John Patrick Lowrie
American voice actor
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
John Patrick Lowrie (born June 28, 1952) is an American voice actor best known for voicing the Sniper in Team Fortress 2 and various characters in Dota 2. He has played Sherlock Holmes in the radio series The Further Adventures of Sherlock Holmes since 2001.
John Patrick Lowrie | |
|---|---|
Lowrie at the 2017 Game On Expo | |
| Born | June 28, 1952 |
| Education | Indiana University, Bloomington (PhD; dropped out) |
| Occupation | Voice actor |
| Years active | 1997–present |
| Spouse | |
Career
Lowrie was a musician in his 20s, touring the United States as a part of The Keith-Lowrie Duet, which opened for acts like Buddy Rich. At the age of 31, he played the banjo in the pit orchestra on the European tour of the musical Show Boat. After noticing the actors made more money than him, Lowrie auditioned to understudy for the role of Captain Andy, and debuted on stage in Palermo, Italy, which became his first paid acting gig.[1] After returning to the United States and moving in with his wife, Ellen McLain, in New York City, he turned down a role in a European tour of West Side Story to stay with McLain. He then studied for a Ph.D. in Music Composition at the Indiana University School of Music for two years before dropping out to pursue acting in Seattle with McLain.[1]
Lowrie began voice acting for video games in the early 1990s,[1] and has performed roles in games such as The Suffering and The Suffering: Ties That Bind, Total Annihilation and its expansions, The Operative: No One Lives Forever and No One Lives Forever 2: A Spy in H.A.R.M.'s Way. Lowrie is mostly recognized for his voice acting in Valve Corporation games such as Team Fortress 2, Half-Life 2, Half-Life 2: Episode One, Half-Life 2: Episode Two, Left 4 Dead, Dota 2, Artifact and Deadlock.[2][3]
He is noted for playing the roles of the Sniper in the online first-person shooter game Team Fortress 2, Agent Gray in the MMORPG The Matrix Online, as well as Odessa Cubbage and the male citizens in Half-Life 2.
Lowrie has played Sherlock Holmes in the radio drama series The Further Adventures of Sherlock Holmes on the program Imagination Theatre since 2001. He also voiced Holmes in the program's related radio series The Classic Adventures of Sherlock Holmes. He and Lawrence Albert, who voices Dr. Watson on the program, are the longest-running audio Holmes and Watson team in American radio history.[4]
In 2011, he published a science fiction novel titled Dancing with Eternity. An audiobook version narrated by Lowrie and McLain was released in April 2014.[5]
In 2021, Lowrie directed a livestreamed version of the play 'night, Mother starring his wife Ellen McLain and Sheila Houlahan on the online platform Twitch with the story adapted by McLain within the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. The filmed online play is performed through an online face-to-face chat with the screen split between McLain's and Houlahan's screens, occasionally interrupted by cuts to pre-filmed footage relevant to the story.[6]
Lowrie has also had small roles in several live-action films, most notable of which being the 2025 critically acclaimed period drama Train Dreams as a foreman overlooking the construction of a railroad for the Spokane International Railway (credited as Mr. Sears).[7]
Personal life
Lowrie’s adolescence was spent in Boulder, Colorado, where he attended various high schools briefly before joining the United States Navy.
He first met his wife Ellen McLain in 1984 in Arnhem, Netherlands, during the European tour of Show Boat, which McLain starred in. They returned to the United States, where they married and moved in together, initially in New York City. They then spent two years in Indiana, before they finally settled in Seattle to pursue acting.[1] Lowrie has since voiced characters alongside McLain in Team Fortress 2, Half-Life 2, and Dota 2.[8]
Works
Video games
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1997 | Betrayal in Antara | Tyre, Enkudi, Mackey[9] | |
| Spy Fox in "Dry Cereal" | Artimice J. Bigpig[10] | First video game role[11] | |
| Total Annihilation | Narrator | ||
| 1998 | Total Annihilation: The Core Contingency | ||
| Total Annihilation: Battle Tactics | |||
| Police Quest: SWAT 2 | Tammany, Officer, Security Guard, Hostage[12] | ||
| 2000 | The Operative: No One Lives Forever | Bruno Lawrie | |
| 2002 | No One Lives Forever 2: A Spy in H.A.R.M.'s Way | ||
| 2004 | The Suffering | Guard | |
| Half-Life 2 | Odessa Cubbage, Male citizens[10] | ||
| 2005 | The Matrix Online | Agent Gray | |
| FATE | Narrator | ||
| The Suffering: Ties That Bind | The Man[10] | ||
| 2006 | Half-Life 2: Episode One | Male citizens[10] | |
| 2007 | Half-Life 2: Episode Two | Griggs / Male citizens[10] | |
| Team Fortress 2 | Sniper[10] | ||
| 2008 | Left 4 Dead | John Slater | |
| 2009 | F.E.A.R. 2: Project Origin | Harold Keegan | |
| inFamous | Warden Harms | ||
| Halo 3: ODST | Kinsler / SWAT Commander | ||
| 2010 | Halo: Reach | Sword Control | |
| 2011 | The Lord of the Rings: War in the North | Beleram | |
| 2013 | Dota 2 | Ancient Apparition, Dark Seer, Doom, Earthshaker, Pudge, Shadow Fiend, Storm Spirit, Voice of the International Announcer[10] | |
| Planetary Annihilation | Narrator | ||
| 2018 | Artifact | Dark Seer, Earthshaker, Storm Spirit, Shadow Fiend | |
| 2019 | The Church in the Darkness | Isaac Walker[13] | |
| 2022 | SpaceVenture | Holotube, Nurb, Habanero | |
| TBA | Deadlock | Dynamo | [14] |
Animation
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | Meet the Sniper | Sniper | Animated Team Fortress 2 short |
Live-action film
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2003 | A Relative Thing | The Lawyer | |
| 2005 | The Unknown | Mayor Potts | |
| 2020 | Language Arts | Bike Shopper | |
| 2025 | Train Dreams | Mr. Sears[7] | Adaptation of the 2011 novella of the same name |
Web
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | Night, Mother | Director | Livestreamed adaptation of the play 'night, Mother on Twitch.[15] |
Books
- Lowrie, John Patrick (2011). Dancing with Eternity. Seattle, Washington: Camel Press. ISBN 9781603818100.