Matt Zimmerman obit

RIP Matt Zimmerman

He was not on the list.

Matt Zimmerman, the voice of Alan Tracy on Thunderbirds, has died aged 87.

Zimmerman provided multiple voices for the Supermarionation series and the two feature films, and also appeared in UFO. His other work included an appearance as Shooty in The Hitch-Hiker’s Guide to the Galaxy TV series, and a guest star role in Thunderbirds Are Go!

Jamie Anderson posted the news to social media:

    So, it’s time to bid a sad farewell to Matt Zimmerman. Always great fun every time our paths crossed. Another voice gone from the ranks of the Tracy brothers. Condolences to all who knew him. pic.twitter.com/xWGhdQbq5Q

    — Jamie Anderson (@ImJamieAnderson) June 9, 2022

Zimmerman was born in Greater Sudbury, Ontario, Canada on 26 December 1934. He was educated in Detroit, Michigan, United States, and started acting at an early age. He attended Bowling Green State University, Ohio, where he was a telecommunications major. Having won a scholarship, he moved to the United Kingdom in 1959 to study drama at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art (LAMDA), where he was a contemporary of Ed Bishop.

Zimmerman was cast as Alan Tracy in Thunderbirds after being recommended to producers Gerry and Sylvia Anderson by David Holliday, the voice of Virgil Tracy. In an interview, he remembered of his casting: "They were having great difficulty in casting the part of Alan Tracy as they wanted a certain sound for him ...As I walked in [Sylvia Anderson] looked at me and said, 'Don't talk! Oh, my god, you've got those big eyes and the cleft in the chin and the cheek bones, and if you were blond you'd look very much like Alan.' She said, 'Now, sit down. What's your name again?' And I said, 'My name is Matt Zimmerman and I'm from Detroit, Michigan,' and she said, 'That's the voice!' And that's how I got the job."[3]

Besides voicing Alan, Zimmerman, like other actors on the series, also voiced various minor characters. He made a live-action appearance in one episode of UFO ("Exposed", 1970) among the Andersons' other TV productions.

 

He also starred as Shooty in The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. Other TV appearances include T-Bag, Mike and Angelo, Crazy Like a Fox, Never the Twain, in addition to many commercials, most notably for Wrangler Jeans.

In 2015, Zimmerman appeared in the Thunderbirds revival Thunderbirds Are Go; he played Professor Harold in the episode "Tunnels of Time".

Also a stage actor, he starred in plays such as Annie Get Your Gun, Anything Goes, Once in a Lifetime and West Side Story, and made his most recent West End appearance in Fiddler on the Roof at the Savoy Theatre in London. In 2008, he appeared in the touring cast of Cabaret, taking the role of Herr Schultz.

Filmography

 

    1965–1966: Thunderbirds

    1966: A Man for All Seasons

    1966: Thunderbirds Are Go

    1968: Thunderbird 6

    1979: Birth of the Beatles

    1979: Quincy's Quest

    1986: Haunted Honeymoon

    1987: Still Crazy Like a Fox

    1989: The Forgotten

    1995: Margaret's Museum

    2015: Thunderbirds Are Go