Greg Finley Dies: Prolific ‘Robotech’, ‘Men In Black II’ Voiceover Actor Was 76

Greg Evans
·2 min read

Greg Finley, a prolific voiceover actor whose many credits include animated fare like Robotech and live-action projects including The X-Files and Men in Black II, died peacefully February 1 of heart-related causes while on vacation at a family member’s home in Phoenix, Arizona. He was 76.

His death was announced by his son, Guy Finley.

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A voiceover actor with scores of credits stretching back to the 1980s, Finley (occasionally credited under the name Guy Garrett) had by that time already begun his show business career as an on-screen actor with small roles in episodes of, among others, Kolchak: The Night Stalker (1975) and, in 1981, Flo and The Misadventures of Sheriff Lobo.

His voice work began when fellow Beverly Hills High School alum Paul Rabwin, a producer on CHiPs, invited him to provide ADR on that series. (ADR, or automated dialogue replacement, refers to the re-recording of dialogue in postproduction). He’d soon be contributing to high-profile projects such as Indiana Jones and The Temple of Doom, and, in 1985, helped launch the Robotech anime franchise as a writer, director and voice actor.

Among his more memorable contributions: He provided the sounds of the X-Files villain known as “The Cigarette Smoking Man,” and, in 2002, was among the alien voices in Men in Black II.

Finley did voiceover and ADR work well into the 21st century, including for Hannah Montana: The Movie, Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian and Baz Luhrmann’s The Great Gatsby. Much of his work through the decades was as part of Barbara Harris’ voice casting company The Looping Group.

Finley retired in 2018, working only occasionally on projects including 2021’s The Loud House Movie and, last year, Netflix’s The King Who Never Was.

Born May 8, 1947, into a Los Angeles show business family — his father, Larry Finley, was a pioneering local TV and radio personality who helped develop 8-track, cassette and VHS technology and his cousin was The Twilight Zone creator Rod Serling, Finley served in Vietnam after graduating high school in 1965. Following his military service, he became a car salesman before pivoting to his acting career.

Active as a past board member and President of the Santa Clarita-area Canyon Theatre Guild, Finley and wife Patricia produced, directed, and acted in hundreds of community stage productions; both are memorialized with statues in the foyer of the Canyon Theater in downtown Newhall, California.

The couple moved to Boise, Idaho, in 2015 to be closer to family.

In addition to his wife, Finley is survived by six children, three brothers, nine grandchildren, and seven great-grandchildren. Memorial services, in Boise and Los Angeles, will be held in early spring.

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