Jess Harnell facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Jess Harnell
Harnell in 2013
Born	(1963-12-23) December 23, 1963 (age 61) Englewood, New Jersey, U.S.
Occupation	Voice actor
Years active	1987–present
Spouse(s)	Cara Leanne ​ (m. 2019)​
Parent(s)	Joe Harnell (father)
Musical career
Genres	Heavy metal hard rock
Instruments	Vocals

Jess Harnell (born December 23, 1963) is an American voice actor. He is famous for giving voices to many cartoon characters and video game heroes. Some of his most well-known roles include Wakko Warner in Animaniacs, Captain Hero in Drawn Together, and Ironhide in the first three Transformers movies. He also voiced Crash Bandicoot in the Crash Bandicoot video games. Since 1998, Jess Harnell has been the announcer for America's Funniest Home Videos.

Early Life of Jess Harnell

Jess Harnell was born on December 23, 1963, in Englewood, New Jersey. He grew up in a nearby town called Teaneck. His father, Joe Harnell, was a talented jazz composer.

Voice Acting Career

Jess Harnell started his voice acting career in the late 1980s. He quickly became known for his wide range of voices.

Early Voice Roles

In 1989, Jess Harnell voiced Br'er Rabbit and other characters for the Splash Mountain ride at Disneyland. He continued to voice Br'er Rabbit for other Disney projects, like the Kinect: Disneyland Adventures video game in 2011.

In 1993, he got a very famous role: Wakko Warner in the popular cartoon Animaniacs. He also voiced Secret Squirrel in 2 Stupid Dogs that same year. From 1994 to 1996, he was the voice of Sewer Urchin in The Tick.

More Cartoon and Game Voices

In 1996, Harnell voiced Hunter in Road Rovers. He also appeared in a Star Wars fan film called Troops in 1997. He voiced Rudy's father, Joe Tabootie, in the Nickelodeon show ChalkZone.

Jess Harnell has voiced many video game characters. He played Crash Bandicoot in several games, including Crash Tag Team Racing and Crash Bandicoot N Sane Trilogy. He was also Spyro the Dragon in Spyro: A Hero's Tail. In the Finding Nemo video game, he voiced Marlin and Bruce. He was Jerry in the first two seasons of Totally Spies!. He also voiced Dr. Finkelstein in The Nightmare Before Christmas video games.

Later Voice Work

In 2001, Jess Harnell was the singing voice of Buster in Lady and the Tramp II: Scamp's Adventure. He also voiced Captain Hero in the animated comedy Drawn Together. He is also known for voicing Wooton Bassett in the radio drama Adventures in Odyssey.

In 2007, Jess Harnell voiced Ironhide and Barricade in the live-action Transformers movie. This made him the only voice actor to play both an Autobot and a Decepticon in that film. He returned to voice Ironhide in Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen and Transformers: Dark of the Moon. He also voiced Barricade again in Transformers: The Last Knight.

He also voiced characters in movies like Up and replaced another actor as Professor Buffo in Special Agent Oso. From 2013 to 2018, he provided the voice and singing voice for Cedric the Sorcerer in Sofia the First.

Music Career

Jess Harnell is also a musician. In 1995, he released his only solo album called The Sound of Your Voice. He is the lead singer of a band called Rock Sugar. This band is known for mixing pop and metal songs together. With Rock Sugar, he has released several albums, including Festival of Fire (2008) and Reimaginator (2010).

Personal Life

Jess Harnell married his girlfriend, Cara Leanne, on November 19, 2019.

Filmography

Film Roles

Television Roles

Video Game Roles

Theme Park Roles

Radio Roles

Soundtrack Appearances

Jess Harnell has also sung on many soundtracks for the shows and movies he has voiced.

See also

In Spanish: Jess Harnell para niños