The low, booming tone resonates across the state everyday.
Its time to put a face to a familiar voice and find out who is the man behind the voice.
"I literally can do over a thousand different voice impressions and not just famous characters but accents and everything else."
William "Billy" Sage IV was born in Virginia and first came to the islands in 1950 when he was 3 1/2 years old.
"By about 1956 we’d lived in about ten different places, eleven different places."
Billy’s family eventually settled here in Hawaii and he went to Kahala Elementary where it was realized he had an ear for voices, including Miss Yamasaki, his 6th grade teacher.
"And the first impression I remember doing "William be quiet".
The kid who had a knack for impersonations honed his skills while at Punahou School.
"By the time I graduated I was bilingual I could go local, I could go mainland."
After attending college and getting his master’s degree in Montana the talented funny man came home and began working with Akuhead Pupule at KSSK.
"Politics were weird for me I voted for the candidate who’s voice was easiest to do."
Known for his impressions of Gov. George Ariyoshi, Jimmy Carter and Ronald Reagan the list continues to grow.
"Bill Clinton but before Bill I have to say I voted for Ross Perot because his voice would have been a lot of fun. So its sort of been like that and of course we have John Waihee and Don Ho and all these wonderful people."
He wanted to be an airline pilot, but his vision wasn’t good enough, and he eventually put his skills on vinyl.
"I have had three albums so far, the first was honk if you love George Ariyoshi when I was working for Aku and then I did a special called Sterling Silva Ace Private Defective."
The father of two boys who has done close to 200-thousand voice recordings also appeared in Raps Hawaii.
When the Hawaii Kai resident isn’t busy with voice over work Billy is also a well known theater performer and song writer.
"If you can put a smile on their face help them to laugh and think that’s a very large gift and i hope to keep in doing it."
See the original article at: KHON2 Local News
