He’s not quite Susan Boyle.
But one of the first videos from America to go viral in 2011 has propelled a homeless man, who was filmed begging for money with a baritone-rich radio voice, to national attention and job offers.
Ted Williams, a 53-year-old former radio announcer who became homeless after battling drugs and alcohol, attracted millions of YouTube hits after the Columbus Dispatch newspaper posted a video last Monday of Williams begging on the side of a road in Columbus, Ohio.
PHOTO: REUTERS 照片：路透
By last Thursday, he had appeared on morning news programs including “The Today Show” to talk about new voice-over job offers with the Cleveland Cavaliers basketball team and foodmaker Kraft and his stunning instant rise from begging on the streets.
Last Thursday, Williams told “Today” he was astounded by the attention. “Outrageous, it’s just phenomenal. There is no way in the world that I could ever have imagined ... all of this,” he said.
He recounted his days working as a radio DJ in the 1980s before battling with drugs and alcohol, drinking as much as a full bottle of liquor a day. By 1993, he found himself in homeless shelters and even served time in prison.
He told “Today” he became known among drivers in Columbus who would drive by just to hear his golden voice and upbeat greeting while advertising his “God-given gift of voice” when panhandling.
But now, with job offers pouring in, he said he hoped five years from now he could become a radio program director and support his daughters and sons in Columbus.
The lesson on treating the homeless, he said, was simple: “Don’t judge a book by its cover, everybody has their own little story.”
(REUTERS)
他跟蘇珊大嬸成名的經歷不太相同。
不過，二零一一年美國首批像病毒般散播的影片中，就有一部捧紅一位遊民。影片中他以充滿男中音音質的廣播嗓音，當街乞討；播送後，舉國矚目、職運看好。
五十三歲的泰德‧威廉斯曾是廣播播音員，因染上毒癮與酒癮，成為遊民。上週一被《哥倫布快報》貼上內容為威廉斯在俄亥俄州哥倫布市的公路旁乞討的影片後，吸引上百萬YouTube點閱人次。
上週四，威廉斯受邀上幾個晨間電視新聞節目，其中包含「今日秀」，談論美國克里夫蘭騎士隊與卡夫食品公司向他提供的配音工作，還有分享他從街頭乞討到意外一夜成名的歷程。
上週四，威廉斯告訴「今日秀」，各方矚目令他大吃一驚。他說，「實在不可思議，非比尋常。我在世上從未想像過…這一切。」
他憶起自己在八○年代當電台DJ的日子，然而，吸毒和酗酒，一天喝上滿滿的一瓶，讓他自毀前程。一九九三年，他淪落到遊民庇護所，甚至曾在監獄服刑。
他於「今日秀」中稱，他在哥倫布道路駕駛中頗富盛名，他們開車路過，僅為聽他的黃金嗓音及樂觀的問候，他在行乞時手裡會舉著牌子，上面寫道，「上帝賜予的天籟嗓音。」
在各方爭相延攬他之際，他說希望五年後可以成為廣播節目總監，並在哥倫布幫助他的子女。
他說，給大眾如何對待遊民的一課是，「人不可貌相，每個人都有自己的一片天。」
（法新社╱翻譯：林亞蒂）
★ Bilingual Story is a fictionalized account. 雙語故事部分內容純屬虛構。 Lucas was already on the ground before he fully understood what was happening. “Hurry! Kneel down!” someone shouted. The asphalt was warm against his knees. Around him, dozens of people lay flat in the narrow street outside Jenn Lann Temple in Dajia. Some pressed their hands together in prayer. Others closed their eyes. Lucas had only come to look at the temple. An hour earlier he had stepped into the noisy courtyard out of curiosity. Inside the main hall, people held incense sticks, bowed three times,
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