Peter Thomas
1924-06-28 | Pensacola, Florida, USA
2016-04-30
Peter Addenbrooke Thomas was an American announcer and narrator of television programs with a career spanning more than 70 years, most well known for narrating the long-running true-crime series Forensic Files. Thomas performed voice-overs for hundreds of television commercials including Coca-Cola, IBM, Valvoline, NBC, United Technologies, Burger King, Beaumont Health and ESPN Monday Night Football commercials, as well as spots for social organizations including the YWCA and The Episcopal Church. He was in high demand for political advertisements and did several films for the US Dept. of Veterans Affairs. He also narrated the orientation video for the National World War I Museum at The Liberty Memorial in Kansas City, Missouri. He narrated the Readers Digest video series The Crucial Turning Points of World War II. He also narrated the NCAA's official highlight film of the 1985 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament. Thomas was heard in Paul Hardcastle's 1985 hit song "19," which Hardcastle composed after being inspired by a 1984 ABC documentary on the Vietnam War, titled Vietnam Requiem, which Thomas narrated. He narrated the Troll Associates series of audiobooks for children, including "Amazing World of Dinosaurs." He narrated the CD version of Tuck Everlasting, a novel by Natalie Babbitt. Thomas provided the digitized voice for Philips' HeartStart series of automated external defibrillator (AED) units used by emergency services nationwide. Thomas' voice prompts and instructs emergency personnel on when to perform tasks. Thomas was the announcer of the underwriting credits on the Nature TV series on PBS from the early 1980s through 2015. He also was the announcer of the underwriting credits for the NOVA TV series on PBS from 1988 through 1996. Thomas died on April 30, 2016, at the age of 91. He was memorialized at the end of the first episode of Forensic Files II which aired on February 23, 2020.
