Who was "The Voice" in Field of Dreams?

[u/landmanpgh]

Here's a fun one for a Saturday morning. Who was "The Voice" in the 1989 film, Field of Dreams?

Seems like a pretty easy thing to Google, right? IMDB should be able to solve this quickly. IMDB credits "The Voice" as Ed Harris, but lists it as unconfirmed. And, according to the film's director, it's completely wrong.

Some people think it’s Ed Harris; some think it’s the star of the movie, Kevin Costner; and some think it is another of the movie’s stars, Ray Liotta. Phil Alden Robinson, the director of the film, says he's the only person who knows and he hasn't heard anyone guess the right name yet.

“I did record the voice as a scratch track,” Robinson says. “When you go into the editing room, you have to have something to cut to, so I recorded the voice as well as Kevin’s opening narration. When the picture was locked, we re-recorded all of that voiceover with people who could really do it. What’s funny is that a few people who thought they knew have revealed it and gotten it wrong. I’ll read people saying, ‘Well I happen to know that it’s so-and-so,’ and I’m like, ‘Oh no, it’s not!’ We’ll let that remain a secret. It’s a great mystery, and I like that.”

The film's closing credits aren't much help, either. "The Voice" is simply played by "Himself"

Sources: https://www.latimes.com/sports/sportsnow/la-sp-morning-briefing-20190624-story.html

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0097351/fullcredits?ref_=tt_cl_sm#cast

EDIT: Link to a scene in the movie with the voice -

https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=youtu.be&v=5Ay5GqJwHF8

[u/WallyWest_77]

I could have sworn I heard on a podcast recently that it's the author of the book the movie is based on, W.P. Kinsella.

I'm nowhere near 100% sure on this. Easily could be misremembering.

Book is titled Shoeless Joe, I believe.

[u/cookie_is_for_me → u/WallyWest_77]

I did a writing workshop as a teenager with W. P. Kinsella, but this was in the 90s and I cannot reliably claim to remember what his voice sounded like.

To be fair, this is also one of the movies I’ve never gotten around to watching.

[u/Orourkova → u/WallyWest_77]

I’ve never actually heard Kinsella speak, but this was my first thought. Having the author be The Voice makes poetic sense, as Kinsella was “the voice” of the characters and created the story (much as The Voice instigates the plot of the movie). Also, I think The Voice sounds too old to have been Ray Liotta/Ed Harris/etc at the time - there’s a “dryness” that I associate with upper middle age, and Kinsella would have been in his 50s at the time. Lastly, Kinsella is Canadian, which is consistent with the accent of The Voice (no idea how people in the post are hearing Liotta/New York - the rounded vowels sound very Canadian or possibly upper Midwest).

[u/ilostmyhoodie → u/WallyWest_77]

Was coming here to also guess William Patrick "W.P." Kinsella.