Photo: CBS / Public domain (source: Wikimedia Commons)
My Take
What draws me to Michael Brandon is the unusual shape of his career. A Brooklyn kid who crossed the Atlantic to headline a British series in Dempsey and Makepeace, then quietly became the voice American children grew up with by narrating Thomas & Friends for nearly a decade. That second act fascinates me more than the first. Plenty of actors chase visibility, but voicing a beloved children's show plants you in millions of formative memories without ever being recognized on the street. To me, that is a rarer and more enduring kind of fame than any leading-man role could buy him.
Overview
Michael Brandon (born Michael Feldman; April 20, 1945) is an American actor. He is known for his role as James Dempsey on the British drama series Dempsey and Makepeace (1985–86) and narrating the American dub of the children's television series Thomas & Friends (2004–12).
Summary adapted from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.
1. Profile
- Name (English)
- Michael Brandon
- Name (Japanese)
- マイケル・ブランドン
- Reading
- まいける・ぶらんどん
- Born
- April 20, 1945 (age 81)
- Zodiac / Chinese zodiac
- Taurus / Rooster
- Origin
- Brooklyn, New York, United States
- Blood type
- Private
- Height
- Private
- Agency
- Private
- Occupation
- actor / director / television actor / film actor / television director
2. Background
- Elementary school
- Private
- Junior high
- Private
- High school
- Valley Stream Central High School
- University
- Private
3. Relationships
- Spouse
- Private
- Children
- Private
- Parents
- Private
- Siblings
- Private
4. Personality
Motto
Private
6. Links
Actor — see all → · Director — see all → · More people from United States →
7. About this entry
Tags
- Last updated
- 2026-06-02
Facts are limited to publicly available information up to 2024; non-public items are marked "Private / Unknown". English text is machine-assisted (facts translated by Sonnet, "My Take" written by Opus 4.8). The Japanese page is the source of record.