Ray Hagen (1936-2024) was a writer, actor, singer, dancer, audiobook narrator. He was elected to The Lambs in 1964 as a Professional member. Later he became a Life member.
Ray Hagen was a narrator/monitor/reviewer for National Library Service for 42 years, from 1973 until 2015. For a brief time in the mid-1970s, he served as the recording studio director before relinquishing that job to focus on his passion for narrating books for the rest of his career. A longtime resident of Washington, DC, he died on August 28, 2024, at age 88.
Ray Hagen, a “triple threat” actor-dancer-singer who performed on and off Broadway from the 1950s to the 1970s, brought a bit of glamour and celebrity to the NLS studio staff. By Hagen’s count, he narrated more than 540 books over 42 years at NLS before his retirement in January of 2015. In 2000 he was given an Alexander Scourby Lifetime Achievement award and cut back his recording hours.