Tim Russell

VOICE TALENT & ACTOR
SAG-AFTRA

Tim Russell

VOICE TALENT & ACTOR
SAG-AFTRA

Tim Russell is a radio personality and voice actor (SAG-AFTRA). He’s noted for his versatility, comic timing and variety of announcer and character voice styles. As an actor, since 1994, on A Prairie Home Companion, a nationally known Public Radio show heard weekly by over four million listeners, Tim worked with the show’s creator Garrison Keillor and now with new host Chris Thile, providing dozens of character voices and impersonations in the show’s popular comedy sketches. On the big screen, Tim has appeared in films by Robert Altman (“A Prairie Home Companion”), The Coen Brothers (“A Serious Man”), has worked with Oliver Stone, providing voices for his series, “The Untold History of the United States”. Tim’s latest film appearance is in the Irish production, “I am Not a Serial Killer”.

To learn how Tim Russell got his start as a radio personality and actor, read his Career History.

All of the wonderful characters…Dusty and Fred Farrell and all of Guy Noir’s various clients, not to mention thugs, demented geezers, Japanese waiters, Russians, Swedes, French maître d’, and of course the ever-amazing impersonations of celebrities and politicians: Obama, Trump, and all of the others…such a joy for…a writer. A bewildering plethora of possibilities.
Garrison Keillor

News

Tim Russell Blazes a Trail with Video Demo Reel

by | May 20, 2010

In the voice-over world there has been a constant evolution of ways to display your talents for potential clients. Reel-to-reel demos in the 60's became cassettes in the 70's, and eventually morphed into digital demos, like mp3's, most recently. Tim decided to...

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"A Behanding" is Something to behold

by | May 1, 2010

I'm in New York City for an unbelievably packed "A Prairie Home Companion" at the Town Hall. Kristin Chenowith, Debra Monk, Rob Fisher, Heather Masse, and a young star to be, Kate Beahen. Friday night  we wrapped rehearsal at 7pm, so I went to the TKTS Booth on 47th...

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Tim Russell Leaves CBS and WCCO Radio

by | Apr 26, 2010

After 33 years of working for WCCO radio stations, I have decided to accept a generous Buyout Option from CBS. As is usually the case in radio, the station decides on the exit procedure, so I was told after filling in for Dave Lee on "The Morning News" last Friday, it...

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Tim Russell's 2010 Oscar Predictions

by | Feb 11, 2010

These are my predictions for the Academy Awards 2010, as Entertainment Editor for WCCO Radio I see over 120 films a year. this was a very good year at the movies, congratulations to all the nominees. These predictions may explain my lack of success at cards and horse...

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Tim Russell DEMOS

Commercial Demo

by Tim Russell

Animation Demo

by Tim Russell

A Prairie Home Companion Radio Show Excerpts

by Tim Russell

TO BOOK OR AUDITION:

To hire Tim Russell: contact Amy Oppegaard of Wehmann Models and Talent, Inc. in Minneapolis at 612.333.6393.

LA representation: Contact Wes Stevens of VOX in Los Angeles at 323.655.8699.

…Tim as the mafioso, callow youth, Yale smoothie, prickly curmudgeon, Paris boulevardier, Russian artiste, Swedish sourpuss, and cowpoke president…
Garrison Keillor

Tim Russell is well-known among writers, producers and engineers of commercial audio as one of the finest voice actors in the nation. I have had the pleasure of working with Tim for over 20 years, and have yet to see him get frustrated or impatient with any client. When I first met Tim, he was mostly known for his world-class impressions. Later he became known as a voice talent who could do great character voices, as well as a huge variety of announcer styles. His longevity in a fickle advertising business is a credit to his talent and professionalism.
Doug Dixon

President, Audio Ruckus

I’ve rarely seen or heard anybody who is as capable as Tim when it comes to creating characters or imitations on the fly. Tim has an amazing sense of timing. I’m not simply referring to his comedic gifts that are so readily apparent. Tim can seemingly hit the most impossible voice-over timings with relative ease and fluidity. Tim’s other rare talent is his ability to ad-lib lines that will have the recording room burst into peals of laughter. The only difficulty is that we’re always trying to find ways to add Tim’s character voice riffs to the radio spot – a dilemma I’m only too happy to oblige
André Bergeron

Engineer/Owner, Babble-On Recording Studios, Inc.

Radio acting is a rare skill, not much in demand. It’s all seat of the pants, hardly any rehearsal, and takes nerves of steel. And tremendous range.
Garrison Keillor

Tim has been at WCCO radio in Minneapolis for twenty-some years, since he was 20 or so, The Good Neighbor to the Great Northwest, the powerhouse station of my youth, and he’s done various announcing shifts there and now is a sort of cultural reporter and reviews movies. A good gig for him. And then for [A Prairie Home Companion] he does dead-on Schwarzenegger and Bush and Julia Child and Bill Clinton and every other impression, acts, can do double-talk French so Gallic that Francophones double over laughing (plus Swedish, German, Russian, Arabic, and very fast Italian).
Garrison Keillor

Rhubarb Tour Diary

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