So I rented The Bard’s Tale for PS2 tonight. The game is pretty mediocre, but the voicework is not bad, not bad at all. Cary Elwes does the main voice (it doesn’t sound at all like him, but that’s who the book says it is), and the narrator is played by Tony Jay (not Ricky Jay, the guy with the cards). Tony Jay is a British actor with a very famous voice. Among other things, he played Shere Khan in the Tailspin animated series– remember that? I’m sure you’ve heard him other places as well. This, of course, got me thinking about some of my other favorite voice actors.

David Warner: If David Warner never did anything else, he would be on this list for being Ra’s Al-Ghul in the Batman animated series. The way he slyly calls Batman “Detective” made me wonder if Ra’s Al-Ghul isn’t really my favorite Batman foe. He was also the Lobe in Freakazoid, a short but sweet little series, and played in the British Horatio Hornblower series. Next up, he’s set to be in the movie based on the British TV comedy League of Gentlemen.

Keith David: I’ve shared my admiration of Keith David before on RJ’s. He’s one of those actors that can play any part, and yet isn’t really recognizable in anything. You’ve seen him in There’s Something About Mary, Pitch Black, and Agent Cody Banks (ok, maybe not Agent Cody Banks), but I’m sure you still wouldn’t recognize him unless you were a Keith David fan. If you’ve heard his voice work, though, you probably are– he’s the posterboy for strong, exotic dudes. He played Goliath in Disney’s great series Gargoyles, and Spawn in Todd McFarlane’s less great HBO series. Maybe he’ll get some cred when he shows up with Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie in Doug Liman’s Mr. and Mrs. Smith later this year.

John Rhys-Davies: Of everyone on this list, John Rhys-Davies is probably the person you know most– he’s Gimli the Dwarf from the Lord of the Rings movies. But you may not know that he also was the voice of Treebeard the Ent. Whenever you need a rough and tumble Scottish accent John Rhys-Davies is your guy. He also showed in Gargoyles as Macbeth, and in almost all of the Wing Commander games. He got a little press this year for a rumor linking him to the new Star Wars villian General Grevious, later revealed untrue.

Park Overall: There are lots of female voice artists, but it seems like most of them end up reading for laundry commercials or playing kids, and not very many of them actually stands out for me. Park Overall is the exception, however, for her amazing part in The Critic. She has a rough and perky Southern accent that was played perfectly and made a second season addition of a character one of the best parts of the show. She also showed up in Kindergarten Cop, Talk Radio, and Mississippi Burning, and was a series regular on Empty Nest.

Cam Clarke: When Baldur’s Gate: Dark Alliance first came out, my friend called me over to his house, and put in the game to show me one thing. I sat there as he played through the first level, constantly telling me to wait so he could just show me “this thing.” Finally, he finished a quest, went up to talk to a townsperson, and lo and behold, when the townsperson spoke, I heard the voice of Leonardo the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle. Cam Clarke’s voice brings back the early 90s for me, from the TMNT cartoon to Eek! the Cat to The Tick’s Die Fleidermaus. It’s a nasal whirr of a voice that takes me right back, and it’s a classic.

Lorenzo Music: Speaking of classics, Lorenzo Music didn’t play much of anybody besides Garfield, but he didn’t have to. From the Garfield specials to Garfield and Friends (with a stop as the animated Peter Venkman), he gave Jim Davis’ seminal character a voice, and what’s more, an actual personality. Sadly, he passed away in 2001, and while I’m sure Bill Murray did as good a job as he could on the Garfield movie, we all know it should have been Lorenzo behind the mic.

Frank Welker: Finally, when you talk about voice actors, you can’t not mention Frank Welker. If there’s a purr, a growl, or a bark in any movie or television show you see, odds are that Frank Welker’s name will be in the credits. The man has made an entire living for himself playing the overdubbed voices of animals. Well, not an entire living– he’s also been Scooby Doo’s Fred, Kermit, Barney Rubble, and pretty much everybody on Transformers and GI Joe. Frank Welker is the granddaddy of voice acting– there’s a reason Hollywood calls him a “voice god.” Just like everyone else on this list, you may not recognize him, but you’ve definitely heard his voice.