Voice actor James Arnold Taylor is behind the vocals for some of Hollywood’s most iconic figures – but he says God turned the day his voice disappeared into one of the best of his life.
Taylor (pictured above with Star Wars characters C-3PO and R2-D2) has provided speech for the likes of Obi Wan Kenobi in the animated Star Wars series, Fred Flintstone and Leonardo the Ninja turtle.
With his voice being his livelihood, to have it vanish was shocking.
“I was in full bore in those productions,” Taylor told CBN. “And I woke up one day and I had no voice.”
There was black mould in the family home, so he had blood tests.
“There were six different types of mould in my bloodstream, one of them being black mould, Stachybotrys, which is the very dangerous one. I had been having everything from brain fog, memory loss, all these things, but particularly my voice was going.
“I remember very vividly that day – February 13, 2005 – and the doctor says, ‘You got to stop speaking.’ And I said, ‘God, God, please don’t let this be the worst day of my life.’”
Taylor and his wife relied on their faith to get them through.
“We were in the process of adopting our daughter at the time. We’re adopting a child from China. So we were really just on our knees every day.
“They said that my voice would probably not be the same. So, I took a very proactive and holistic approach, changed everything about my diet, exercise, the way I lived. Went on a whole foods diet and did the best I could to cleanse my system of the mould.
“I learned and retrained my voice to be even stronger than it was before.”
But the best part was still to come when he was going through paperwork to adopt his daughter.
“I see her birthday is February 13 2005, so the day I thought was the worst day in my life, God made the best. The things we think are our hardest journeys are there to build us up.”
