British-Australian actor

Rupert Joel Degas (born (1970-08-17)17 August 1970) is a British-Australian actor. He is best known for his voice work in animation and audiobooks. Since the 1980s, he has worked in audiobooks, film, podcasts, radio productions, television, theatre, and video games, and as a producer.

Contents

• 1 Early life and education
• 2 Career
  • 2.1 Animation
  • 2.2 Audiobook narration
  • 2.3 Film and television
  • 2.4 Theatre
  • 2.5 Radio and podcasts
• 3 Awards and honours
• 4 References
• 5 External links

Early life and education

Degas was born on 17 August 1970 in London, to producer and screenwriter Brian Degas and radio/television presenter Maggie Clews. He was educated at Hill House School in Knightsbridge and Emanuel School in Wandsworth.

Career

Animation

Best known as the voices of Zoomer and Scrambler in Bob the Builder from 2004 to 2011, Degas has lent his voice to a string of cartoons such as Chop Socky Chooks, Robotboy, Thomas & Friends and The Amazing World of Gumball. He also played several characters in the animated feature film Planet 51.

Since moving to Australia, Degas has provided voices for The Wild Adventures of Blinky Bill, Kitty Is Not a Cat, The Strange C*s, Maya the Bee: The Honey Games, Bluey, Alien TV, Kangaroo Beach, 100% Wolf, and Peter Rabbit 2: The Runaway. In 2021, he narrated two episodes of The Wheel of Time.

Audiobook narration

Degas has narrated over 250 audiobooks including A Possible Life by Sebastian Faulks which The Times reviewed as "exceptionally well read". He has received particular critical acclaim for his performances of The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss, and Skulduggery Pleasant by Derek Landy. Degas says of audiobooks, "I do accents. It's my specialty." The Guardian called his voice performances "shape-shifting".

Film and television

Degas' first film appearance was in Jerry Schatzberg's Reunion, followed by television appearances in Dead Romantic, Over Here, A Touch of Frost and P*port to Murder. Other notable television appearances include EastEnders, Lovejoy, Van Der Valk, Waiting For God, Lycée Alpin, Holby City, Love Soup, Shoot the Messenger, Nathan Barley, and Red Dwarf. Degas also provided the voice of the demon in both Exorcist: The Beginning and the 2013 film Evil Dead.

Theatre

Having been a regular Newsrevue performer at the C* Café Theatre and at the Edinburgh Fringe, Degas made his West End theatre debut in Stones in His Pockets at The Duke of York's Theatre and the New Amb*adors Theatre, and then in the original London cast of The 39 Steps at The Tricycle Theatre before transferring to The Criterion Theatre in Piccadilly Circus. He has also performed in several plays at The Battersea Arts Centre, Latchmere Theatre and The Southwark Playhouse.

Radio and podcasts

On radio, Degas has performed in over eighty plays and series, most notably Grovers Mill, and the BBC productions of The Brightonomicon, Dirk Gently, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, and Starship *anic. He also played Pantalaimon in the full cast audio production of His Dark Materials. Degas is also a regular contributor to the weekly satirical podcast A Rational Fear.

Awards and honours

• AudioFile Earphones Award - 18 honours as of April 2022.
• 2008 Odyssey Award for Skulduggery Pleasant
• 2021 Australian Book Industry Awards (ABIAs) - Shortlisted for Audiobook of the Year - Mammoth by Chris Flynn

References

External links

• Rupert Degas Website
• Rupert Degas at IMDb
• Rupert Degas at Naxos