Tony Jay

Tony Jay (2 February 1933 – 13 August 2006) was an English Actor, Voice Actor and Singer.

A former member of the Royal Shakespeare Company, he was known for his voice work in Radio, Animation, Film and video games. Jay was particularly well known for his distinctive baritone voice, which often led to him being cast in villainous roles. He's best known for providing the voice of Claude Frollo in Walt Disney's The Hunchback of Notre Dame, Golden Skull in Skeleton Warriors, Shere Khan in The Jungle Book 2 and TaleSpin and Wraith in Mighty Ducks.

Biography
Tony Jay was born in London, England, and attended Pinner County Grammar School in Pinner, London. He moved to South Africa in 1966, where he worked for the South African Broadcasting Corporation radio service, Springbok Radio. He was involved with Springbok Radio for over two decades, during which time he performed, wrote, produced, and adapted many serials and plays broadcast by the station, including Taxi! and The Sounds of Darkness.

Jay returned to the United Kingdom in 1973, where he joined the Royal Shakespeare Company. While performing with the company, he also took roles in film and on television. In 1986, after successful performances of The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby in New York and Los Angeles, Jay decided to move to America, choosing to live in the Hollywood Hills area of California. He ultimately became a naturalized citizen of the United States.

As an actor, Jay made his film debut while in South Africa, starring in the 1970 film Lied in My Heart. Since then, he has appeared in such films as Woody Allen's Love and Death (1975), Ivan Reitman's Twins (1988), and the science fiction comedy My Stepmother Is an Alien. He is also a distinguished stage actor, having performed in plays based on the works of such writers as William Shakespeare and Charles Dickens. In 1987, he earned a Drama Desk Award nomination for his performance in the New York production of Nicholas Nickleby.

Throughout the late 1980s and 1990s, Jay had recurring roles on various television series. He recurred as Paracelcus on the TV series Beauty and the Beast, and Dougie Milford on Twin Peaks. Between 1993 and 1995, Jay appeared as Nigel St. John on Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman. He also made one-time guest appearances on such series as Newhart, Matlock, Night Court, Picket Fences, and Providence.

Perhaps his most notable voice work is the evil Judge Claude Frollo in Disney's The Hunchback of Notre Dame. Other voiceover roles Jay has done for Disney include Monsieur D'Arque in 1991's Beauty and the Beast and the ruthless Shere Khan in TaleSpin, and the 2003 film, The Jungle Book 2 and in the TV series House of Mouse.

Outside of his work in Disney productions, Jay supplied the voice of Dr. Lipschitz on Nickelodeon's Rugrats, as well as in two Rugrats films. He also voiced the evil virus Megabyte in the acclaimed CGI animated series ReBoot, Dregg on Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and Chairface Chippendale on the cult animated series The Tick. Other shows to which he has lent his voice include Disney's Darkwing Duck, Warner Bros. Animation's Pinky and the Brain, and Nickelodeon's Hey Arnold!. Additionally, he performed a number of roles in various video games, including the Elder God from the Legacy of Kain series, the Transcendent One in Planescape: Torment, the gate of the underworld in King's Quest VI, and the Lieutenant in the first Fallout game.

From 2001 until his death, Jay worked exclusively as a voice-over actor. He continued his collaboration with Disney, which included roles in the films Recess: School's Out, Treasure Planet, and the aforementioned Jungle Book 2. His recent video game work includes the voice of Magneto in X-Men Legends, and the narrator of the widely-popular World of Warcraft. From 2004 until his death, Jay voiced the character Spiderus on the Nickelodeon children's series Miss Spider's Sunny Patch Friends. Just prior to his death, Jay had been nominated for a Daytime Emmy Award and an Annie Award for his voiceover work on this series.

On 13 August 2006, Jay died at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, California, following complications from micro-surgery to remove a non-cancerous tumor from his lungs. He was 73 years old. He is interned at Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Hollywood Hills. Jay was survived by his wife of over two years, Marta, and his 17-year-old son, Adam.

Animated Films

 * Asterix & the Big Fight (1989) - Narrator (US Dub)

Anime Films

 * Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind (1984) - Narrator (Buena Vista Dub)