Matt Zimmerman (actor)

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Matt Zimmerman
Born (1934-12-26) December 26, 1934 (age 87)
Greater Sudbury, Ontario, Canada
Alma materLondon Academy of Music and Dramatic Art
OccupationActor
Years active1965–2015
TelevisionThunderbirds
Spouse(s)
Shirley Chapman
​
​
(m. 1962; died 2002)​
[1]

Matt Zimmerman (born December 26, 1934)[2] is a Canadian retired actor. He is best known as the voice of Alan Tracy in the 1960s television series Thunderbirds and sequel films Thunderbirds Are Go and Thunderbird 6.

Life and career[]

Born in Greater Sudbury, Ontario, Canada, and educated in Detroit, Michigan, United States, Zimmerman started acting at an early age.[2] He attended Bowling Green State University, Ohio, where he was a telecommunications major. Having won a scholarship, he moved to the United Kingdom in 1959 to study drama at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art (LAMDA), where he was a contemporary of Ed Bishop.[citation needed]

Zimmerman was cast as Alan Tracy in Thunderbirds after being recommended to producers Gerry and Sylvia Anderson by David Holliday, the voice of Virgil Tracy.[3] In an interview, he remembered of his casting: "They were having great difficulty in casting the part of Alan Tracy as they wanted a certain sound for him ...As I walked in [Sylvia Anderson] looked at me and said, 'Don't talk! Oh, my god, you've got those big eyes and the cleft in the chin and the cheek bones, and if you were blond you'd look very much like Alan.' She said, 'Now, sit down. What's your name again?' And I said, 'My name is Matt Zimmerman and I'm from Detroit, Michigan,' and she said, 'That's the voice!' And that's how I got the job."[3]

Besides voicing Alan, Zimmerman, like other actors on the series, also voiced various minor characters. He made a live-action appearance in one episode of UFO ("Exposed", 1970) among the Andersons' other TV productions.

He also starred as Shooty in The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. Other TV appearances include T-Bag, Mike and Angelo, Crazy Like a Fox, Never the Twain, in addition to many commercials, most notably for Wrangler Jeans.[citation needed]

In 2015, Zimmerman appeared in the Thunderbirds revival Thunderbirds Are Go; he played Professor Harold in the episode "Tunnels of Time".[citation needed]

Also a stage actor, he has starred in plays such as Annie Get Your Gun,[4][5] Anything Goes, Once in a Lifetime and West Side Story, and made his most recent West End appearance in Fiddler on the Roof at the Savoy Theatre in London.[6] In 2008, he appeared in the touring cast of Cabaret, taking the role of Herr Schultz.

As of 2022, Zimmerman is one of only two Thunderbirds cast members living, the other being David Graham, the voice of Gordon Tracy, Brains, Aloysius Parker (which he reprised in the 2015 revival), and Kyrano.

Filmography[]

References[]

  1. ^ "Shirley CHAPMAN Obituary (2002) - the Vancouver Sun". Legacy.com.
  2. ^ a b "Matt Zimmerman". Northern Stars. Archived from the original on 11 October 2014. Retrieved 9 January 2012.
  3. ^ a b Marcus, Laurence; Webb, Paul; Hulse, Stephen R. (2001). "Interview: Matt Zimmerman". televisionheaven.co.uk. Archived from the original on 21 January 2013. Retrieved 17 January 2014.
  4. ^ Bush, Richard (1986). Annie Get Your Gun (CD booklet). Suzi Quatro. London, United Kingdom: . p. 23. OCR CD6024.
  5. ^ "First Night Records Online Store, Annie Get Your Gun – 1986 London Cast". first-night-records.co.uk. London, United Kingdom: First Night Records. Retrieved 3 June 2012.
  6. ^ http://www.fiddlerontheroofthemusical.com/

External links[]

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