Ron Gans

Actor · born 8 September 1931 · Chicago, Illinois, USA

While many people may not know Ron Gans' face, any self-respecting fan of 70s drive-in exploitation cinema should be highly familiar with his extremely distinctive and unmistakable deep'n'dulcet velvet smooth golden throat voice. Gans lent his deliciously plummy tones to numerous theatrical trailers for Roger Corman's New World Pictures which include "The Student Nurses," "The Big Doll House," "Bury Me An Angel," "Night Call Nurses," "The Big Bird Cage," "The Arena," "Caged Heat," and "The Great Texas Dynamite Chase." Gans also did the trailers for "Terminal Island" and "The Little Girl Who Lives Down the Lane." Moreover, Gans' booming sonorous voice can be heard on the radio spots for John Carpenter's "Halloween" and Lucio Fulci's "Zombie." Gans hilariously sent up his trailer work in the sidesplitting "Catholic High School Girls in Trouble" sketch in the riotous anthology comedy "The Kentucky Fried Movie." He was likewise amusing as the pompous voice of a cooking instructor in the uproariously raunchy "Revenge of the Cheerleaders." Gans narrated the documentaries "The Raw Ones," "Sexual Liberty Now," and "Go for It." On television Gans was the voices for both Kanga and Roo on the Walt Disney Channel children's show "Welcome to Pooh Corner" and the voice of Drag Strip on the "Transformers" cartoon program. He was especially effective as the metallic voice of Crimebuster in the charming sci-fi comedy "Heartbeeps" and the sinister voice of Armus on the "Skin of Evil" episode of "Star Trek: The Next Generation." Among his occasional on-screen appearances are a job interviewer in "Group Marriage," a would-be rapist in the sordid "Runaway, Runaway," and a television newscaster in "Carnal Madness."

Where to start: Coffy (1973).