James Rowley French (September 23, 1928 – December 20, 2017) was an American radio presenter, voice actor, writer and producer who wrote and produced over 803

radio program A radio program, radio programme, or radio show is a segment of content intended for broadcast on radio. It may be a one-time production, or part of a periodically recurring series. A single program in a series is called an episode. Radio netw ...

s and provided the voice of Father

Grigori Grigory, Grigori and Grigoriy () are Russian masculine given names. Russian version of Gregory (given name). Grigory * Grigory Baklanov (1923–2009), Russian novelist * Grigory Barenblatt (1927–2018), Russian mathematician * Grigory Bey-Bi ...

in the 2004 video game ''

Half-Life 2 ''Half-Life 2'' is a 2004 first-person shooter game developed and published by Valve Corporation. It was published for Windows on Valve's digital distribution service, Steam. Like the original ''Half-Life'' (1998), ''Half-Life 2'' is played ent ...

'', as well as several other roles in

Valve A valve is a device or natural object that regulates, directs or controls the flow of a fluid (gases, liquids, fluidized solids, or Slurry, slurries) by opening, closing, or partially obstructing various passageways. Valves are technically Pip ...

titles such as William "Bill" Overbeck in the ''

Left 4 Dead ''Left 4 Dead'' is a 2008 first-person shooter game developed by Valve South and published by Valve. It was originally released for Windows and Xbox 360 in November 2008 and for Mac OS X in October 2010, and is the first title in the '' Left 4 ...

'' franchise and the Elder Titan in ''

Dota 2 ''Dota 2'' is a 2013 multiplayer online battle arena (MOBA) video game by Valve Corporation, Valve. The game is a sequel to ''Defense of the Ancients'' (''DotA''), a community-created Mod (video gaming), mod for Blizzard Entertainment's ''War ...

''.Mclennan, Douglas (October 6, 1997) 'Retired' KIRO host French to tape 100th radio drama. ''

Seattle Post-Intelligencer The ''Seattle Post-Intelligencer'' (popularly known as the ''Seattle P-I'', the ''Post-Intelligencer'', or simply the ''P-I'') is an online newspaper and former print newspaper based in Seattle, Washington (state), Washington, United States. Th ...

''; accessed June 21, 2017.

Life and career

French became morning DJ on

KIRO (AM) KIRO (710 Hertz, kHz "Seattle Sports") is a commercial radio, commercial AM broadcasting, AM radio station in Seattle, Seattle, Washington, owned by Salt Lake City–based Bonneville International. The station airs a sports radio radio format, f ...

in Seattle in 1959.Bundy, June (January 19, 1959). Vox Jox. ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

'' He later began production of ''

Imagination Theatre ''Imagination Theatre'' is an American syndicated radio drama program airing on AM broadcasting, AM and FM broadcasting, FM radio stations across the United States. It features modern radio dramas. The program first aired in 1996. Originally prod ...

'', which in 2003 moved to

KIXI KIXI (880 AM broadcasting, AM) is a radio station licensed to Mercer Island, Washington, Mercer Island/Seattle, Seattle, Washington. It operates 24 hours a day with a daytime power of 50,000 watts and a nighttime power of 10,000 watts from a tra ...

Virgin, Bill (January 9, 2003). 'Imagination Theatre' goes to new home at KIXI. ''

'' His syndicated programs are now broadcast on over 120 stations in the U.S. and Canada, and are also heard on the

XM Satellite Radio XM Satellite Radio Holdings Inc. (XM) was one of the three satellite radio ( SDARS) and online radio services in the United States and Canada, operated by Sirius XM Holdings. It provided pay-for-service radio, analogous to subscription cable ...

system all over North America. He made an appearance on NBC's ''

Pandora's Clock ''Pandora's Clock'' (also known as ''Doomsday Virus'') is a 1996 NBC miniseries based on a novel by John J. Nance about a deadly virus on a Boeing 747-200 from Frankfurt to John F. Kennedy International Airport. Directed by Eric Laneuville, th ...

'' (1996) in the role of an Army non-com. He provided the voice for the Scientist in '' Gunman Chronicles'', Father Grigori in ''

'', the Fisherman in '' Half-Life 2: Lost Coast'', Bill in the games ''

Left 4 Dead 2 ''Left 4 Dead 2'' is a 2009 first-person shooter video game developed and published by Valve. The sequel to '' Left 4 Dead'' (2008) and the second game in the '' Left 4 Dead'' series, it was released for Microsoft Windows and Xbox 360 in November ...

'' and '' Payday: The Heist'' (as a cameo in the opening cutscene to one of the missions), and Elder Titan in ''

''. In late January 2017, it was formally announced via the ''Imagination Theatre'' Facebook page that, due to age and health issues, Jim French and his family would be closing down their production company, Jim French Productions, and discontinuing all broadcasts of ''Imagination Theatre'' at the end of March 2017. French died on December 20, 2017, at age 89. He was predeceased by his wife Pat, who had died earlier the same year. ''Imagination Theatre'' is now produced by Aural Vision, LLC.

Filmography

Video games

References

External links

Jim French Productions
* {{DEFAULTSORT:French, Jim (radio) 1928 births 2017 deaths 20th-century American male actors 21st-century American male actors 20th-century American male writers 21st-century American male writers American dramatists and playwrights American male dramatists and playwrights American male radio actors American male video game actors American male voice actors Mass media people from Pasadena, California Writers of Sherlock Holmes pastiches

Life and career

Filmography

Video games

See also

References

External links