Susan Bennett has a voice many Apple users are likely very familiar with, even if they’re never heard her name.
The voice actress and singer has come forward to say that she is the voice of Siri , the personal assistant used on Apple products. The admission ended speculation as to just who was the soothing voice behind the multi-talented bot.
Bennett said she wasn’t planning on coming forward with her identity, but then an article on synthesized speech published in The Verge led people to speculate that Allison Duffy is the voice of Siri . Duffy actually works in the same Atlanta studio as Bennett, though she has nothing to do with the Apple assistant.
“I was conservative about it for a long time… then this Verge video came out… and it seems like everyone was clamoring to find out who the real voice behind Siri is, and so I thought, well, you know, what the heck? This is the time,” Bennett said.
Susan Bennett is quite a busy voice actress. A graduate of Brown University, she’s a member of the band Laugh & Cry, which is affiliated with The Berklee School of Music. She’s also been a backup vocalist for Burt Bacharach and Roy Orbison.
In her more than 20 years of voice-overs and singing, Bennett has worked either live or in-studio for Ford, Coca-Cola, Fisher Price, McDonald’s, The Home Depot, Goodyear, VISA, Macy’s, and The Cartoon Network, among others.
Bennett said that before the article, she wasn’t sure if she ever wanted to come forward as the voice of Siri — or if she was even allowed to.
“I wasn’t sure that I wanted the notoriety,” Bennett told CNN about her decision to remain quiet on her role as Siri, “and I also wasn’t sure where I stood legally.”
Susan Bennett recorded the voice of Siri in 2005 on behalf of ScanSoft, a software company that at the time was working on a secret project.
