Special to the Record Searchlight
        Bill Collins has heard some interesting requests in his life, so when a first-grader at Monarch Learning Center in Redding asked if he could sound like a duck again, the longtime entertainer just smiled.“A duck is easy,” said Collins, who moved to Redding in 2001 with his wife, Lisa, and his youngest daughter, Kathleen, now 9. “Once, when I was working on a commercial for the California Egg Board, they asked me if I could make a chicken sound younger. I did,” the actor said, chuckling at the memory and performing the actual chicken sounds. “Then they said, ‘Not that young. Could you make it sound like a teenage chicken?’” Collins took on that daunting challenge and it was his voice the television audience heard when those commercials aired. While it may have been one of Collins’ funniest commercials, it wasn’t his first or last. Listed on his resume are a slew of jingles the world has heard, including the original 1976 version of the McDonald’s favorite: “Two all-beef patties, special sauce, lettuce, cheese, pickles, onions on a sesame-seed bun.” The voice of the 64-year-old has been heard since 1972 in commercials for Levi’s, The Gap, Visa Credit Card Co., Shell Oil Co., Chuck E. Cheese and even Apple Computer. Locally, Collins has been in ads for Win-River Casino, Macy’s and Smitty’s Heating and Air Conditioning, to name just a few. He’s won several awards for his work.
“He’s a regular for voice-overs here,” said Matt Davison, a producer at Charter Communications. “He has an extensive background. He can read with a kindly and youthful voice, but if I ask for something harsher, he can give it. He’s very professional. He always asks, ‘How does that sound?’”
The two men met when they both auditioned for Riverfront Playhouse in Redding when Collins first moved to town. The two hit it off and have been working together since.
“He is able to read fast without sounding rushed or awkward, “ Davison said. “That’s a hard thing to do, something I can’t do. He’s experienced so much, it’s good to have that kind of talent level here.”
Voice-overs aren’t the only thing Collins does. He’s also an accomplished actor with three major motion pictures on his resume, including “Tucker,” which starred Jeff Bridges, and “Willow,” directed by Ron Howard. His stage and theater credits include “Oklahoma,” “South Pacific” and “Music Man,” as well as many others.
Locally, Collins and his wife, Lisa, are co-writers and producers of the Keyhole Mystery Theater. He also teaches drama at Redding School of the Arts, North Cow Creek and Monarch schools. He also teaches on-camera acting and auditioning techniques at Redding Talent Company.
Despite the grace and talent Collins displays in his acting career, it isn’t his first love. That honor belongs to music.
“I remember waking up on Saturday mornings to whatever Bruce would be playing,” said Collins of his brother, who is six years older. “We would listen to his 45s and sing barbershop harmonies while we did the housework - that was our job - the housework.”
Because Bruce Collins listened to everything from Benny Goodman to folk to the Saturday Metropolitan Opera in New York, Collins learned to like a wide variety of music at a young age.
“That gave me my ear,” said Collins, who has a four-octave range.
The future musician got his first “guitar” by borrowing Bruce’s violin, which Collins turned sideways and strummed.
“A friend of my mom’s saw me and brought over his guitar,” Collins said. “He showed me my first chord.”
Collins, who bought his first real guitar at a pawnshop for $10 when he was still in high school, picked up tips from wherever he could learn them. He learned the difficult barr F chord from high school friend Bill McCubbin (F58), who later toured with Bobby Darin and Glen Campbell.
Today, all those who watch his performances at the Redding Improv Players appreciate Collins’ musical talents. The group meets once a week to rehearse and discuss their monthly performances, which aren’t scripted.
“He captivates an audience,” said Redding’s Russell Piette, who is also a member of Redding Improv and has performed in Collins’ Keyhole Mystery Theater. “Bill’s always on. He has a sense of humor that never shuts off. His mind is always going.
        “He’s brought his musical talents to the Improv and it’s a huge gift,” Piette said. “He’s got a great voice and a quick wit. He’s singing things that are made up off the top of his head - it’s just too much.
Collins’ musical career has spanned more than four decades and included playing with several bands in San Francisco and the surrounding area during the musically diverse 1960s. During that time, Collins and his various bands played in such memorable spots as the Hungry i, where they opened for Glenn Yarbrough, the Ice House in Pasadena and the Whiskey-A-Go-Go. Collins also recorded several albums as well.
        “Bill is a great musician, a good actor and a fun guy to be with,” said Jim Stern of Petaluma, who has known Collins for 35 years. “We’ve been playing together all our lives.You tend to be with people you like.”
        Collins and Stern, a semi-retired recording engineer who still does work for Van Morrison, played together in the band San Francisco Towncriers.
“We are all very, very alive and growing,” Stern said. “Bill and I are interesting people because we have a desire for knowledge and affection for the world.”
Collins is currently using that knowledge and affection to write the “La Mystique-Le couer de France” (the Heart of France), a Keyhole Mystery Theater event to benefit the American Heart Association.
        But no matter what Collins is involved with from jingle singing to acting to playing his 12-string guitar, it all comes down to one thing.
        “I’m more of an entertainer,” Collins said. “My mother always said ‘You can do whatever you want.’ I believed her.”
So does his audience.