David Frederick Case
David Frederick Case (April 25, 1932 – October 1, 2005), alias Frederick Davidson, was a prolific English narrator of over 700 audiobooks, primarily in the 1980s and 90s when the commercial audiobook industry was maturing.[1] He was one of the first inductees into the "Golden Voice" hall of fame started by the trade publication AudioFile.[2]
Early life
Case was born in London on April 25, 1932, to a father who made tombstones during the
Career
In 1976, he moved to San Francisco with his companion, Graham Watts.
Sigrid Hecht, co-founder of Books on Tape, was initially skeptical of his breathy interpretations.[2] However he would excel at British works, recording 13 novels by Anthony Trollope, 36 by P. G. Wodehouse and the entire "Forsyte" chronicles by John Galsworthy.[2] He worked as a freelance artist mostly for Books on Tape and Blackstone Audio during the 1980s and 1990s.[2] Depending on the publisher, he recorded as David Case (Books on Tape), Frederick Davidson (Blackstone), Edward Raleigh, James Nelson, and Ian McKay.[1][3]
Case was a popular narrator, "Readers said, 'Give me anything by Frederick Davidson,'" recalled Lysa Williams of
Death
Case, a lifelong smoker, developed throat cancer in 2000 but kept recording, though his output slowed.[2] He refused to stop smoking and doctors were forced to remove his larynx in May 2005, after which he lost his voice entirely.[3] He died at his home in El Sobrante, California on October 1, 2005, unable to utter a sound.[2][3] Case once said, "I really believe I was born to record audiobooks."[1]
References
- ^ a b c d e "Talking with David Case". AudioFile. Retrieved 30 December 2017.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Adam Bernstein (5 October 2005). "David Case, 73, Dies; Actor in Audio Books". The Washington Post. Retrieved 30 December 2017.
- ^ a b c d e f g h Michael Taylor (8 October 2005). "David Case -- audio book voice". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved 30 December 2017.
- ^ "David Case (VII) (1932–2005)". IMDb. Retrieved 31 December 2017.
- ^ "David Case, 73; Actor Was the Voice of Hundreds of Books on Audiotape". Los Angeles Times. 14 October 2005. Retrieved 30 December 2017.
- ^ Virgil L. P. Blake (1990). "Something New Has Been Added: Aural Literacy and Libraries". Information Literacies for the Twenty-First Century. G. K. Hall & Co. pp. 203–218. Retrieved 5 March 2014.
- ^ Katherine Powers (2 August 2005). "Book World Live". The Washington Post. Retrieved 30 December 2017.