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

Performance Highlights

  • Dark Witch
  • Pride and Prejudice and Zombies
  • Bloody Jack
  • On Her Majesty's Frightfully Secret Service