Bill Ratner
Bill Ratner is a Best of the Net Poetry Nominee (Lascaux Review,) published in Best Small Fictions 2021 (Sonder Press,) poetry chapbook: To Decorate a Casket (Finishing Line Press,) poetry collection: Fear of Fish (Alien Buddha Press,) Missouri Review Audio, Baltimore Review, Chiron Review, Feminine Collective, and other journals. His stories are featured on NPR’s “The Business,” “Good Food,” and KCRW’s “Strangers.” His published writing can be read and heard at https://billratner.com/author twitter & instagram @billratner.
Bill is a 9-time winner of the Moth StorySLAM, a certified volunteer grief counsellor, and earns his living as a voice actor. He is a 2-time BEST OF HOLLYWOOD FRINGE EXTENSION WINNER for his solo shows BOBBYWOOD and VOICES IN MY HEAD: A LIFE. The following year at the Fringe Bill presented THE TRUE-LIFE ADVENTURES OF BARBIE AND G.I. JOE and played Harold Clurman in Sheana Ochoa’s “Harold & Stella: Love Letters” at the Bliss Art House Cafe.
Bill is the voice of “Flint” on the original G.I. Joe animated TV series, a role he reprised for Robot Chicken, Community, and Family Guy, and he plays “Donnel Udina” in Mass Effect 1, 2 & 3. He is heard on movie trailers for Pixar’s Inside Out, Marvel’s Antman, Will Ferrell’s The Campaign, Talladega Nights, The Emoji Movie, promos for CBS, Adult Swim, TNT, ABC, he narrates documentaries for Discovery, Smithsonian and History Channel, and performs on poetry stages, theaters, and storytelling festivals around the country.
• ALEXIS RHONE FANCHER, author of Junkie Wife, Poetry editor of Cultural Daily:
“Bill Ratner’s highly original poems stir things up — a wild concoction of exploration, confession, and surreal fantasy, each topped with a soupçon of wry wit. Whether mourning the early demise of his beloved parents and older brother, or riffing on being the one left behind to come of age on his own, Ratner’s poems find life’s humor and sweetness. They kick off their shoes and dance with Death.”
• HUFFINGTON POST: "More than just the premiere voiceover talent in Hollywood, Ratner writes with subtlety and texture worthy of a literary fiction master…far beyond the average one-man show…a mellifluous and wonderfully expressive voice.”
• LA WEEKLY: “High-Caliber Storyteller.”
HERE’S WHAT THE CRITICS SAID ABOUT BOBBYWOOD:
• LATHEATERCRITIC.COM: “Profound, deeply affecting production…a beautifully written, tender eulogy…a show not to be missed.”
• LA WEEKLY: “A good-humored tale…The story marinates nicely…”
• SHEANAOCHOA.COM: ""How wonderfully he captured what I’ve always called the “randomness” of Los Angeles…It constantly surprises…a wonderful play…"
• ALONGCOMESMARY: “This one-man show is marvelous.”
• GIAONTHEMOVE.COM: “Bill is an exceptional story teller…A MUST SEE at the Fringe this year.”
• EXAMINER.COM, Bob Leggett: “I fell in love with the storytelling of Bill Ratner last year, and this year’s offering is even better…Don’t miss this show!”
• LASTAGETIMES: “Bobby is gone but not forgotten as long as Ratner keeps telling this atmospheric story.”
• EXAMINER.COM, Bonnie Priever: “A wonderful tribute to the glory and horrors of old Hollywood…The multitude of characters he portrays in this one man show is a delicious complement to the most simple, basic of sets, and the accompaniment of masterful pianist/musician Jonathan Menchin.”
REVIEWS OF THE TRUE LIFE ADVENTURES OF BARBIE & GI JOE:
• LIFEINLA.COM, Patrick Hurley: “Mr. Ratner has a commanding voice and presence…”
• 21ST CENTURY MARILYN, Sandy Mansson: “Go and see The True Life Advnentures of Barbie and G.I.Joe and you wil find out what happens when you let boys play with dolls…It is masterfully performed by VO artist Bill Ratner and actor Clay Wilcox…”
Bill teaches voiceovers for the Screen Actors Guild Foundation Don La Fontaine Memorial Voiceover Lab where he serves on the advisory board, he is a certified volunteer grief counsellor, and his book, Parenting for the Digital Age from Familius Press, is a National Indie Excellence Award Winner. He is a member of Screen Actors Guild-AFTRA, Actors Equity, National Storytelling Network, and International Storytelling Network.
Info at: https://www.billratner.com/author
