Shelley Blond

Shelley Blond (born March 25, 1970) is an English actress, television presenter, and author. She voiced Lara Croft in Tomb Raider.

Prior to portraying Lara, Shelley performed as Patsy Cline in the West End show Only The Lonely, and in Elvis the Musical, also in the West End. She served as a backing singer for Gilbert O'Sullivan for his tour in Japan. A voice agent scouted Shelley during a performance of Only The Lonely, and approached her backstage after the show if she had representation for voice acting.

Voicing Lara in Tomb Raider was Shelley's second voice role. Core Design were looking for Lara's voice for 6 months prior, but hadn't found the right actress before her audition. Shelley was faxed concept art of the character, who was described as a female Indiana Jones or James Bond, particularly Sean Connery's interpretation. It took Shelley just five hours to record Lara's lines in a session with Nathan McCree. She also participated in select advertisements for the game.

Shelley was asked to return as Lara for Tomb Raider II, but turned it down due to schedule conflicts with Disney and Blockbuster Video. She was replaced by Judith Gibbins. However, her grunts and other sound bites were reused throughout the series, until Tomb Raider: The Last Revelation. Shelley was told by a member of the production team on Lara Croft: Tomb Raider that Angelina Jolie listened to her voice for inspiration with her own portrayal.

Outside of Tomb Raider, Shelley voiced all female characters in the video game Black and White. In live action, she has made appearances on television shows such as Peep Show, Cold Feet, The Bill, Casualty, Cruise of the Gods and Room Raiders. She voiced Amelia in the Disney Channel series The Spooky Sisters and Audrey Glamour in the 2014 film Moomins on the Riviera. Shelley also lends her voice to ITV, Channel 5, Talk Talk, Discovery Channel, TLC, Travel Channel and more.

In 2016, Shelley hosted the live concert for The Tomb Raider Suite at the Eventim Apollo in London. She was also interviewed as part of the 20 Years of Tomb Raider book by Meagan Marie. Since then, she has gone on to take part in several interviews about the series, including unofficial convention appearances.

Trivia

 * Shelley is friends with Jonell Elliott. The two worked together on the West End, with Jonell consulting Shelley when cast as Lara Croft in Tomb Raider: The Last Revelation.
 * Their children have voiced an advertisement for supermarket chain, Sainsbury's, together.
 * Shelley wanted to portray Lara as more loud and confident, but was reined in and asked to be more monosyllabic.
 * For the 20th Anniversary of Tomb Raider, Shelley returned to the role of Lara Croft in a fan video by Raidercast.