It has been almost four years since Ohio’s Columbus Dispatch introduced the world and, much more importantly, the Internet to Ted Williams, the man who would become widely-known as the Golden-Voiced Hobo. Long before every video on YouTube was an elaborate prank, the clip of a disheveled Williams (above left) delivering the most incredible radio voice we’ve ever heard seemed like it was too good to be true. And yet it was, as Williams’ story was soon told by every outlet from here to Dr. Phil and beyond, as we couldn’t wait to see the former drug addict straighten his life out so we could watch it somehow all come crumbling back down around him. Oh the joys of instant celebrity status.
Despite a paying gig with Kraft, that free home we heard all about and whatever else he was given during his meteoric rise to fame, things did not end up as Williams expected. As he told the Columbus Dispatch in a follow-up this week, Williams thought that the Kraft gig would lead to all kinds of voiceovers (and money) but the jobs never came. Instead, today he finds himself making appearances as a guest speaker of faith, sharing his story with other people who need positive examples in their lives. Unfortunately, the $375,000 that he received as an advance for his book is gone, as is all of his furniture.
“Financially, I’m a little under the weather,” he told the Dispatch. “A lot of things that I signed in 2011 shouldn’t have been signed. A lot of people involved in my life then, in hindsight they shouldn’t have been.” He added that “one set of management” deprived him of his residuals while he was seeking treatment and rehabilitation for his substance addiction issues, and then his next “set of management,” despite putting him up in a nice condo, ended up taking a lot of his money. Basically, the poor guy was screwed, and now he’s still poor. But he claims he’s getting by on his faith, and his new agent is driving him to all of his paying gigs.
Here’s to third or fourth chances.