Jim Cummings facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Jim Cummings
Cummings in 2022
Born	James Jonah Cummings (1952-11-03) November 3, 1952 (age 72) Youngstown, Ohio, U.S.
Occupation	Voice actor podcaster
Years active	1984–present
Works	Full list
Spouse(s)	Stephanie Jardon ​ ​ (m. 2001; div. 2011)​
Children	4
YouTube information
Years active	2023–present
Genre	Voice acting
Subscribers	106,000
Total views	38,208,212

Jim Cummings is a famous American voice actor and podcaster. He was born on November 3, 1952. Since the 1980s, he has given his voice to over 400 characters.

Jim Cummings is well-known for working with the Walt Disney Company and Warner Bros.. He is the official voice for many beloved characters. These include Winnie the Pooh (since 1988) and Tigger (since 1989). He also voices the Tasmanian Devil (since 1991) and Peg Leg Pete (since 1992).

Some of his other popular roles are Fat Cat and Monterey Jack in Chip 'n Dale: Rescue Rangers. He was also the main character in Darkwing Duck. Jim Cummings voiced Cat in CatDog and Ray in The Princess and the Frog.

Early Life and Career Start

Jim Cummings was born in Youngstown, Ohio. He went to Immaculate Conception and St. Columba grade schools. He graduated from Ursuline High School in 1970.

After high school, Cummings moved to New Orleans. There, he designed and painted Mardi Gras floats. He also worked on a riverboat. He sang and played drums in a rock band called Fusion. Later, he moved to Anaheim, California. He managed a video store in the early 1980s. He then began his amazing voice acting career in 1984.

Becoming a Voice Actor

Jim Cummings (middle), with Loren Lester (right), and Alan Oppenheimer (left) in 2015

Jim Cummings' first voice role was Lionel the Lion in Dumbo's Circus. He started working at Disney early in his career. He took over as the voice of Winnie the Pooh in 1988. His voice sounded so much like the original actor, Sterling Holloway. Because of this, he also voiced Kaa in Jungle Cubs and The Jungle Book 2. He also voiced the Cheshire Cat in Disney video games.

Cummings also voiced other characters that sounded like their original actors. He voiced Colonel Hathi in Jungle Cubs and 101 Dalmatians: The Series. He was King Louie in Jungle Cubs and TaleSpin. He also became the regular voice of Pete starting with Goof Troop.

He began sharing the role of Tigger with Paul Winchell in The New Adventures of Winnie the Pooh. Jim Cummings fully took over the role in The Tigger Movie. He also voiced Zummi Gummi in Adventures of the Gummi Bears. For Warner Bros., he voiced Taz in Taz-Mania starting in 1991. He has continued to voice Taz in many Looney Tunes shows.

When Jeremy Irons, the voice of Scar in The Lion King, had voice problems, Cummings helped out. He sang the rest of the song "Be Prepared". He also voiced Scar in a short dream scene in The Lion King II: Simba's Pride. Cummings also sang for other characters in movies like Pocahontas and Anastasia. From 1993 to 2008, he was the voice of Smokey Bear for many commercials.

Original Characters and Villains

Besides sounding like other actors, Jim Cummings has created many original characters. In Rescue Rangers, he voiced the bad guy Fat Cat. In TaleSpin, he was the main villain, Don Karnage. He later became the main characters in Darkwing Duck and Bonkers.

He also starred with Tom Kenny in CatDog, where Cummings voiced Cat. In Disney's Aladdin, he voiced Razoul the Guard Captain. He also voiced Ed the Hyena in The Lion King and Ray the Firefly in The Princess and the Frog. In the 1998 live-action movie Small Soldiers, Cummings voiced Ocula the Gorgonite.

Jim Cummings is also known for voicing many villain roles. He was Steele the Alaskan Malamute in Balto. The director chose Cummings because he wanted Steele's "inherent evil" to be clear. Other bad guy roles include Sierra in The Land Before Time VII: The Stone of Cold Fire. He also voiced Doctor Robotnik in the Sonic the Hedgehog TV series.

He has voiced characters in Scooby-Doo, Tom and Jerry, and Star Wars shows. His most famous Star Wars role is Hondo Ohnaka, the Weequay Pirate. Hondo was only supposed to be in a few episodes of Star Wars: The Clone Wars. But fans loved him so much that he appeared many more times.

Cummings also voiced characters for Dreamworks movies. These include the Captain of Lord Farquaad's Guards in Shrek. He was also Hernán Cortés in The Road to El Dorado. In 2006, he voiced many characters in the Curious George TV show. He voiced Chef Pisghetti and Jumpy Squirrel.

Recent Work

In 2018, Jim Cummings voiced Winnie the Pooh and Tigger again for the live-action movie Christopher Robin. This was special because he was the first voice actor to play animated roles in a live-action Disney film. People really praised his performance as Pooh. One reviewer called it "Oscar-worthy."

Later, in 2021, he voiced Taz again for Space Jam: A New Legacy. He also returned as Fat Cat, Darkwing Duck, and Pete for the Chip 'n Dale: Rescue Rangers movie. In that film, he even voiced bootleg versions of Pooh and Tigger.

In 2023, Cummings voiced King Triton again for Lego Disney Princess: The Castle Quest. He had not voiced this character since Ariel's Beginning. Months later, he voiced Winnie the Pooh and Baloo in Disney's short film Once Upon a Studio. He also voiced Steamboat Pete and King Triton in the Disney Speedstorm game.

Since June 12, 2023, Jim Cummings has hosted a podcast called Toon'd In! with Jim Cummings. You can find it on Spotify and Apple Podcasts. In the podcast, he talks about the many characters he has voiced. Other voice actors also join him for interviews.

Personal Life

Jim Cummings has two daughters with his former wife, Stephanie Jardon. They were married from 2001 to 2011. He also has two older daughters from a previous marriage.

Cummings has shared that his biggest inspirations in voice acting are Mel Blanc, Paul Winchell, and Frank Welker. He called Mel Blanc the "Frank Sinatra of voice acting." He also said Frank Welker was "The Beatles of voiceover."

In another interview, Jim Cummings said his favorite characters to play are Winnie the Pooh, Tigger, Ray the Firefly, Darkwing Duck, and Hondo Ohnaka.

Filmography

Awards and Nominations

Jim Cummings has received many awards and nominations for his voice acting. Here are some of them:

See also

In Spanish: Jim Cummings para niños