'Man with the Golden Voice:' Inside Ted Williams' Life after He Gained Nationwide Recognition

The voice-over artist and radio host not only became a viral sensation thanks to a video of his street performance and life story but also received a second opportunity in life to overcome his addictions. Where is he today?

After about 20 years living in the streets after becoming estranged from his family and ruining his career as a voice-over artist, Ted Williams was granted a second chance to go back on his feet thanks to his amazing talent and the internet.

62-year-old Williams went from begging in the streets to being a viral sensation and receiving several dream job offers with brands that wanted to feature the man’s “golden voice” after a Columbus Dispatch reporter “discovered” him.

The news was everywhere. A former voice-over artist, whose life had been consumed by addiction to drugs and alcohol and was left homeless, hoped for a new start while holding a sign next to a highway.

It was in January 2011 when Williams showcased his trained, baritone voice for the cameras and caught everybody’s heart with his life story and his will to overcome his circumstances.

10 days later he was invited to “Dr. Phil” and from then own, life seems to have been good for Williams, who in 2015 shared that he was having the time of his life. But the journey that started in 2011 for Williams hasn’t been without challenges.

REHAB

In his first onscreen interview with Dr. Phil McGraw, Williams admitted that he was still struggling with substance addiction, and by the end of the program, he had agreed to enter into rehab to make the most out of the new chance he was given.

Despite signing up for rehab as he has promised to do, he voluntarily checked himself out of the facility after just twelve days of treatment, which ended up with Williams losing most of the business deals he had been offered.

Fortunately, Williams understood his mistake and four months later he entered into rehab once again, this time completing the program satisfactorily. Following this, he returned to “Dr. Phil” and apologized for nearly blowing his second chance.

PUBLISHING A BOOK

In 2012, a sobered-up Williams was back on TV as a guest on the “Today Show” promoting his memoir “A Golden Voice: How Faith, Hard Work, and Humility Brought Me from the Streets to Salvation.”

During his chat with host Matt Lauer, Williams shared how he initially turned to alcohol as he tried to stay away from illegal drugs but had managed to take things one day at a time and had come off clean.

MONEY PROBLEMS

Even though he made a $300.000 deal for his book and voiced commercials for Kraft Macaroni and Cheese since 2011, Williams made the devastating revelation that he could barely covered his expenses and “owned nothing” in 2013.

During a lengthy follow-up interview with the Columbus Dispatch, Williams stayed positive about his plans to get his own home and buying a car. More importantly, he was still sober.

AIMING HIGH

In 2015, Williams celebrated four years of sobriety, and the achievement gave him the courage to dream big in his desire to contribute to change. He even contemplated running for president of the US as an independent for a minute.

"I was created to create change. I want to do it big. Looking at all the other people running, I said why not change things on the highest level," Williams said back then.

GIVING BACK TO THE COMMUNITY

Williams might have had second thoughts about getting involved with politics but not for that he was any less focused in trying to do something of service for the community.

Among his dreams are donating socks for other homeless people and opening a charity Laundromat that allows people who live in the street to have clean clothes as they try to land jobs.

Meanwhile, Williams has kept touring the US giving motivational speeches inspired by his life struggle.

BACK TO THE RADIO

In 2016, Williams made one of his wildest dreams come true when he landed his own weekday radio program on WVKO-AM, the radio station where he got started as a voice-over artist before falling from grace. The show was titled “The Golden Voice Show.”

Williams still lives in Columbus, where he has reconnected with part of his family and has turned to his faith for the strength to continue on the right path. He dreams of voicing an animated character for Disney/Pixar.