Tokyo's international theater people refer to Jack Merluzzi as the man with a million voices. "I will do any voice," he said. "I believe I can do any voice." In normal circumstances he is remarkably quiet about his unusual skill, using it to advantage only when the occasion calls for it. Most of those occasions are professional, as Jack works regularly for NHK radio and Fuji and Asahi television. He produces his different voices popularly for video games, "anime," industrial promotional videos and educational text books. "I feel very lucky to be in Japan," he said. "My experiences in America helped me be a big fish in the small pond of narrators here."
His progress has been unorthodox. Born the youngest by many years of four brothers, Jack was often the only child with his mother. "She worked with volunteer groups. I went with her, and learned to watch people. When our local radio and television stations held outside broadcasts, I watched, and helped by picking up screwdrivers and things when someone dropped them. I worked my way into the radio van. I got invited to the studio, and there I got the records ready for the disk jockey. When an opening came up, they asked me to fill it. My first day of work for which I was paid came two days after I turned 14."
This was in Allentown, Pa., a small town with a small radio station. Jack was still only 14 when he received his license allowing him to be in the station and operating the transmitter on his own. Whilst he was "still a kid," he found he could assume different voices. "The station gave me the chance to use the equipment to find out what I could do. Just before one Christmas, a commercial for immediate recording came in. There was no one else in the building. So I did five voices, for Santa and Mrs. Claus and the elves. It had to be done."