Danny Jacobs (actor) facts for kids

Danny Jacobs is an American actor and comedian. He is best known for being the voice of the fun-loving King Julien from the Madagascar movies and TV shows. He took over the role from Sacha Baron Cohen and has voiced King Julien in many popular animated series and specials.

Besides King Julien, Danny Jacobs has lent his voice to many other characters in cartoons and video games. These include Rowdy Remington in Kick Buttowski: Suburban Daredevil, Snakeweed in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and even famous comic book characters like Victor Zsasz in the Batman: Arkham video games.

Early Life and Acting Dreams

Danny Jacobs is a Catholic with Lebanese family roots. When he was growing up, he actually wanted to be a professional NBA basketball player!

His interest in acting began when he was in high school at Bishop Gallagher High School in Harper Woods, Michigan. He saw a play called West Side Story and was really inspired by it. After that, he started acting in his own school plays, like Grease and The Wiz.

Danny went to Wayne State University and later transferred to the University of Arizona, where he studied musical theater. He was also inspired by his cousin, who performed in the original Broadway show of Les Misérables. After college, he moved to Los Angeles to pursue acting. He started doing voice-overs for commercials and then got into animation voice acting.

In 2015, Danny Jacobs visited Kids Kicking Cancer, a group that helps children with cancer. He used his King Julien voice to entertain the kids and make them smile.

Danny Jacobs' Amazing Career

Danny Jacobs started his acting career in theater in 1993. He won awards in the late 1990s for his stage performances.

In 1999, he got his first voice role in a movie called Full Blast. He also did background voices for the cartoon Futurama.

Becoming King Julien

Danny Jacobs became the voice of King Julien in the TV show The Penguins of Madagascar (2008–2015). He did a great job sounding just like Sacha Baron Cohen, who voiced King Julien in the first Madagascar movies. Danny continued to voice the character in many other projects, including the Christmas special Merry Madagascar (2009) and the TV series All Hail King Julien (2014–2017). He even voiced King Julien in the movie Penguins of Madagascar (2014).

Danny Jacobs has won awards for his voice work as King Julien. He won a Daytime Emmy Award in 2011 and again in 2015 for his performance. He also sang as King Julien for the soundtrack of Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted (2012).

Other Voice Roles

Besides King Julien, Danny Jacobs has voiced many other characters. He was in Phineas and Ferb and played Snake / Snakeweed in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. He has also voiced characters in many video games.

Danny loves voice acting because it gives him a lot of freedom. He once said, "I can play any character of any ethnicity, any age, even any gender. And that's a freedom the camera doesn't give you." He also said that King Julien is his favorite role and he would always be happy to voice him again.

He also voiced George Washington in an episode of Teen Titans Go!.

Awards and Recognitions

Danny Jacobs has been recognized for his fantastic voice acting:

• 2010: Annie Award for Voice Acting in a Television Production – Nominated (for Merry Madagascar)
• 2011: Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Performer in an Animated Program – Won (for The Penguins of Madagascar)
• 2015: Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Performer in an Animated Program – Won (for All Hail King Julien)