Who was the narrator of Peter and the Wolf in the 1950s?

August 3, 2005 12:15 AM

Name that narrator! My mom just sent me on a (fruitless) Google/Amazon quest to find a narrator from a 1950s vinyl recorded version of Peter and the Wolf.

The only details she can remember about the narrator was that his voice was "shaky", he maybe "sounded gay" and it was somewhat high-pitched, but a very good performance. She thinks he would be pretty well known for the era and (will) recognize the name when she hears it, but so far any lists I could find of narrators of this piece (and audio samples on Amazon) didn't set off any lightbulbs.

posted by robbie01 to grab bag (11 comments total)

I think I had the same record as a kid, but Peter and the Wolf was standard fare for orchestra recitals for school field trips. Well, maybe it will show up on this list of Peter and the Wolf recordings?
posted by Alylex at 12:45 AM on August 3, 2005

Richard Hale? Sound sample on amazon.
posted by aiko at 2:37 AM on August 3, 2005

Also, I'm not sure which Hale recording is on that CD; he did at least three different ones of P&TW, including one in the 50s.
posted by aiko at 2:40 AM on August 3, 2005

Dame Edna Everage? AKA Barry Humphries.. would account for the "sounding gay".
posted by Lotto at 5:10 AM on August 3, 2005

Is it Danny Kaye? There's some kind of link I don't quite understand between Peter and the Wolf and Tubby the Tuba: http://www.sagecraft.com/puppetry/reviews/PeterRabbit.html
posted by puckupdate at 5:23 AM on August 3, 2005

I had one with Peter Ustinov narrating. I thought it was cool when I was young, but I'm not sure if he sounds gay? Maybe the euro accented english and the very cultured tones didn't sound very butch.
posted by bystander at 5:25 AM on August 3, 2005

Peter Ustinov's version was very popular, tho he may have done it in the early 60's. He got a grammy for it.
posted by subatomiczoo at 5:28 AM on August 3, 2005

The Ustinov is the one I remember from my childhoiod days
posted by cosmicbandito at 6:40 AM on August 3, 2005

my guess is sterling holloway ... he also did the voice for winnie the pooh
posted by pyramid termite at 7:26 AM on August 3, 2005

Growing up, I had an excelent vinyl recording of Tubby the Tuba narrated by Julia Child. Could it have been one of the series?

Not knowing it was her, you might confuse her voice as a male that "sounded gay" and was "shakey."
posted by sol at 7:51 AM on August 3, 2005

GOLD STAR for Pyramid Termite! It was Sterling Holloway. Thanks. No more sleepless nights.
posted by robbie01 at 8:13 AM on August 3, 2005