Edward Herrmann had a true love for audiobooks, which shone in his trailblazing performances. As he put it himself, "I love the spoken word. I love hearing it. The way the words can seduce you." Throughout his rich and storied career, Herrmann—who passed away in 2014 at the age of 71—won numerous Audie Awards and Earphones Awards, an AudioFile Golden Voice Award, a Tony Award, a Primetime Emmy Award, and many others.
Herrmann had a certain knack for bringing histories and biographies to life. His voice was authoritative but warm, and lent the perfect dash of gravitas to true tales of courage and heroism like Unbroken and The Boys in the Boat. He also narrated the personal stories of many giants of modern history, including Albert Einstein, George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, and Lou Gehrig. The common thread is that each story grabs you and takes you on a journey.
As an audiobook performer, Herrmann believed his role was "reading a story to someone, not narrating," and that approach made Herrmann a favorite among early fans of the audiobook format. "It’s a very specialized art form," he once said. "The voice is important in a way that it is not in film or television. The whole character and color of the emotional life of a scene must be conveyed by the voice of the actor alone."
From the time he was a young boy, Herrmann loved how stories stirred his imagination, and he eventually pursued drama studies at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art on a Fulbright Fellowship. He began acting on stage on Broadway, but quickly transitioned to film and TV, where he's beloved for his appearances on MASH, Grey’s Anatomy, The Good Wife, Gilmore Girls, The History Channel, The Wolf of Wall Street, and The Aviator. He also (fittingly) portrayed Franklin D. Roosevelt onscreen three times.
Discover more great listens narrated by Edward Herrmann
