Happy 85th Birthday Sir Sean of Connery!!

I'd like to wish my 'almost' namesake a very Happy 85th Birthday. I was bought this fantastic picture for a birthday of my own and now it has pride of place in my corner office. 

My mother and father were 'courting' when they went to see Sean Connery's first Bond film 'DR NO' in 1962. When they had me in 1965 of course they decided to call me 'Sean', why not - their surname was Connolly?! Decades of jokes followed, during my school life and later in my professional life as an actor. Being a somewhat diminutive chap, a gem that was often used was "003 1/2"... as I came to the end of my training at drama school I was told my real name was so similar to that of the great man's that it would have to go before Equity Council to judge whether I could keep it as my stage name, fortunately they decided I could, phew! 

Through my 25 years plus of being an actor I have disappointed many a BBC receptionist, if they hadn't looked quite close enough at who they were actually expecting! I've had fan letters, telling me that I was their favourite James Bond and for a while a yearly invitation to contribute to a celebrity cookbook in aid of charity!! I've battled with Google (not an actual battle but a technical one!) to try and get it to recognise me as separate entity (from Billy Connolly too I might add!), hence the little comment on the About me bit of this Blog!

Nothing really bad has happened (so far!) and in truth it has also been a useful thing over the years with casting directors etc ... "Oh yeah, you're that bloke sounds a bit like Sean Connery"! Of course I have also been obliged to hone my Sean Connery impression over time and I am proud to report that I have been paid actual money to use it!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY SIR SEAN OF CONNERY, still the best Bond in my humble opinion!

Doctor Who Audio Covers & Vocal Samples - BIG FINISH.

Following my recent work with BIG FINISH PRODUCTIONS, I thought it might be fun to look back at some of the Audio Adventures I've been involved in so far. I'm really looking forward to seeing what the design guys at Big Finish are going to come up with for the individual cover of 'Doctor Who: Classic Doctors - New Monsters - The Sontaran Ordeal'.

From my SOUNDCLOUD site, here's some audio samples of my work with Big Finish. 

CBeebies TV Series 'LITTLE PRAIRIE DOGS' summer repeat.

I was delighted to see that 'LITTLE PRAIRIE DOGS', a series I voiced for the CBeebies Channel enjoyed a very recent TELEVISION REPEAT from July 27th to August 7th. I was only made aware of it a few days ago by a friend who has a suitably aged child. It has now finished it's telly run but the whole series is still available on the BBC's iPLAYER until early September.

Kate Sachs and Sean Connolly record voices for the CBeebies TV Series 'LITTLE PRAIRIE DOGS' ...

Wow five years certainly goes quickly, I have such fantastic memories of the recording sessions in a very snowy Bristol! Pictured above is yours truly and the wonderful KATE SACHS (daughter of Andrew) in mid-session!. I voiced all the male Prairie Dogs and Kate the female ones. It seems that the BBC repeat the series at least once a year, usually during the summer hols. Lovely to see it again.

Shaun the Sheep - A Collection of Mock Film Posters

To celebrate last weeks release of 'SHAUN THE SHEEP THE MOVIE' in the USA, here's a small collection of some of the brilliant Mock Film Posters, Aardman put out for the promotion of the film ...