Even after 27 years, Lee Crooks still finds it surreal he is heard on every Chicago Transit Authority bus and train speaker in the city.
“That’s the part I am unable to wrap my head around,” Crooks said. “I hope to be doing it until my voice gives out.”
Crooks got the gig back in 1998, toward the beginning of his voiceover career.
“One day my agent called me up and said, ‘Hey, the CTA wants someone for prerecorded announcements.’ I said – yeah!”
Crooks sent his audition tape and hoped for the best. It took CTA about six months to confirm he was hired.
“They auditioned celebrities, people from other cities, Chicago-sounding people, Chicago locals, and I’m just grateful I got the job.”
It’s a job he’s always done from his home audio booth in the Milwaukee area. He sends his track to a producer with CTA virtually.
He said usually, the scripts are pretty simple.
“Sometimes it’s just Monroe, Adams, Washington, Wabash,” Crooks explained in his CTA tone.
Though his face isn’t familiar, his voice certainly is. When he runs into CTA customers, they often recognize his voice.
“Somebody maybe sort of recognizes my voice, like, ‘Your voice sounds familiar.’ So I ask, ‘What’s your stop?’ ‘Monroe.’ So I just go, ‘This is Monroe.'”
There’s one location customers always ask him to recite.
“The stop I get the most – it’s State and Lake. They want to hear, ‘This is State and Lake.’ I don’t know why.”
Crooks said he has just one message to riders.
“Umm, doors closing!”
But in all seriousness, Crooks couldn’t be more grateful for his years with the CTA. He hopes to continue being that friendly and familiar voice for commuters.
“It’s been a heck of a ride,” he added.
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