The Golden Voice

The Golden Voice

Ted Williams was once a homeless man. He was a former radio announcer but then became addicted to drugs and alcohol. Before he knew it, he was out of a job and living on the streets. To raise money for himself, he stood at the Hudson Street exit off I-71 in Columbus, Ohio and made a sign that said, “I HAVE A GOD GIVEN GIFT OF VOICE. I’M AN EX-RADIO ANNOUNCER WHO HAS FALLEN ON HARD TIMES. PLEASE! ANY HELP WILL BE GRATEFULLY APPRECIATED. THANK YOU AND GOD BLESS YOU.” Williams said that he has been clean from drugs and alcohol for two years. Is this the truth?

A videographer, Doral Chenoweth III, recorded Ted Williams talking in his amazing golden voice that sounds like a perfect radio announcer and posted it on the Internet. The video went viral on YouTube with 14 million views. Not long after the video was posted, Ted Williams became an instant star. He was offered so many jobs and made a commercial for Kraft Macaroni and Cheese. He went on countless numbers of talk shows. He was doing so well until he went onto, “Dr. Phil”. After appearing on the Dr. Phil Show as a guest, he admitted that he still has a drinking problem, but he wants to get better. He accepted the fact he needed to go to rehab and willingly checked into rehab.
I personally believe that it was very brave of Ted Williams to turn himself into rehab, especially to admit he still had a drinking problem on TV. I think that many people are being way too hard on him. He has been living on the streets for a while now and then suddenly he became famous and is now being asked to be on all these shows, which is a very big transition to undergo in less than a week. Because he was an alcoholic and drug addict, he is very fragile, and anything that may stress him out might bring him back to drinking and doing drugs. It was the right thing to do to bring himself to rehab and I support him with no doubt.

In conclusion, Ted Williams is in the making of becoming a really amazing star. I really hope that going to rehab does not ruin his chances of being the famous radio announcer he was becoming. His bravery of admitting he has an alcohol problem is the first step to earn success in his life. Let’s hope he does well in rehab and comes back with his sensational golden voice!

Sources: http://www.cnn.com/2011/SHOWBIZ/celebrity.news.gossip/01/12/ted.williams.rehab/index.html
http://www.dispatch.com/live/content/local_news/stories/extras/2011/goldenvoice/index.html
http://www.dispatch.com/live/content/local_news/stories/2011/01/08/how-the-golden-voice-video-went-viral.html?sid=101

In Social Studies class, I wrote a piece about the Golden Voice, Ted Williams, and why he deserves a second chance to be a great radio announcer after being released from rehab for drug and alcohol addiction. I selected this writing to post to my portfolio because I thought that the life of Ted Williams was so sad and unfortunate, but also very interesting. If I could change one thing about my essay, I would research the life of Ted Williams a little more to learn about his background to support my reasoning.