creaky voice

[Mullins, Bill AMRDEC]

>Is there some way of describing, for us lookers-on, what is meant by
>"creaky voice"?   Are there  some familiar voices on NPR that exhibit this?
>A. Murie

I played the Jacobellis interview; she didn't sound especially creaky.  (Or maybe I'm not understanding the word as it is being used.)
 
I hear some actresses who sound creaky.  Usually it sounds kind of affected, and shows up in words with a short "a" sound.
 
See Mary-Louise Parker, particularly from her appearances on "West Wing" (I have even seen her called "lockjaw" on one of the fan boards -- perhaps the creakiness is associated with a clenched lower jaw, sort of like Thurston Howell III's Harvard accent).
 
See also Sarah Vowell, who played the daughter in "The Incredibles" and appears occasionally on public radio's "This American Life".

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