Reading app lets deceased Hollywood stars revive their voices through AI

The artificial intelligence (AI) audio company ElevenLabs announced in a blog post its partnership with the estates of cult stars Judy Garland, James Dean and other legends to add their voices to the voice library of its newly released Reader apppublished on July 2nd.

“Judy Garland, James Dean, Burt Reynolds and Sir Laurence Olivier are among the most iconic actors in history. We deeply respect their legacies and are honored to have their voices on our platform,” said Dustin Blank, Head of Partnerships at ElevenLabs.

The app allows users to listen to articles, PDFs, EPUBs, newsletters, eBooks or other digital texts with emotional, contextual voiceovers, including those of stars found exclusively under the Iconic Voices feature.

ElevenLabs envisions users being able to try out L. Frank Baum’s “The Wizard of Oz” with the voice of Judy Garland or “Sherlock Holmes” with narrator Sir Laurence Olivier, stressing that heirs of deceased stars are “excited to see their legacy live on.”

Liza Minelli, daughter of Judy Garland and representative of the Garland Estate, said: “It is exciting to see that our mother’s voice is now available to the countless millions of people who love her. Our family believes that ElevenLabs’ spectacular new technology will bring new fans to Mama and will also be exciting for those who already appreciate the unparalleled legacy that Mama has left and continues to leave to the world.”

The agreements with the estates stipulate that the voices of Garland, Dean, Reynolds and Olivier will not be included in the company’s broader audio database for creating shareable content.

Tina Xavie, Chief Marketing Officer of CMG Worldwide, the management company for these properties, said: “As someone who has had the privilege of representing iconic figures in history for decades, I am incredibly excited about our partnership with ElevenLabs. We value their thoughtful approach to working with talent in the right way. We are excited about the new opportunities they are providing our clients and look forward to more to come.”

Currently, the Reader app is only available for iPhone, but an Android app is in development and will be available in the future.