Ellen McLain
| Ellen McLain | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Background information | |
| Origin | Nashville, Tennessee |
| Occupations | Soprano/Voice Actor |
| Instruments | Voice |
Ellen McLain is an American opera singer and voice actress from Nashville, Tennessee. McLain provides voices for many characters in several video games from Valve. Among them are GLaDOS, the artificial intelligence antagonist in Portal (for which she won an AIAS Interactive Achievement Award for Outstanding Achievement in Character Performance) and Portal 2, the announcer in Team Fortress 2, and the voice of the Combine Overwatch for the Half-Life 2 series.[1]
McLain's voice acting appears in all five games in The Orange Box, a 2007 release from Valve. Those five games are Half-Life 2, Half-Life 2: Episode One, Half-Life 2: Episode Two, Portal, and Team Fortress 2.
McLain sang "Still Alive" and "Want You Gone", the ending credits songs to Portal and Portal 2, respectively, both of which were written by Jonathan Coulton.[2] She also sang the soprano song featured at the end of Portal 2, named "Cara Mia", and officially called "Cara Mia Addio". It is sometimes called the "Turret Opera."[3]
McLain is married to John Patrick Lowrie,[4] a fellow voice actor, who also worked on the video games Half-Life 2 and Team Fortress 2. In Half-Life 2, her husband voiced the citizens who assist the protagonist. In Team Fortress 2, Lowrie voices the Sniper.[5]
In December 2011, she won the Spike Video Game Award in the category "Best Performance by a Human Female" for her voice acting as GLaDOS in Portal 2.
[edit] Filmography
| Year | Games/Films | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2004 | Half-Life 2 | Combine Overwatch | |
| 2006 | Half-Life 2: Episode One | Combine Overwatch | |
| 2007 | Half-Life 2: Episode Two | Combine Overwatch | |
| Portal | GLaDOS / Turrets / Curiosity Sphere / Cake Sphere[6] | AIAS Interactive Achievement Award for Outstanding Achievement in Character Performance Sings "Still Alive" See also: Critical reception to Portal and reception to GLaDOS |
|
| Team Fortress 2 | Administrator (also referred to as "The Announcer") | ||
| Godzilla: Unleashed | Vorticia | Features only in cutscenes. | |
| 2011 | Portal 2 | GLaDOS / Turrets / Caroline | Sings "Want You Gone"
During the credits, Caroline is not credited, whereas both GLaDOS and the turrets are. |
| Defense Grid: The Awakening | GLaDOS | Appears in the DLC "You Monster" | |
| 2012 | Dota 2 | Broodmother, Death Prophet | |
| 2013 | Pacific Rim | Jaeger A.I.[7] |
[edit] References
- ^ Hatfield, Dameon (2007-10-31). "GLaDOS Speaks". IGN. http://xbox360.ign.com/articles/831/831900p1.html. Retrieved 2010-01-24.
- ^ "Game Music Showdown: Mirror's Edge Vs. Portal". IGN. 2008-10-22. http://music.ign.com/articles/922/922638p2.html. Retrieved 2009-08-25.
- ^ "Portal 2 Turret Opera (Spoiler Warning)". Valve. 2011-04-19. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_kPyGvqNn4Y. Retrieved 2011-06-15.
- ^ "Married to John Patrick Lowrie". http://johnpatricklowriebooks.com/about-john/.
- ^ Plunkett, Luke (2010-07-29). "The men and women behind gaming's most iconic characters". Kotaku. http://kotaku.com/5597081/the-men-and-women-behind-gamings-most-iconic-characters/gallery/16. Retrieved 2010-08-03.
- ^ Portal GCF archives
- ^ Narcisse, Evan (2012-10-11). "Guillermo Del Toro’s Next Movie Has a Little GlaDOS in It". http://kotaku.com/5951086/guillermo-del-toros-next-movie-has-a-little-glados-in-it. Retrieved 13 October 2012.
[edit] External links
- Ellen McLain at the Internet Movie Database
- Ellen's Website - EllenMcLain.net
- Ellen McLain speaking at the Anime Midwest 2011 convention
  |
This article about a United States singer is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |
