The Appeal of Eyes and Voices in Celebrities and Others

It is funny what appeals to people when it comes to celebrities, or anyone, for that matter. The whole package may be what strikes an individual, but more often, the smaller things, like eyes or voices, will make a person stand out.

Eyes can definitely make an impression. They don't have to be shockingly beautiful, they just have to strike and make you react in a certain way.

They can be laughing eyes. Robin William's whole face lights up with his eyes and you can't help but smile back when he is animated. He is an extremely talented and versatile actor, but he has always reminded me of a big teddy bear. I'll bet he had a couple of those aunts or grandma types, that had to pinch his cheek in greeting, when he was a child.

It is something deeper we see in eyes, the "windows to the soul". Sometimes though, their sheer beauty does stand out. Elizabeth Taylor is known for her fawnlike violet eyes. Paul Newman has those baby blues that became a trademark, I think not always to his liking. Gary Dourdan of CSI fame has eyes that can knock your socks off. They even tease him about his eyes in one episode. If eyes appeal to you, you can't help but focus on them. At least once in every episode of CSI, in which I see Gary, I say "Ohhhh those EYES!", in a gaspy sort of voice.

Speaking voices are another thing that mesmerize people. James Earl Jones is an incredibly multi-talented performing artist with a deep laugh that comes right from the heart. That voice of his doesn't just come from his vocal cords, it comes from inside. If a forest had a voice, I think it would be his.

Ron Perlman as The Beast, in the old television series 'Beauty and The Beast", is another actor whose voice could melt butter. It has this sensual quality about it that is difficult to explain, if speaking voices don't make an impression on you.

Sean Connery and that rich Scottish voice and accent give strength to his characterizations. He hits a double whammy with both his rugged good looks, and his voice.

A voice can be perfect for a certain genre of film or television too. Take Vincent Price for one. His voice was perfect for the parts he portrayed, when used to portray villains, and dark or mysterious characters. In the 1943, black and white movie, "The Song of Bernadette", he plays the vile character who tries to destroy the miracle of Bernadette. The very voice that he used against her was the one that in the end would be the death of him, when his character is stuck with a then untreatable throat cancer.

He once told a story about going to a viewing of one of his movies and sitting down quietly behind a couple of people in the theater. When a scary part he was speaking in came up, he touched them on the shoulder from behind and spoke in the same voice. I imagine they just about jumped off their seats, the same way some did at the closing scenes of "Carrie".

He was also the perfect voice to host the series, "Mystery" on PBS, for many years. With his introductions to each episode, set amongst the Edward Gorey paintings and drawings, the mood for the series was instantly set.

Boris Karloff was another in that genre. Sometimes you almost expected him to suddenly sprout horns. His voice was so strongly associated with the villain, that he was the quintessential choice for the original Grinch, in the much loved cartoon version adaptation of Dr. Seuss's, "The Grinch Who Stole Christmas". Reportedly in real life Karloff was a very gentle man, unlike many of the characters he played, but his voice in films was perfect for those roles.
The number one female that makes me think of amazing voices, is Maya Angelou, the extremely deep and gifted soul that became a poet laureate. She is a voice of our time, in more than one way. Her physical voice has the same depth her poems do. She speaks with such dignity and grace, and that voice of hers just adds instant texture to whatever she says. See if you can find a recording of her reading her amazing poem entitled, "Still I Rise" and listen to her voice as she reads it.

The fascination with voices for some people goes back to listening to good storytellers when growing up. The perfect voice, and inflections, can draw you right into the middle of whatever tale they tell or read. It is part of why children love story time.

Of course on the other side of that coin, are the speaking voices that make you feel like you are listening to someone run their nails down a chalkboard. Those can chase me right out of a room, but those are for another time.

Whose eyes and speaking voices appeal to you, or is it some other feature that pushes your buttons?