RoboCop
I am sitting in a den, in an easy chair, on a high point in the middle of Montana when I turn on the television.
The original RoboCop is about to begin. I haven't seen it since I attended the premiere over thirty years ago.
Ed Neumeier, the screenwriter, was my housemate at the time. He suggested to Paul Verhoeven that he use me in the demo. Paul and I sat in the front row of a small, dark theater on the Sony lot in Culver City to record the voiceover. The sound man was right in front of us with his recorder and boom. The scenes were projected on the screen. It took less than half an hour.
As we left, the sound man called after me, "You have a nice voice."
The decision was made to use my voice in the final cut.
I am not credited.
Watching the film, as if for the first time, I am struck by the prominence of my voice, the police dispatcher. I also realize how essential the actual sound of my voice is to the soundscape of the film. It’s a bright soprano sound in darkness. That sound tells RoboCop where to go.