Last year, a debilitating stroke hit voice actor supreme Tom Kane, halting his storied VO career and hurling him into a life-changing situation that has ultimately seen that career come to an end. Posting to his Facebook page, daughter Sam – herself a cancer survivor – explains where this leaves Tom.
Because of this stroke my dad has been forced into early retirement. The damage to his speech center is just too severe. He cannot read well nor get out the words he wants, which is sort of required for voice acting. He has what’s called Apraxia which means he has difficulty moving smoothly from one sound, syllable or word to another. Groping movements like with his jaw, lips or tongue to make the correct movement for speech sounds are impaired. Essentially he knows exactly what he wants to say, he knows exactly what’s going on, but the words are trapped in his head, and when they do come out, it’s usually too slurred to understand. He has a handful of words he says perfectly, but just a handful. He relies on all forms of non verbal communication now. Thank god he’s an actor and great at charades 😂
It’s impossible to quantify how much Toms voicework has meant to Star Wars, be it as the announcer for The Clone Wars or as the voice of Yoda, amongst many other characters. All we can say is thank you Tom, and be well.