Michael Wallis (born October 7, 1945) is an American journalist, popular historian, author and speaker. He has written seventeen books,Danna Sue Walker
"Award-winning author speaks to library backers"
''

Tulsa World The ''Tulsa World'' is an American daily newspaper. It serves the city of Tulsa, Oklahoma, and is the primary newspaper for the northeastern and eastern portions of Oklahoma. The printed edition is the second-most circulated newspaper in the sta ...

'', March 7, 2010. including ''Route 66: The Mother Road'', about the historic highway

U.S. Route 66 U.S. Route 66 or U.S. Highway 66 (US 66 or Route 66) is one of the original highways in the United States Numbered Highway System. It was established on November 11, 1926, with road signs erected the following year. The high ...

. His work has also been published extensively in magazines and newspapers, including ''Time'', ''Life'', ''People'', ''Smithsonian'', ''The New Yorker'', and ''The New York Times''. Wallis is also the voice of Sheriff in the Disney/Pixar franchise ''

Cars A car, or an automobile, is a motor vehicle with wheels. Most definitions of cars state that they run primarily on roads, seat one to eight people, have four wheels, and mainly transport people rather than cargo. There are around one billio ...

''.

Awards and honors

Wallis has received the John Steinbeck Award, the

Arrell Gibson Arrell Morgan Gibson (1921–1987) was a historian and author specializing in the history of the state of Oklahoma. Gibson was born in Pleasanton, Kansas on December 1, 1921. He earned degrees from Missouri Southern State College and the Univers ...

Lifetime Achievement Award from the Oklahoma Center for the Book, the Will Rogers Spirit Award, and the Western Heritage Award from the National Cowboy Hall & Western Heritage Museum. He has been inducted into the Oklahoma Writers Hall of Fame, Writers Hall of Fame of America, and the Oklahoma Historians Hall of Fame, and was the first inductee into the Oklahoma Route 66 Hall of Fame. Michael Wallis and Joy Harjo - 01

Wallis was interviewed by Rep. Roy Blunt (R-Missouri) for '' After Words'' on Book TV, 29 April 2007, discussing his latest book, ''Billy the Kid: The Endless Ride.''

Other work

Wallis also provided the voice of

Sheriff A sheriff is a government official, with varying duties, existing in some countries with historical ties to England where the office originated. There is an analogous, although independently developed, office in Iceland, the , which is common ...

in the

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 ...

Pixar Pixar (), doing business as Pixar Animation Studios, is an American animation studio based in Emeryville, California, known for its critically and commercially successful computer-animated feature films. Pixar is a subsidiary of Walt Disney ...

''Cars'' franchise.

Personal life

Wallis was born in St. Louis, Missouri. He graduated from Western Military Academy in Alton, Illinois, in 1963. He later attended the

University of Missouri The University of Missouri (Mizzou or MU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Columbia, Missouri, United States. It is Missouri's largest university and the flagship of the four-campus Univers ...

in Columbia, and moved to

Miami Miami is a East Coast of the United States, coastal city in the U.S. state of Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade County in South Florida. It is the core of the Miami metropolitan area, which, with a populat ...

, Florida, in 1978, where he worked for ''

Time Time is the continuous progression of existence that occurs in an apparently irreversible process, irreversible succession from the past, through the present, and into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequ ...

''s Caribbean Bureau. He currently lives in

Tulsa Tulsa ( ) is the second-most-populous city in the state of Oklahoma, after Oklahoma City, and the 48th-most-populous city in the United States. The population was 413,066 as of the 2020 census. It is the principal municipality of the Tul ...

, Oklahoma, with his wife, Suzanne Fitzgerald Wallis.

Bibliography

* * * * * * * * * *

Filmography

Film

* '' American Traditions: A Journey Down Route 66'' (1994, documentary) host and guide (commentator) * ''

'' (2006) as Sheriff (voice) * '' Mater and the Ghostlight'' (2006, video short) as Sheriff (voice) * ''

Cars 2 ''Cars 2'' is a 2011 American animated spy comedy film produced by Pixar Animation Studios for Walt Disney Pictures. It is the sequel to '' Cars'' (2006), the second film in the ''Cars'' franchise, and the 12th animated film from the studio ...

'' (2011) as Sheriff (voice) * ''Voices of History'' (2014, short) as Narrator (voice) * '' Cars 3'' (2017) as Sheriff (voice)

Television

* ''

Cars Toons ''Cars Toons'' is an American animated short series based on the Cars (franchise), ''Cars'' franchise. It features Lightning McQueen, Mater (Cars), Mater, and their friends in comedic antics and adventures canonical to the films. Larry the Cable ...

'' (2010, 1 episode) as Sheriff (voice) * ''Cruisin' Route 66 with Michael Wallis'' (Season 1, 12–24 minute episodes) with updates from the 1994 show about Route 66 the Mother Road.

Video games

* ''

'' (2006) as Sheriff (voice) * '' Cars Mater-National Championship'' (2007) as Sheriff (voice) * '' Cars Race-O-Rama'' (2009) as Sheriff (voice) * '' Cars 2: The Video Game'' (2011) as Sheriff (voice) * '' Kinect Rush: A Disney-Pixar Adventure'' (2012) as Sheriff (voice)

Theme park attractions

* '' Radiator Springs Racers'' (2012) as Sheriff

References

External links

Michael Wallis Online
(official website) *
Voices of Oklahoma interview with Michael Wallis.
First person interview conducted on March 3, 2011, with Michael Wallis. * {{DEFAULTSORT:Wallis, Michael 1945 births 21st-century American historians 21st-century American male writers Historians of the American West Historians of the United States Living people Journalists from Missouri University of Missouri alumni American male voice actors Male actors from Missouri Male actors from Oklahoma Writers from Tulsa, Oklahoma 21st-century American male actors Historians from Missouri Historians of transport Writers from St. Louis 20th-century American historians American male non-fiction writers 20th-century American male writers