Ronald Pickup, Voice of Aslan, Has Passed Away
Ronald Pickup, who voiced Aslan in BBC’s The Chronicles of Narnia TV mini-series (1988-1990), has died at the age of 80. According to his agent, “he passed away peacefully yesterday after a long illness.” Read more.
In 2017, he appeared in Darkest Hour alongside Samuel West (King Caspian, BBC). He was best known for the Best Exotic Marigold Hotel films and The Crown series on Netflix.
Sad to hear. I’ve enjoyed seeing Mr. Pickup in the CBS Ivanhoe movie and in the Hornblower series. A fine old actor, and a great loss.
Oh, I’m so sorry to hear this. I grew up on the BBC versions of Narnia and while they have a lot of downsides (trust me, they looked hopelessly hokey even when they were first made!!), I loved their portrayal of Aslan and always thought Ronald Pickup did a wonderful job of his voice. (I much prefer his version to Liam Neeson’s, which I’m afraid I’ve never been able to warm to.) I’ve only seen Mr Pickup in a handful of other roles, but he was very well known as an actor here in Britain and I’ll always think of him as “the voice of Aslan”. My thoughts are with his family and friends. RIP Ronald Pickup.
I always liked the BBC Aslan. Ronald Pickup had a fine voice showing the gentle side of the Lion. The puppet was very appealing to children, and the voice was soft and pleasant to hear on the BBC series of Narnia. It help to show the quiet goodness of Aslan.
The man had a fine soothing voice that worked well for the animatronic Aslan. I can see why BBC picked him. He’s The Lion.
I couldn’t agree more. I used to love the BBC Narnia series, hopelessly hokey though they were, and Aslan was a big part of why. Not being from the UK, I never heard of Mr. Pickup – this was actually the first time I saw his actual face – but I will NEVER forget his voice.