‘Golden Voice’ Man One Year Later

February 17, 2012

A year after a homeless man from Ohio awed the world with his “golden voice” — and said memories Bermuda provided him with solace during his most distressed moments — Ted Williams has finally found equilibrium in his life .

At the beginning of 2011,  Mr. Williams was living in a box and panhandling on a street corner in Columbus, Ohio. But he had a deep, soulful voice destined for greater things. And now he’s found them.

Now he is living with his longtime girlfriend in a comfortable condominium in Dublin, Ohio, with regular voice-work and an upcoming autobiography.

Mr. Williams entered the global spotlight when a reporter for The “Columbus Dispatch” filmed him impersonating a radio broadcaster with a sonorous cadence that sent chills down the spines of over 18 million YouTube viewers.

Ted Williams Mentions His Love For Bermuda In 2011 NBC “Today” Interview

Raised in Brooklyn, New York, the 54-year-old father of nine spent three years in the US military and then attended school for voice acting. Mr. Williams worked overnight shifts at a radio station in Columbus before falling victim to alcohol and drug addiction and  ended up on the streets with nothing but a handwritten sign and his powerful voice.

Huffington Post contributor Claire Gordon reported recently: ”A couple of days after his video went viral, Williams was interviewed on a slew of talk shows. Oprah announced that she would like to bring Williams into the OWN family. ‘It would be fantastic to hear him say, ‘The Oprah Winfrey Network’.

“The Cleveland Cavaliers NBA basketball team offered him a job doing full-time voice-over work, as well as a home. MSNBC hired him shortly after, as did Kraft Foods. He became such a meme that one reporter intrepidly searched the streets of Indianapolis for homeless people with secret talents in a bit that, some would say, lacked taste.

“It’s the kind of story that the American people love. A man, down on his luck, is skyrocketed to fame thanks to an inspiring gift, a pinch of humility and a viral video.”

And it wasn’t just Americans who loved Mr. Williams.

During an appearance on NBC’s “Today Show” he said due to all the media attention he was receiving, he was seeing a psychologist. She gave him a meditation exercise and told him to think of a “happy place” to cope with the stress he was under. Mr Williams said he focused on Bermuda, calling the island his “favourite place.”

Saying he “loves Bermuda”, he described a trip he took the the island — the “Hawaii of the Atlantic” — with his mother in the 1970s as among the happiest events of his life.

His plug for the island earned him an immediate invitation to visit from then Tourism Minister Patrice Minors.

She said at the time: “I must admit that when I saw his story, I too was moved by his life struggles and challenges. And how absolutely touching that he cited Bermuda and his memories of our beautiful Island as being a beacon of light in his life.

“This must be an overwhelming time right now for Mr. Williams with tens of millions of people being swept up in his story after viewing it via television and the web. So we can certainly appreciate that Mr. Williams is under an intense spot light right now.

“Spending some time to digest all that is happening in a place where he has fond memories could be a wonderful experience for him. So, in a gesture of kindness and good will, I can confirm that we have reached out to Mr. Williams to let him know that his story has deeply touched all of Bermuda.

“We would be pleased to welcome him, and it’s hoped that he will be able to visit the island sometime in the near future.”

But Mr. Williams never took up the Minister’s offer because his sudden swing in fortunes didn’t have a simple Hollywood ending.

He succumbed to drinking again after the media storm and he ended up doing two stints in rehab.

But Mr. Williams is clean again, with a new job as the voice for the regional network New England Cable News. “What another blessing that God has bestowed upon me,” Mr. Williams told  ”The Boston Herald”. “A year ago today, I was homeless and toothless and everything else-less.”

His memoirs, “A Golden Voice: How Faith, Hard Work, and Humility Brought Me from the Streets to Salvation” is due out in May.

January, 2012 “Entertainment Tonight” Interview With Ted Williams

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  1. Wandering says:

    Congratulations to Mr. Williams and his girlfriend. Add this remarkable change to the many others we see and read about – it all comes to – God placing people in your path, humbleness and the desire to change AND Prayer can and does change things in all areas in people’s lives.