Voices of Burt Reynolds and Judy Garland recreated using artificial intelligence

The distinctive voices of four actors from Hollywood’s golden age are being given new life thanks to artificial intelligence, thanks to a deal between audio AI developer ElevenLabs and celebrity real estate manager CMG Worldwide, the company announced Tuesday.

Users of ElevenLabs’ new Reader app, launched last week, can have text read aloud by authorized recreations of the voices of “For They Know Not What They Do” star James Dean, “The Wizard of Oz” star Judy Garland, “Spartacus” star Sir Laurence Olivier and “The Man with the Ball” star Burt Reynolds.

When introducing the “Iconic Voices” project, ElevenLabs described the four as “some of the most famous actors in history.”

“We deeply respect their legacy and are honored to have their voices as part of our platform,” said Dustin Blank, head of partnerships at ElevenLabs, in a statement. “Adding them to our growing roster of speakers is an important step forward in our mission to make content accessible in every language and voice.”

For actress and singer Liza Minnelli, daughter of Judy Garland and representative of Garland’s estate, the project is an exciting opportunity to introduce new fans to her mother’s work.

“It is exciting to see that our mother’s voice is now available to the countless millions of people who love her,” Minnelli said in a statement. “Our family believes that ElevenLabs’ spectacular new technology will bring new fans to Mama and will be exciting for those who already appreciate the unparalleled legacy that Mama has left and continues to leave to the world.”

According to ElevenLabs, the free Reader app – available for iOS and planned for Android – supports over 29 languages ​​and can read user-provided articles, emails and PDFs. While subscription costs are not listed, the information page offers “three months of free access with nearly unlimited generation and the highest quality voices.”

While the larger ElevenLabs platform provides AI voice generation for various purposes, these celebrity voices are only found in the Reader app.

“These iconic voices are available exclusively through the app for individual streaming and are not part of our larger voice library for creating content to share,” the company said.

Beverly Hills-based CMG Worldwide manages the estates of Reynolds, Dean, Garland and Oliver. It also manages the estates of Aaliyah, Bettie Page, Natalie Wood and David Carradine.

Artificial intelligence is often used to recreate voices, although unauthorized cloning often occurs – especially in music. But the likenesses of deceased celebrities have also been resurrected with the permission of their respective estates.

In December, CMG Worldwide partnered with Ukrainian AI developer Respeecher to recreate the vocal style of It’s a Wonderful Life star Jimmy Stewart for a project with meditation and sleep app Calm, using the late actor’s voice to narrate a new story titled “It’s a Wonderful Sleep Story.”

In March, San Francisco-based company Soul Machines released an AI-generated replica of Marilyn Monroe called Digital Marilyn, which acts as an interactive video avatar and is intended to provide a personalized real-time experience.

“Digital Marilyn is more than just an impressive impersonation. She is an autonomous digital person capable of natural, dynamic conversations that seem authentic and responsive,” Soul Machines said in a Medium post. “It’s as if the spark of Marilyn herself has been transferred into the AI ​​age, offering a unique and deeply personal connection to both loyal fans and curious newcomers.”

ElevenLabs was unable to respond to a request for comment from Decrypt.