Michael Angelis

Michael Angelis (born in Liverpool, Merseyside, England, UK on 29 April 1944, died in Berkshire, England, UK on 30 May 2020) was a British actor and voice actor who was the longest running Thomas and Friends narrator, holding the position for 21 years. He narrated from the third to sixteenth seasons for the UK. He also narrated six American episodes on the New Friends for Thomas and Other Adventures DVD, the first six The Railway Stories CDs, other miscellaneous merchandise and promos/commercials.

## Bio

Angelis appears in many British television shows, such as "The Liver Birds", "Reilly: Ace of Spies", "Minder", "Sweet Medicine", "A & E", "Merseybeat", "A Touch of Frost", "Boys from the Blackstuff", "Midsomer Murders", "The Bill", "Auf Wiedersehen Pet", "I Woke Up One Morning", "George and Mildred", "Z Cars", and "Good Cop".

He has an older brother, Paul Angelis and was married to Helen Worth,an actor for the long-running soap, Coronation Street, from 1991 until 2001. He later married model Jennifer Khalastchi. Coincidentally, Paul provided the voice of Ringo Starr, who in reality was the previous narrator of Thomas & Friends in the UK and US, in the Beatles' animated film "Yellow Submarine".

He was originally hired to voice James and Percy in Thomas and the Magic Railroad, but was later replaced by Susan Roman and Linda Ballantyne respectively because the American test audience thought that he made the characters sound old.

Michael has also starred in various television adverts, including Stones Bitter, the Post Office, McDonald's and Think Road Safety Campaigns.

Angelis also narrated John Peel's autobiography, "Margrave of the Marshes", on BBC Radio 4 in 2005, later released by AudioGO. In 2006 he starred in the film, "Fated", set in his hometown of Liverpool, as well as in episodes of "Midsomer Murders" and "The Bill" in 2007.

In September 2011, he participated in the BBC Radio 4 programme "The Reunion" talking with other cast members about his roles in the landmark 1980's drama series "Boys from the Blackstuff".

Angelis died from a heart attack at his home in Berkshire on 30 May 2020, at the age of 76.

## Filmography

### Film

* A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square (1979)
* George and Mildred (1985)
* No Surrender (1985)
* Big Dreams and Paper Planes (1999)
* The Virgin of Liverpool (2003)
* Calling All Engines! (2005)
* Fated (2006)
* Hero of the Rails (2009)
* Misty Island Rescue (2010)
* Day of the Diesels (2011)
* Blue Mountain Mystery (2012)
* First Time Loser (2012)

### TV

* The Scobie Man (1972)
* Thirty-Minute Theatre (1972)
* Coronation Street (1972)
* Village Hall (1974)
* Z Cars (1972-1974)
* Rock Follies (1976)
* Crown Court (1977)
* Robin's Nest (1977-1978)
* Hazell (1979)
* Me You and Him (1979)
* The Black Stuff (1980)
* Minder (1980)
* The Little World of Don Camillo (1981)
* BBC2 Playhouse (1981)
* World's End (1981)
* Wood and Walters (1982)
* The Gaffer (1982)
* Boys from the Blackstuff (1982)
* The Professionals (1982)
* Reilly: Ace of Spies (1983)
* Bergerac (1983)
* Pride of our Alley (1983)
* I Woke Up One Morning (1985)
* Summer Season (1985)
* The Marksman (1987)
* Bread (1989)
* The Russ Abbot Show (1989)
* Single Voices (1990)
* G.B.H. (1991)
* Thomas & Friends (1991-2012)
* Wail of the Banshee (1992)
* Between the Lines (1992)
* Boon (1992)
* Casualty (1993-2015)
* Lovejoy (1993)
* Luv (1993)
* Woodcock (1994)
* September Song (1993-1995)
* Joseph (1995)
* The Liver Birds (1975-1996)
* Giving Tongue (1996)
* A Touch of Frost (1997)
* Melissa (1997)
* Harry Enfield and Chums (1997)
* The Ambassador (1998)
* The Jump (1998)
* Holby City (2000)
* Heartbeat (2000)
* Playing the Field (2000)
* Auf Wiedersehen, Pet (2002)
* Always and Everyone (2002)
* Sweet Medicine (2003)
* Midsomer Murders (2007)
* The Bill (2007)
* Good Cop (2012)

## Trivia

* Some episodes from foreign dubs of the television series have credited Michael Angelis as the narrator even though they were redubbed.
* Angelis and George Carlin were the last narrators to narrate Railway Series-based episodes until Mark Moraghan, as there were no more adaptations until 2015's The Adventure Begins. He was also the last UK narrator to narrate said adaptations for the classic era, with George Carlin being the last one doing so in the US.
* He was not credited in any of the fifth season intro segments for unknown reasons.
* Michael Angelis attended the Blue Carpet UK premiere event for Hero of the Rails on 26th September 2009.
* Despite being the UK narrator, he did narrate for the sixth season episode Jack Jumps In in the US, and until Thomas & Friends Classic Volume 6 was released on Amazon in May 2016 when Alec Baldwin's narration was released in the US, his narration for said episode was the only narration available for said episode.