About Katherine Kellgren
The word that most immediately comes to mind when describing a Katherine Kellgren performance is “delightful”. No matter the story, if you listen closely you can always detect in her voice the most sincere enthusiasm and reverence for the content at hand, and a deep-rooted joy of literature and the art of storytelling. Her passion and commitment to the art of storytelling—as well as her boundless generosity and kindness—earned her immense respect and admiration from her fellow narrators.
With more than 200 audiobooks to her name, the multiple Audie Award-winning actress tackled almost every fictional subgenre, from romance and cozy mysteries, to young adult and even apocalyptic sci-fi (despite being “delightful”, she still did a great interpretation of “grim”). Kellgren was also known to deliver a mean multicast, even—or especially—when narrating solo. Her inimitable ability at impersonation is on full display in one of her most beloved series at Audible: Her Royal Spyness. In it she delivered a myriad of voices, from Irish brogue, to East-End cockney, to posh upper crust, to the bored American drawl of one very petulant Wallis Simpson. And more than one Audible editor will readily admit that her rendition of Darcy O’Mara (the heroine’s beau) is their #1 “book boyfriend”.
She was also lauded for her performance of L.A. Meyer’s Bloody Jack series, which not only called on her to deliver endless accents (many of them piratical) but also required her to sing a number of old English sea ballads. The series gained a fervent following across all ages, and Kellgren once shared an anecdote about calling a young fan for her birthday—in the guise of Bloody Jack. The child was apparently on the verge of fainting.
Though born in New York, Katherine Kellgren spent 12 years studying acting at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Arts, where she honed her incredible fluency with regional accents and dialects. She reportedly recorded her first audiobook as a child using a cassette player, so that her father, whose health was failing, could still enjoy his favorite novel.
Kellgren passed away in early 2018 after a battle with a rare form of cancer.
Listener Favorites
-
Her Royal Spyness
- By: Rhys Bowen
- Narrated by: Katherine Kellgren
- Length: 8 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Agatha Award-winning author Rhys Bowen’s charming combination of intrigue and romance blended with a touch of humor shines when performed by Audible Hall of Fame narrator Katherine Kellgren, whose deft range and impeccable accent work make it hard to believe this isn’t a multicast performance.
-
-
Joy, Joy, Joy!
- By Coffee Lover on 01-17-11
-
Pride and Prejudice and Zombies
- Now with Ultraviolent Zombie Mayhem!
- By: Seth Grahame-Smith, Jane Austen
- Narrated by: Katherine Kellgren
- Length: 11 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
"It is a truth universally acknowledged that a zombie in possession of brains must be in want of more brains." So begins Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, an expanded edition of the beloved Jane Austen novel featuring all-new scenes of bone-crunching zombie mayhem.
-
-
One word - Awesome!
- By Katelyn on 05-22-09
-
Dracula [Audible Edition]
- By: Bram Stoker
- Narrated by: Alan Cumming, Tim Curry, Simon Vance, and others
- Length: 15 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The modern audience hasn't had a chance to truly appreciate the unknowing dread that readers would have felt when reading Bram Stoker's original 1897 manuscript. Most modern productions employ campiness or sound effects to try to bring back that gothic tension, but we've tried something different. By returning to Stoker's original storytelling structure - a series of letters and journal entries voiced by Jonathan Harker, Dr. Van Helsing, and other characters - with an all-star cast of narrators, we've sought to recapture its originally intended horror and power.
-
-
IS THAT NOT SO?
- By Jim "The Impatient" on 11-05-15
-
Bloody Jack
- By: L. A. Meyer
- Narrated by: Katherine Kellgren
- Length: 7 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Life as a ship's boy aboard HMS Dolphin is a dream come true for Jacky Faber. Gone are the days of scavenging for food and fighting for survival on the streets of 18th-century London. Instead, Jacky is becoming a skilled and respected sailor as the crew pursues pirates on the high seas. There's only one problem: Jacky is a girl. And she will have to use every bit of her spirit, wit, and courage to keep the crew from discovering her secret.
-
-
Sometimes it clicks
- By Terry on 12-09-09
-
Her Royal Spyness
- By: Rhys Bowen
- Narrated by: Katherine Kellgren
- Length: 8 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Agatha Award-winning author Rhys Bowen’s charming combination of intrigue and romance blended with a touch of humor shines when performed by Audible Hall of Fame narrator Katherine Kellgren, whose deft range and impeccable accent work make it hard to believe this isn’t a multicast performance.
-
-
Joy, Joy, Joy!
- By Coffee Lover on 01-17-11
-
Pride and Prejudice and Zombies
- Now with Ultraviolent Zombie Mayhem!
- By: Seth Grahame-Smith, Jane Austen
- Narrated by: Katherine Kellgren
- Length: 11 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
"It is a truth universally acknowledged that a zombie in possession of brains must be in want of more brains." So begins Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, an expanded edition of the beloved Jane Austen novel featuring all-new scenes of bone-crunching zombie mayhem.
-
-
One word - Awesome!
- By Katelyn on 05-22-09
-
Dracula [Audible Edition]
- By: Bram Stoker
- Narrated by: Alan Cumming, Tim Curry, Simon Vance, and others
- Length: 15 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The modern audience hasn't had a chance to truly appreciate the unknowing dread that readers would have felt when reading Bram Stoker's original 1897 manuscript. Most modern productions employ campiness or sound effects to try to bring back that gothic tension, but we've tried something different. By returning to Stoker's original storytelling structure - a series of letters and journal entries voiced by Jonathan Harker, Dr. Van Helsing, and other characters - with an all-star cast of narrators, we've sought to recapture its originally intended horror and power.
-
-
IS THAT NOT SO?
- By Jim "The Impatient" on 11-05-15
-
Bloody Jack
- By: L. A. Meyer
- Narrated by: Katherine Kellgren
- Length: 7 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Life as a ship's boy aboard HMS Dolphin is a dream come true for Jacky Faber. Gone are the days of scavenging for food and fighting for survival on the streets of 18th-century London. Instead, Jacky is becoming a skilled and respected sailor as the crew pursues pirates on the high seas. There's only one problem: Jacky is a girl. And she will have to use every bit of her spirit, wit, and courage to keep the crew from discovering her secret.
-
-
Sometimes it clicks
- By Terry on 12-09-09
-
A Desperate Fortune
- By: Susanna Kearsley
- Narrated by: Katherine Kellgren
- Length: 15 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
For nearly 300 years, the cryptic journal of Mary Dundas has kept its secrets. Now, amateur codebreaker Sara Thomas travels to Paris to crack the cipher.... Jacobite exile Mary Dundas is filled with longing - for freedom, for adventure, for the family she lost. When fate opens the door, Mary dares to set her foot on a path far more surprising and dangerous than she ever could have dreamed.
-
-
Suggestion to listen with volume low & treble off
- By KristenLashley on 08-14-15
-
The Knockoff
- A Novel
- By: Lucy Sykes, Jo Piazza
- Narrated by: Katherine Kellgren
- Length: 12 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When Imogen returns to work at Glossy after six months away, she can barely recognize her own magazine. Eve, fresh out of Harvard Business School, has fired "the gray hairs", put the managing editor in a supply closet, stopped using the landlines, and hired a bevy of manicured and questionably attired underlings who text and tweet their way through meetings.
-
-
Buy it Now!
- By Sydney Culver on 05-24-15
-
Dark Witch
- The Cousins O'Dwyer Trilogy, Book 1
- By: Nora Roberts
- Narrated by: Katherine Kellgren
- Length: 10 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
With indifferent parents, Iona Sheehan grew up craving devotion and acceptance. From her maternal grandmother, she learned where to find both: a land of lush forests, dazzling lakes, and centuries-old legends. Ireland. County Mayo, to be exact. Where her ancestors’ blood and magic have flowed through generations - and where her destiny awaits. Iona arrives in Ireland with nothing but her Nan’s directions, an unfailingly optimistic attitude, and an innate talent with horses.
-
-
Turn the volume down!
- By J. Gilbert on 10-30-13
-
The Queen of the Tearling
- A Novel
- By: Erika Johansen
- Narrated by: Katherine Kellgren
- Length: 14 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Magic, adventure, mystery, and romance combine in this epic debut in which a young princess must reclaim her dead mother’s throne, learn to be a ruler - and defeat the Red Queen, a powerful and malevolent sorceress determined to destroy her. On her 19th birthday, Princess Kelsea Raleigh Glynn, raised in exile, sets out on a perilous journey back to the castle of her birth to ascend her rightful throne. Plain and serious, a girl who loves books and learning, Kelsea bears little resemblance to her mother, the vain and frivolous Queen Elyssa.
-
-
Volume changed a lot
- By Nik on 12-20-14