Eric Kelso
{{short description|American voice actor}}
{{BLP sources|date=October 2016}}
{{use mdy dates|date=May 2022}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Eric Kelso
| image =
| caption =
| birth_date = December 22
| birth_place =
| nationality = American
| alma_mater = University of California at Santa Barbara
| occupation = {{hlist|Voice actor|director|presenter|producer}}
| years_active = 1988–present
| website = {{URL|erickelso.com}}
}}
Eric Kelso (born December 22) is an American voice actor, director, presenter and producer currently based in Tokyo, Japan.
He is best known as the voice of Paul Phoenix in the video game series, Tekken, as well as Guizhang Chen,{{cite web | title=Eric Kelso (visual voices guide) | url=http://www.behindthevoiceactors.com/Eric-Kelso/ | work=Behind The Voice Actors | accessdate=December 8, 2017| type= A green check mark indicates that a role has been confirmed using a screenshot (or collage of screenshots) of a title's list of voice actors and their respective characters found in its credits or other reliable sources of information}} Masayuki Fukuhara, and Ren of Heavens in the Shenmue series, Captain Falcon, and Blood Falcon in F-Zero GX, and Jacky Bryant in the Virtua Fighter series.{{cite web|url=http://www.behindthevoiceactors.com/video-games/Virtua-Fighter-4/Jacky-Bryant/ |title=Voice Of Jacky Bryant – Virtua Fighter 4 |publisher=Behind The Voice Actors |date= |accessdate=2016-10-21}} Outside of video games, he has also provided voices for many Japanese TV shows, films, radio programs.
Early life
Eric Kelso attended high school in Santa Cruz, California and went to the University at Santa Barbara where he majored in Film Studies. While at UCSB he received a Corwin Metropolitan Film Award for writing and directing the short film, "an echo en route".{{cite web|url=https://65.media.tumblr.com/fa24314af7f8ec70cfaeb39dabccfeb7/tumblr_ofes1itiBN1vilcqco1_1280.png |format=PNG|title=Photographic image of newspaper article|website=65.media.tumblr.com|access-date=2022-02-12}}
After graduating in 1986, he set out to travel the world in search of documentary film subjects. He eventually made his way to his current long-time residence of Japan.{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dcvi9Vt3WP4 |title=SEGA Nerds interview with Shenmue voice actors |publisher=YouTube |date=2015-07-09 |accessdate=2016-10-21}}
Career
= Narration =
Kelso has been active in Japan doing English-language and Japanese-language voiceovers for movies, television shows, children's programs and educational broadcasting. In 1995, Kelso provided live interactive voiceover and CG movement work for Mr. Mike, a sarcastic talking microphone character, around the world. Notable events include TELECOM 95 in Geneva, Switzerland,{{cite web|url=http://www.itu.int/newsroom/press_releases/1995/ITU95-29.html|title = Media Centre|website=Itu.int}} as well as at ASIA TELECOM 97 in Singapore.
He voiced the Japanese movie trailer for Disney's Mulan, as well as the part of River Guide in the Wild River Splash VR Simulator ride for DreamWorks at SEGA's Joypolis in Tokyo. In 2006, shortly after the merger of Tomy and Takara, Kelso provided the voice for the Omnibot 2007: i-SOBOT, which has been certified by Guinness World Records as "the world's smallest humanoid robot in production".
Kelso has been a director and producer for corporate video recordings for companies such as Prologis Inc. and Medtronic.
= Voice acting =
Kelso began voice acting for the video game industry in 1996. In 2001, he voiced the character Paul Phoenix in the fighting video game, Tekken 4.{{cite web|url=http://www.behindthevoiceactors.com/video-games/Tekken-4/Paul-Phoenix// |title=Voice Of Paul Phoenix – Tekken 4 |publisher=Behind The Voice Actors |date= |accessdate=2016-10-21}} In 2004, Kelso reprised this role in 5{{cite web|url=http://www.behindthevoiceactors.com/video-games/Tekken-5/Paul-Phoenix/ |title=Voice Of Paul Phoenix – Tekken 5 |publisher=Behind The Voice Actors |date= |accessdate=2016-10-21}} and continued to voice the character in Dark Resurrection and 6.
In 2000, Kelso provided voices for the English dub of the Sega Dreamcast game, Shenmue. Playing the roles of Masayuki Fukuhara and Guizhang Chen, Kelso noted how expansive the project was, having a more developed storyline and more dialogue than other games at the time. In 2001, Kelso became the voice for another fighting game character in Virtua Fighter 3 called Jacky Bryant. He also reprised the role in Virtua Fighter 5,{{cite web|url=http://www.behindthevoiceactors.com/video-games/Virtua-Fighter-5/Jacky-Bryant/ |title=Voice Of Jacky Bryant – Virtua Fighter 5 |publisher=Behind The Voice Actors |date= |accessdate=2016-10-21}} as well as side projects featuring the character, such as, Sega Superstars,{{cite web|url=http://www.behindthevoiceactors.com/video-games/Sega-Superstars/Jacky-Bryant/ |title=Voice Of Jacky Bryant – Sega Superstars |publisher=Behind The Voice Actors |date= |accessdate=2016-10-21}} Virtua Quest,{{cite web|title=Virtua Quest voice cast|url=http://imgur.com/a/arIac|website=Album on Imgur|accessdate=2017-07-17}} Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing,{{cite web|url=http://www.behindthevoiceactors.com/video-games/Sonic-and-Sega-All-Stars-Racing/Jacky-Bryant/ |title=Voice Of Jacky Bryant – Sonic and Sega All-Stars Racing |publisher=Behind The Voice Actors |date= |accessdate=2016-10-21}} and Dead or Alive 5 Ultimate{{cite web|url=http://www.behindthevoiceactors.com/video-games/Dead-or-Alive-5/Jacky-Bryant/ |title=Voice Of Jacky Bryant – Dead or Alive 5 |publisher=Behind The Voice Actors |date= |accessdate=2016-10-21}} In 2002, Kelso also worked on the sequel to Shenmue, Shenmue II, voicing a new character in the franchise, Wuying Ren "of Heavens". The English dub of the game appeared in the re-released version on the Microsoft Xbox console as well as the high-definition ports for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One.
Filmography
=Television=
| class="wikitable" | |||
| Year | Title | Role | Notes
!Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|
| |Doraemon
|unknown |Gakken English dub | |||
| 1993–1998
|Iron Chef |Masaharu Morimoto; Yoshiro Mori |Live-action English dub | |||
| 2001
|Zoids: Century Neo |Additional voices |Alternate English dub; pilot | | |||
| 2015
|Air Bound |Ace, Owen, Buck Tooth |International English dub | |||
| {{dts|2017|09|20|format=y}}
| Mayor Naumann | Japanese dub (Ep. 25) | |||
| {{dts|2023|04|12|format=y}}
|Character Naration | |
= Film =
| class="wikitable" |
| Year
!Title !Role !Notes !Ref. |
|---|
| 2016
|Soldier | | |
=Video games=
= Radio =
= Narration =
| class="wikitable" |
| Year
!Title !Medium !Notes !Ref. |
|---|
| 1998
|Film trailer |Japanese version |
= Other voice work =
| class="wikitable" |
| Year
!Title !Role !Notes !Ref. |
|---|
| 1995
| colspan="2" |Mr. Mike |Voice, motion capture; Interactive CG |
| 2001
|Theme Park |
| 2007
| colspan="2" |i-SOBOT |English voice; Robot |
| 2019
|Ultra Galaxy Fight: New Generation Heroes |Ultra Dark-Killer |YouTube web series; English dub |
| 2020
|Ultra Galaxy Fight: The Absolute Conspiracy |Ultraman Zero, Ultraman Great |YouTube web series; English dub |{{cite web |title=ULTRA GALAXY FIGHT: THE ABSOLUTE CONSPIRACY ENGLISH CAST REVEALED! |url=https://en.tsuburaya-prod.co.jp/news/2318 |publisher=Tsuburaya Productions |accessdate=10 October 2020 |date=10 October 2020}} |
References
{{reflist}}
External links
- [http://www.erickelso.com/profile.html Official website]
- {{IMDb name|1169116}}
- {{BTVA person|Eric-Kelso}}
{{authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kelso, Eric}}
Category:20th-century American male actors
Category:21st-century American male actors
Category:American expatriates in Japan
Category:American male video game actors