy film produced by Walt Disney Animation Studios and released by Walt Disney Pictures. It is based on the 1990 children's book ''A Day with Wilbur Robinson'' by William Jo ...

'' – Narrator *Apollo 13: The True Story - Narrator *'' Hamburger Hill'' - Trailer voiceover

References

External links

VoiceHunter.com VO IconsChuck Riley obituary from LA TimesChuck Riley obituary at RadioWestChuck Riley obituary at NewYorkFreestyle.comChuck Riley obituary at WIBC Indianapolis websiteChuck Riley demo reel at VoiceHunter.comChuck Riley aircheck from WIBG PhiladelphiaChuck Riley voiceover of Columbia Tri-Star Family Collection DVD
* * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Riley, Chuck 1940 births 2007 deaths American male voice actors Audiobook narrators Game show announcers Male actors from Los Angeles People from Kaplan, Louisiana People from Sherman Oaks, Los Angeles