Lenne Hardt (born May 10, 1963) is an American voice actress and

ring announcer A ring announcer is an in-ring (and sometimes on-camera) employee or contractor for a boxing, professional wrestling or mixed martial arts event or promotion, who introduces the competitors to the audience. In boxing and mixed martial arts bouts ...

for

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

ese

mixed martial arts Mixed martial arts (MMA) is a full-contact fighting combat sport, sport based on strike (attack), striking and grappling; incorporating techniques from various combat sports from around the world. In the early 20th century, various inter-s ...

organizations. Her resume includes

PRIDE Fighting Championships PRIDE Fighting Championships (Pride or Pride FC, founded as KRS-Pride) was a Japanese mixed martial arts promotion company. Its inaugural event was held at the Tokyo Dome on October 11, 1997. Pride held more than sixty mixed martial arts even ...

DREAM A dream is a succession of images, ideas, emotions, and sensation (psychology), sensations that usually occur involuntarily in the mind during certain stages of sleep. Humans spend about two hours dreaming per night, and each dream lasts around ...

ONE Championship ONE Championship, formerly ONE Fighting Championship (ONE FC) until January 2015, is a Multinational corporation, multinational combat sports Promoter (entertainment), promotion founded on 14 July 2011 by Chatri Sityodtong and Victor Cui. Origi ...

and Glory World Series and she currently works in

Rizin Fighting Federation Rizin Fighting Federation (stylised in all caps and also known as Rizin FF) is a Japanese mixed martial arts organization created in 2015 by the former Pride Fighting Championships and Dream Stage Entertainment president Nobuyuki Sakakibara. ...

. She is also the official announcer for Japanese idol group

Momoiro Clover Z is a Japanese idol girl group, commonly abbreviated as MCZ or . The four members of MCZ are known for energetic performances, incorporating elements of ballet, gymnastics, and action movies. MCZ is notable for being the first female group to ho ...

, and was the official athlete announcer for the 2022 ADCC World Championship hosted by Seth Daniels from F2W

Biography

Hardt was the youngest of six children and an

Air Force An air force in the broadest sense is the national military branch that primarily conducts aerial warfare. More specifically, it is the branch of a nation's armed services that is responsible for aerial warfare as distinct from an army aviati ...

brat. Although she was born in

Alaska Alaska ( ) is a non-contiguous U.S. state on the northwest extremity of North America. Part of the Western United States region, it is one of the two non-contiguous U.S. states, alongside Hawaii. Alaska is also considered to be the north ...

she spent much of her childhood in

Idaho Idaho ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest and Mountain states, Mountain West subregions of the Western United States. It borders Montana and Wyoming to the east, Nevada and Utah to the south, and Washington (state), ...

. Hardt and her siblings were home-schooled. At the age of 17, Hardt lived in Japan for a year with her brother and sister-in-law, who were already long-time residents of the country. Hardt returned to the U.S. and attended

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private university, private research university in New York City, New York, United States. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded in 1832 by Albert Gallatin as a Nondenominational ...

to study the Japanese language and arts before permanently moving to Japan in 1988. While in Tokyo she met her future-husband, a New Zealander. In addition to working as a disc jockey and announcer for television and radio, she has worked as a voice actress for the English dubs of Japanese anime and video games. She also performs as a theater actor and comedian.

Ring announcing

Hardt entered into a career as an English language announcer for mixed martial arts events in 2000 at PRIDE's first Grand Prix. PRIDE officials needed an announcer fluent in English and Japanese. Although she had no experience with the sport, her agent contacted her about the job and she took it simply because it fit into her schedule. Hardt became a self-described fan of the sport and continued as the English announcer for PRIDE until its final event. When the former staff of PRIDE created DREAM, Hardt was carried over as well. Hardt has also worked with Japanese

pro wrestling Professional wrestling, often shortened to either pro wrestling or wrestling,The term "wrestling" is most often widely used to specifically refer to modern scripted professional wrestling, though it is also used to refer to real-life wrest ...

organization

New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) is a Puroresu, Japanese professional-wrestling Professional wrestling promotion, promotion founded on January 13, 1972, by Antonio Inoki, and based in Nakano, Tokyo. It is currently majority owned by card-game company Bushiroad, with TV As ...

as a special guest English language ring announcer for their January 4 Tokyo Dome shows, announcing both Wrestle Kingdom 8 in 2014 and

Wrestle Kingdom 9 Wrestle Kingdom 9 in Tokyo Dome was a professional wrestling pay-per-view event produced by the New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) Professional wrestling promotion, promotion, which took place at the Tokyo Dome in Tokyo, Japan on January 4, 201 ...

in 2015. Hardt's energetic style, which usually includes high-pitched screeching and long

alveolar trill The voiced alveolar trill is a type of consonantal sound used in some spoken languages. The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet that represents dental consonant, dental, alveolar consonant, alveolar, and postalveolar consonant, postalve ...

s, has earned her notoriety within the promotion. Fans have dubbed her "Crazy PRIDE Lady" and many fighters admit to getting "pumped up" by her introductions. She uses singing techniques to prevent damage to her throat rather than take measures to mitigate the damage. In 2022, Hardt was the announcer for the ADCC Worlds No-Gi grappling championship and performed the ceremonial fighters' presentation.

Filmography

Anime roles

*'' BeyWheelz'' - Ring Announcer *''

Hayate the Combat Butler is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Kenjiro Hata. It was serialized in Shogakukan's ''Weekly Shōnen Sunday'' magazine from October 2004 to April 2017. Shogakukan released 52 volumes in Japan from February 2005 to ...

'' - MC (ep. 28) *'' Idaten Jump'' *'' Kinnikuman Nisei: Ultimate Muscle II'' - Herself (ep. 9) *''

Kirarin Revolution is a Japanese manga series by An Nakahara. The series ran in the shōjo manga, ''shōjo'' manga magazine ''Ciao (magazine), Ciao'' from March 2004 to June 2009, with side stories running in ''Pucchigumi'' in 2006. The manga has sold a cum ...

'' *'' Mobile Suit Gundam Unicorn'' - Operator (ep. 1) *'' Ring ni Kakero 1'' - Ring Call *'' TONIKAWA: Over the Moon for You'' - Game Announcer

Television Drama roles

*''

Kikai Sentai Zenkaiger is a Japanese ''tokusatsu'' television series, the 45th entry in Toei's long-running ''Super Sentai'' series, and the second produced in the Reiwa era. Additionally, it commemorates the 45th anniversary of the ''Super Sentai'' franchise and is t ...

'' - Zenkaiger Equipment Voice

Video game roles

*'' Air Gallet'' - Narrator *'' Confidential Mission'' *''

Nightshade Solanaceae (), commonly known as the nightshades, is a family of flowering plants in the order Solanales. It contains approximately 2,700 species, several of which are used as agricultural crops, medicinal plants, and ornamental plants. Many me ...

'' - Vocals ("It's My Day") *'' Countdown Vampires'' - Jane Dark, Three Witches, Additional Voices *'' EA Sports MMA'' - Herself (Japanese and Vale Tudo rules) *'' FantaVision'' - Announcer *''Fighting for One Piece'' - System Voice *'' Futari no Fantavision'' - Announcer *'' Kinnikuman Muscle Grand Prix'' Series - Announcer *''

Kinnikuman Muscle Generations ''Galactic Wrestling: Featuring Ultimate Muscle'', known in Japan as ', is a PlayStation 2 game produced by Bandai and released in 2004. ''Galactic Wrestling: Featuring Ultimate Muscle'' is an expansion of the GameCube game ''Ultimate Muscle: Le ...

'' - Announcer *''

Octomania ''Octomania'' (''Noumiso Konekone Puzzle Takoron'' also ''Sharuui * Takoron'' in Japan) is a puzzle game by Compile Heart and Idea Factory for the Wii. It is an enhanced version of an arcade title released in 2006 running on Sega NAOMI hardware. ...

'' - Angelique, Fei Fei *'' Phantasy Star Nova'' - System Voice *''

Pride Fighting Championships PRIDE Fighting Championships (Pride or Pride FC, founded as KRS-Pride) was a Japanese mixed martial arts promotion company. Its inaugural event was held at the Tokyo Dome on October 11, 1997. Pride held more than sixty mixed martial arts even ...

'' - Herself *'' Space Griffon VF-9'' - Maria Hansfield *''

Tekken 8 is a 2024 fighting game developed by Bandai Namco Studios and Arika and published by Bandai Namco Entertainment. It is the eighth main installment (and tenth overall entry) in the ''Tekken'' series and the first one to debut on home systems ins ...

'' - Arena Announcer *'' The Transformers'' - Arcee *'' UFC Undisputed 3'' - Herself (PRIDE mode) *'' Yakuza 0'' - Coliseum Announcer

References

External links

* *
Aoni Production pageLenne's Webpage page
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hardt, Lenne 20th-century American actresses 21st-century American actresses Actresses from Alaska American expatriates in Japan American video game actresses American voice actresses Dream (mixed martial arts) Living people Mixed martial arts announcers Pride Fighting Championships Date of birth missing (living people)