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Voice of Thomas the Tank Engine (US) quits over “very low wage”

Voice actor quits US series of Thomas & Friends citing exploitation and subsequent bullying.

2014-07-24_1059The voice of Thomas the Tank Engine in the USA, Martin T. Sherman, has quit the show because of a low salary, despite the show being profitable for its producers Hit Entertainment.

In the US, Thomas and Friends is broadcast on PBS and on Sprout, a nationwide 24-hour cable channel for children owned by NBC Universal. It began in 1984, when the character was voiced by Ringo Starr both in the UK, where it originated, and the US.

Sherman blogged on a fan website that he was leaving the show. But the post has now been removed.

“For the last five years it has been my great honour and pleasure to create the American voices of Thomas the Tank Engine and Percy,” it said. “Unfortunately, I must now quit the show. It is embarrassing but the reason is that they are paying a very low wage. The terms they are offering are so poor, and this with the immense success of Thomas, that the only right thing for me to do is walk away.”

“I have felt exploited for a while now,” it continued. “I believe it is important to move on from a situation if you are not valued.”

Sherman, a Florida native who now lives in London, told the Guardian, “Were it not for my other jobs as an actor here in London I would have really really struggled to survive.”

In a statement, Hit Entertainment confirmed, “After a lengthy negotiation period, unfortunately, we could not reach an agreement with Martin T Sherman and have decided to part ways.

“We wish him the best in his future professional endeavours.”

But Sherman’s original post has also disappeared, with the actor telling the Guardian, Hit Entertainment had contacted him through his agent to threatened legal action if his open letter was not removed from the fan site. “I feel so bullied,” he said. “Very bullied, and silenced.”

I find it ironic,” Sherman added, “that most of the shows that Hit Entertainment puts out are about worlds where good people get rewarded, justice happens, and bad things happen to bad people.

“They themselves don’t live up to that world in any way.”

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