Jamie Lee Curtis is often credited as the voice of the narrator for both John Carpenter's Escape From New York and its sequel Escape From L.A., but is this actually true? Jamie Lee Curtis is the daughter of famed actors Janet Leigh and Tony Curtis, and her breakthrough role came with 1978's Halloween. This was a low-budget slasher about a killer named Michael Myers stalking babysitter Laurie Strode and her friends on Halloween night, but despite the movie's modest origins, it became a horror landmark. Laurie would also become an iconic figure in the genre.
Despite the movie's success, John Carpenter was shocked to learn Jamie Lee Curtis wasn't being offered any more work following its release. He wrote her a major role in his follow-up The Fog, and this helped kick off her "Screen Queen" phase where she made a bunch of horror movies in a row like Prom Night. Jamie Lee Curtis often credits Carpenter with launching her career, but her vow to stay away from horror following 1981's Halloween 2 meant he didn't end up directing her again following The Fog.
That said, they've remained good friends and have recently collaborated on David Gordon Green's Halloween sequels, with Curtis reprising Laurie while Carpenter provided the scores. While she's not credited on any of the films, she's often linked with Carpenter's Escape From New York and L.A. as the opening narrator or the various computers heard in both. This is commonly accepted among fans of the series, but the thing is, it's never been confirmed by Carpenter, Jamie Lee Curtis or anyone involved with the movies.
While the narrator's voice in Escape From New York and Escape From L.A. sounds like Jamie Lee Curtis, there seems to be no solid source linking her to the role. In fact, the narrator role is often credited to a performer named "Kathleen Blancard," though curiously, New York and L.A. appear to be her only credits. Some fans even believe this to be a pseudonym for Curtis, and what's even more curious is that the same year Escape From New York was released, she appeared in TV movie She's In The Army Now, co-starring Kathleen Quinlan and Susan Blancard; that's likely just a huge coincidence, however.
Curtis is also linked to the curfew announcer heard in the Carpenter-produced Halloween III: Season Of The Witch, though once again, there doesn't appear to be any solid source to confirm it. Given how close John Carpenter and Jamie Lee Curtis are, it feels somewhat logical the director may have asked Curtis to perform some uncredited voice-over on Escape From New York and to later reprise that role on Escape From L.A. Until either Carpenter or Curtis addresses this rumor, it's difficult to confirm either way if her voice is heard in either movie, and it appears Kathleen Blancard really is the narrator heard in both.