# John Rafter Lee

John Rafter Lee is an English actor, narrator, playwright and producer.

## Biography

Lee was born in England with Irish ancestry. His father worked as a carpenter and other men in his family were blacksmiths, brick layers and plumbers. Lee himself has worked in agriculture, picking fruit, which he considers much more difficult than voice acting.

## Career

Lee has narrated hundreds of audiobooks. "His trademark rich, smooth voice with its hint of a growl turns the word into a seduction", according to AudioFile. He has won numerous Audie Awards and AudioFile Earphones Awards, and he was named a Golden Voice by AudioFile in 2009.
In film, he portrayed the mysterious Trevor Goodchild in Peter Chung's Æon Flux. Other voice credits include Meier Link in both Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust and Vampire Hunter D, Pavlo Zaitsev in episode 16 of Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex, Jason Wynn in HBO's Spawn animated series, and Aristotle in Reign: The Conqueror. John also had a role as a voice actor playing Cid Bunansa in the video game Final Fantasy XII.
Lee was also the producer and screenwriter for the 2001 film Breathing Hard, in which he played the character John Duggan. His Æon Flux co-star Denise Poirier plays his wife Carol.
He has written the plays Blood and Milk, Hitler's Head, Passchendaele, Clean Souls and Frankincense. He has adapted into English Schiller's Don Carlos, Racine's Britannicus and Grabbe's Jest, Satire, Irony and Deeper Significance. Passchendaele received its first production at the New York Fringe Festival in August 2010.
His latest film, which he wrote and co-produced, is Forfeit, which received its premier at the 2007 South by Southwest Film Festival in Austin, Texas. He is currently writing a film to be shot in his hometown, Birmingham, England.

## Awards and honors

AudioFile named Lee a Golden Voice narrator.

### Awards

| Year | Title | Award | Result |
| 2003 | The Fifth Sorceress (2002) by Robert Newcomb | Audie Award for Science Fiction | Finalist |
| 2004 | A Death in Vienna(2004) by Daniel Silva | Earphone Award | Winner |
| 2006 | The Black Tattoo by Sam Enthoven | Listen Up Award for Teens | Winner |
| 2006 | Cloud Atlas (2004) by David Mitchell | Audie Award for Literary Fiction or Classics | Finalist |
| 2006 | The Sea by John Banville | Listen Up Award for Fiction | Winner |
| 2008 | Dreaming Void by Peter Hamilton | Listen Up Award for Science Fiction/Fantasy | Finalist |
| 2008 | The Long Walk by Sławomir Rawicz | Audie Award for Solo Narration - Male | Finalist |
| 2008 | Poe's Children: The New Horror, edited by Peter Straus | Listen Up Award for Full Cast/Multiple Voices | Finalist |
| 2008 | The Solitude of Thomas Cave (2007) by Georgina Harding | Earphone Award | Winner |
| 2008 | White Fang / Call of the Wild (1906) by Jack London | Audie Award for Classics | Finalist |
| 2008 | The White Tiger (2008) by Aravind Adiga | Earphone Award | Winner |
| 2008 | The White Tiger (2008) by Aravind Adiga | Listen Up Award for Fiction | Finalist |
| 2009 | The Count of Monte Cristo(1846) by Alexandre Dumas | Earphone Award | Winner |
| 2009 | The Count of Monte Cristo(1846) by Alexandre Dumas | Audie Award for Classic | Finalist |
| 2009 | The Count of Monte Cristo(1846) by Alexandre Dumas | Audie Award for Solo Narration - Male | Winner |
| 2009 | The White Tiger (2008) by Aravind Adiga | Audie Award for Literary Fiction | Finalist |
| 2009 | The White Tiger (2008) by Aravind Adiga | Audie Award for Solo Narration - Male | Finalist |
| 2010 | Operation Mincemeat by Ben Macintyre | Listen Up Award for Nonfiction | Winner |
| 2010 | The Price of Love and Other Stories (1999) by Anne Baker | Audie Award for Thriller or Suspense | Finalist |
| 2011 | Fall of Giants (2010) by Ken Follett | Audie Award for Fiction | Finalist |
| 2011 | This Body of Death by Elizabeth George | Audie Award for Mystery | Finalist |
| 2011 | The Woman in White (1859) by Wilkie Collins | Audie Award for Classic | Winner |
| 2012 | Double Cross by Ben Macintyre | Listen Up Award for Nonfiction | Finalist |
| 2013 | Dracula (1897) by Bram Stoker | Audie Award for Classic | Finalist |
| 2013 | Dracula (1897) by Bram Stoker | Audie Award for Distinguished Achievement in Production | Winner |
| 2013 | Dracula (1897) by Bram Stoker | Audie Award for Multi-Voiced Performance | Winner |
| 2013 | The Miracle of Mindfulness by Thich Nhat Hanh | Listen Up Award for Nonfiction | Finalist |
| 2014 | A Spy Among Friends by Ben Macintyre | Listen Up Award for Nonfiction | Winner |
| 2015 | A Spy Among Friends by Ben Macintyre | Audie Award for History or Biography | Finalist |
| 2016 | Sweetland (2015) by Michael Crummey | Audie Award for Literary Fiction or Classics | Finalist |
| 2018 | Darkest Hour (2017) by Anthony McCarten | Earphone Award | Winner |
| 2018 | Spellmonger, Book 1 by Terry Mancour | Audie Award for Fantasy | Finalist |
| 2019 | Darkest Hour (2017) by Anthony McCarten | Audie Award for History or Biography | Winner |
| 2020 | Lovely War (2019) by Julie Berry | Audie Award for Young Adult Title | Finalist |
| 2020 | The Splendid and the Vile (2020) by Erik Larson | Earphone Award | Winner |
| 2022 | The Man in the Brown Suit (1924) by Agatha Christie | Audie Award for Mystery | Finalist |

### "Best of" lists

| Year | Title | List |
| 2004 | A Death in Vienna by Daniel Silva | AudioFile Best of Mystery & Suspense |
| 2004 | White Fang / Call of the Wild (1906) by Jack London | AudioFile Best of Classics |
| 2007 | Midnight over Sanctaphrax by Paul Stewart and Chris Riddell | ALSC Notable Children's Recordings |
| 2008 | The Black Tattoo by Sam Enthoven | Selected Audiobooks for Young Adults |
| 2008 | The Solitude of Thomas Cave (2007) by Georgina Harding | AudioFile Best of Fiction |
| 2008 | The White Tiger (2008) by Aravind Adiga | AudioFile Best of Fiction |
| 2009 | The Count of Monte Cristo(1846) by Alexandre Dumas | AudioFile Best of Classics |
| 2010 | The Bell Ringers (2010) by Henry Porter | AudioFile Best of Mystery & Suspense |
| 2010 | The History of the Medieval World(2010) by Susan Wise Bauer | AudioFile Best of History & Historical Fiction |
| 2010 | The Price of Love and Other Stories (1999) by Anne Baker | AudioFile Best of Mystery & Suspense |
| 2010 | The Swan Thieves (2010) by Elizabeth Kostova | AudioFile Best of Fiction |
| 2013 | The Redeemer (2013) by Jo Nesbø | AudioFile Best of Mystery & Suspense |
| 2015 | The Abyss Beyond Dreams (2014) by Peter F. Hamilton | Booklist Editors' Choice: Audio for Adults |
| 2015 | The Abyss Beyond Dreams (2014) by Peter F. Hamilton | Booklist's Top 10 Adult SF/Fantasy/Horror on Audio |
| 2015 | Sweetland (2015) by Michael Crummey | AudioFile Best of Fiction |
| 2016 | The Hero With A Thousand Faces (1949) by Joseph Campbell | AudioFile Best of Nonfiction & Culture |
| 2017 | Prussian Blue (2017) by Philip Kerr | Booklist's Audio Stars for Adults |
| 2017 | Prussian Blue (2017) by Philip Kerr | Booklist Editors' Choice: Audio for Adults |
| 2017 | Prussian Blue (2017) by Philip Kerr | Booklist's Top 10 Crime Fiction Audiobooks |
| 2017 | The Thirst (2017) by Jo Nesbø with Neil Smith (trans.) | AudioFile Best of Mystery & Suspense |
| 2020 | Lovely War (2019) by Julie Berry | Amazing Audiobooks for Young Adults |
| 2020 | The Splendid and the Vile (2020) by Erik Larson | AudioFile Best of History & Biography |

## Filmography
### Film

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 1992 | Small Kill | Hit Man | |
| 1998 | Todd McFarlane's Spawn 2 | Jason Wynn | Voice |
| 1999 | Todd McFarlane's Spawn 3: The Ultimate Battle | Jason Wynn | |
| 1999 | George Lucas in Love | Ranter | Short |
| 1999 | Princess Mononoke | | Voice |
| 2000 | Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust | Meier Link | Voice |
| 2001 | Breathing Hard | John Duggan | Also writer and producer |
| 2003 | Jules Verne & Walt Disney: Explorers of Imagination | Narrator | Documentary |
| 2007 | Forfeit | — | Writer and producer |

### Television

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 1995 | Æon Flux | Trevor Goodchild | Voice, 10 episodes |
| 1997–1999 | Todd McFarlane's Spawn | Jason Wynn | Voice, 17 episodes |
| 2000 | Tenchi Muyo! Ryo-Ohki | Azusa Jurai | Voice, Episode: "Here Comes Jurai" |
| 2003 | Reign: The Conqueror | Aristotle | Voice, 4 episodes |
| 2003 | Ninja Scroll: The Series | Renya Yagyu | Voice |
| 2003–2004 | Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex | Kusunoki, Zaitsef, Security Guard, Yaku Humimari (voices) | Voice, 4 episodes |

### Video games

| Year | Title | Role |
| 2000 | Vampire Hunter D | Meier Link |
| 2000 | Vampire: The Masquerade – Redemption | |
| 2006 | Final Fantasy XII | Cid Bunansa |