John Rafter Lee is an English actor, narrator, playwright and producer.
Biography Lee was born in England with Irish ancestry. His father worked as a carpenter and other men in his family were blacksmiths, brick layers and plumbers. Lee himself has worked in agriculture, picking fruit, which he considers much more difficult than voice acting.
Career
Lee has narrated hundreds of audiobooks. "His trademark rich, smooth voice with its hint of a growl turns the word into a seduction", according to AudioFile. He has won numerous Audie Awards and AudioFile Earphones Awards, and he was named a Golden Voice by AudioFile in 2009.
In film, he portrayed the mysterious Trevor Goodchild in Peter Chung's Æon Flux. Other voice credits include Meier Link in both Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust and Vampire Hunter D, Pavlo Zaitsev in episode 16 of Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex, Jason Wynn in HBO's Spawn animated series, and Aristotle in Reign: The Conqueror. John also had a role as a voice actor playing Cid Bunansa in the video game Final Fantasy XII.
Lee was also the producer and screenwriter for the 2001 film Breathing Hard, in which he played the character John Duggan. His Æon Flux co-star Denise Poirier plays his wife Carol.
He has written the plays Blood and Milk, Hitler's Head, Passchendaele, Clean Souls and Frankincense. He has adapted into English Schiller's Don Carlos, Racine's Britannicus and Grabbe's Jest, Satire, Irony and Deeper Significance. Passchendaele received its first production at the New York Fringe Festival in August 2010.
His latest film, which he wrote and co-produced, is Forfeit, which received its premiere at the 2007 South by Southwest Film Festival in Austin, Texas. He is currently writing a film to be shot in his hometown, Birmingham, England.
Awards and honors AudioFile named Lee a Golden Voice narrator.
Awards YearTitleAwardResultRef.2003 (2002) by Robert NewcombAudie Award for Science FictionFinalist2004 (2004) by Daniel SilvaEarphone AwardWinner2006 by Sam EnthovenListen Up Award for TeensWinnerCloud Atlas (2004) by David MitchellAudie Award for Literary Fiction or ClassicsFinalist by John BanvilleListen Up Award for FictionWinner2008Dreaming Void by Peter HamiltonListen Up Award for Science Fiction/FantasyFinalist by Sławomir RawiczAudie Award for Solo Narration - MaleFinalistPoe's Children: The New Horror, edited by Peter StrausListen Up Award for Full Cast/Multiple VoicesFinalist (2007) by Georgina HardingEarphone AwardWinnerWhite Fang / Call of the Wild (1906) by Jack LondonAudie Award for ClassicsFinalist (2008) by Aravind AdigaEarphone AwardWinnerListen Up Award for FictionFinalist2009(1846) by Alexandre DumasEarphone AwardWinnerAudie Award for ClassicFinalistAudie Award for Solo Narration - MaleWinner (2008) by Aravind AdigaAudie Award for Literary FictionFinalistAudie Award for Solo Narration - MaleFinalist2010Operation Mincemeat by Ben MacintyreListen Up Award for NonfictionWinner (1999) by Anne BakerAudie Award for Thriller or SuspenseFinalist2011Fall of Giants (2010) by Ken FollettAudie Award for FictionFinalistThis Body of Death by Elizabeth GeorgeAudie Award for MysteryFinalist (1859) by Wilkie CollinsAudie Award for ClassicWinner2012Double Cross by Ben MacintyreListen Up Award for NonfictionFinalist2013Dracula (1897) by Bram StokerAudie Award for ClassicFinalistAudie Award for Distinguished Achievement in ProductionWinnerAudie Award for Multi-Voiced PerformanceWinner by Thich Nhat HanhListen Up Award for NonfictionFinalist2014 by Ben MacintyreListen Up Award for NonfictionWinner2015 by Ben MacintyreAudie Award for History or BiographyFinalist2016Sweetland (2015) by Michael CrummeyAudie Award for Literary Fiction or ClassicsFinalist2018Darkest Hour (2017) by Anthony McCartenEarphone AwardWinnerSpellmonger, Book 1 by Terry MancourAudie Award for FantasyFinalist2019Darkest Hour (2017) by Anthony McCartenAudie Award for History or BiographyWinner2020Lovely War (2019) by Julie BerryAudie Award for Young Adult TitleFinalist (2020) by Erik LarsonEarphone AwardWinner2022 (1924) by Agatha ChristieAudie Award for MysteryFinalist
"Best of" lists YearTitleListRef.2004 by Daniel SilvaAudioFile Best of Mystery & SuspenseWhite Fang / Call of the Wild (1906) by Jack LondonAudioFile Best of Classics2007Midnight over Sanctaphrax by Paul Stewart and Chris RiddellALSC Notable Children's Recordings2008 by Sam EnthovenSelected Audiobooks for Young Adults (2007) by Georgina HardingAudioFile Best of Fiction (2008) by Aravind AdigaAudioFile Best of Fiction2009(1846) by Alexandre DumasAudioFile Best of Classics2010 (2010) by Henry PorterAudioFile Best of Mystery & Suspense(2010) by Susan Wise BauerAudioFile Best of History & Historical Fiction (1999) by Anne BakerAudioFile Best of Mystery & Suspense (2010) by Elizabeth KostovaAudioFile Best of Fiction2013The Redeemer (2013) by Jo NesbøAudioFile Best of Mystery & Suspense2015 (2014) by Peter F. HamiltonBooklist Editors' Choice: Audio for AdultsBooklist's Top 10 Adult SF/Fantasy/Horror on AudioSweetland (2015) by Michael CrummeyAudioFile Best of Fiction2016 (1949) by Joseph CampbellAudioFile Best of Nonfiction & Culture2017Prussian Blue (2017) by Philip KerrBooklist's Audio Stars for AdultsBooklist Editors' Choice: Audio for AdultsBooklist's Top 10 Crime Fiction AudiobooksThe Thirst (2017) by Jo Nesbø with Neil Smith (trans.)AudioFile Best of Mystery & Suspense2020Lovely War (2019) by Julie BerryAmazing Audiobooks for Young Adults (2020) by Erik LarsonAudioFile Best of History & Biography
Filmography Film Year Title Role Notes 1992 Small Kill Hit Man 1998 Todd McFarlane's Spawn 2 Jason Wynn Voice 1999 Todd McFarlane's Spawn 3: The Ultimate Battle Jason Wynn 1999 George Lucas in Love Ranter Short 1999 Princess Mononoke Voice 2000 Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust Meier Link Voice 2001 Breathing Hard John Duggan Also writer and producer 2003 Jules Verne & Walt Disney: Explorers of Imagination Narrator Documentary 2007 Forfeit Writer and producer
Television Year Title Role Notes 1995 Æon Flux Trevor Goodchild Voice, 10 episodes 1997–1999 Todd McFarlane's Spawn Jason Wynn Voice, 17 episodes 2000 Tenchi Muyo! Ryo-Ohki Azusa Jurai Voice, Episode: "Here Comes Jurai" 2003 Reign: The Conqueror Aristotle Voice, 4 episodes 2003 Ninja Scroll: The Series Renya Yagyu Voice 2003–2004 Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex Kusunoki, Zaitsef, Security Guard, Yaku Humimari (voices) Voice, 4 episodes
Video games Year Title Role Notes 2000 Vampire Hunter D Meier Link 2000 Vampire: The Masquerade – Redemption 2006 Final Fantasy XII Cid Bunansa
References
External links