0774 – Voice Advice From Justin Timberlake and Larry Hagman

02/13/23 • 2 min

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2023.02.13 – 0774 – Voice Advice From Justin Timberlake and Larry Hagman

‘Resting’ actors

Larry Hagman was best known for playing ruthless oil baron J. R. Ewing in the 1978–1991 primetime television soap opera ‘Dallas’ and the befuddled astronaut Major Anthony Nelson in the 1965–1970 sitcom ‘I Dream of Jeannie’. For 20 years he undertook “silent Sundays” after a doctor suggested that he did not talk for a few days after he strained his vocal cords. For one day a week he said not a word to anyone.[1] Ultimately though it is reported that he had to give it up when he realised that the benefits were outweighed by missed opportunities.

More recently bruised vocal cords left Justin Timberlake on vocal rest, so in 2018 he ‘talked’ about his book, ‘Hindsight: And All the Things I Can’t See in Front of Me’, with Jimmy Fallon using pen and paper, plus charades-like hand gestures.[2]

[1] Source: https://www.express.co.uk/celebrity-news/360655/How-Larry-Hagman-couldn-t-have-been-further-from-his-fiendish-alter-ego-JR-Ewing

[2] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NGMx9zuB_3M

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2023.02.13 – 0774 – Voice Advice From Justin Timberlake and Larry Hagman

‘Resting’ actors

[1] Source: https://www.express.co.uk/celebrity-news/360655/How-Larry-Hagman-couldn-t-have-been-further-from-his-fiendish-alter-ego-JR-Ewing

[2] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NGMx9zuB_3M

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Previous Episode

0773 – Polyps, Nodules and Phonal Trauma

2023.02.12 – 0773 – Polyps, Nodules and Phonal Trauma

Treating your voice badly, shouting[1], smoking or straining it, is not showing it the respect it deserves. These actions can lead to ‘phonal trauma’ such as nodules or polyps (small growths) on your vocal folds. These can be painful and if they heal at all can take a long time. At an extreme, they may need to be removed in an operation. (Wince...)

“Once, a year or two back, I’d lost my voice during the evening... really lost it and I had to do all the evening, the late news etc etc and then I had to do the Shipping Forecast [at 00:48 hrs]. I had a gallon of water beside me which wasn’t very helpful to be honest, but I just had to keep on closing the fader, having a sip of water, trying to get some sort of voice back. The listeners could just hear it disappearing, during the whole eleven minutes. It was torture! And in the end you have to say ‘and that’s the Shipping Forecast, have a peaceful evening’... and I said that and then I just said, ‘I have been Lee Marvin, goodnight.’ ”[2]

Susan Rae, BBC radio 4 newsreader/announcer, “You’re On The Air” podcast December 2020

[1] Some voice professionals ‘fake cheer’ at sporting events and concerts, opening their mouths but staying silent.

[2] Actor Lee Marvin had a voice once described as “like rain gurgling down a rusty pipe”. He used his gravelly singing voice on a number of occasions, duetting with John Wayne in ‘The Comancheros’, and most notably performing ‘Wand'rin' Star’ in the movie musical ‘Paint Your Wagon’, which earned him a hit single.

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Next Episode

0775 – Vocal Fold Haemorrhage

2023.02.14 – 0775 – Vocal Fold Haemorrhage

Continued talking may lead to ‘vocal nodules’ on your folds, which are common with loud, tense, constant talkers. (Polyps are similar but usually occur after a single cough or shout, rather than long-term abuse, and happen when the folds haemorrhage.)

Know your body. If your body is hurting (even a sore throat), stop. It’s a sign that something is not ‘quite right’. Speaking when hoarse, or worse still, shouting to deliberately make yourself hoarse (yes, some people do this to achieve a lower voice), can be very dangerous in itself and can permanently damage your vocal folds.

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