Tony Jay facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Tony Jay
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| Born | 2 February 1933 London, England
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| Died | 13 August 2006 (aged 73) Los Angeles, California, U.S.
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| Resting place | Forest Lawn Memorial Park, Hollywood Hills |
| Education | Pinner County Grammar School |
| Occupation | Actor |
| Years active | 1966–2006 |
| Spouse(s) |
Marta MacGeraghty
(m. 2004) |
| Children | 1 |
Tony Jay (born February 2, 1933 – died August 13, 2006) was a talented British actor. He was especially famous for his deep, powerful voice, which often led to him playing villain roles in cartoons and video games.
You might know his voice from some very popular characters! He was Judge Claude Frollo in Disney's The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1996), Megabyte in ReBoot (1994–2001), and Shere Khan in The Jungle Book 2 and the TV show TaleSpin. He also voiced the Elder God in the Legacy of Kain video game series.
Tony Jay also appeared in movies and TV shows. He played Nigel St John on Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman (1993–1995) and Professor Werner in the movie Twins (1988).
Contents
Early Life and Moving Around
Tony Jay was born in London, England. He went to Pinner County Grammar School. After school, he worked in a real estate business for a while, even though he always loved acting.
Around 1966, he moved to South Africa. He thought there would be good opportunities for his real estate work there. But in 1973, he moved back to England. Finally, in 1986, he moved to the United States, where he stayed.
His Acting Journey
Even when he was working in real estate in England, Tony Jay would act in plays just for fun.
Starting in South Africa
After only three months in South Africa, Tony Jay started acting in radio dramas. He played a smart, blind FBI agent in a detective series called Sounds of Darkness. This experience made him realize he wanted to be a professional actor.
He acted, wrote, and directed many radio plays for Springbok Radio, which was South Africa's first commercial radio station. He was very well known for the funny series Taxi!, where he played a New York taxi driver named Red Kowalski. He even helped write many of the scripts for that show! He also helped create the radio version of the British TV series The Avengers.
Tony Jay's voice was so good that he also did many commercials for big companies.
Working in the United Kingdom
When Tony Jay returned to Britain in 1973, he started working in television. He played Tsar Alexander III of Russia in the BBC series Fall of Eagles (1974). During this time, he met another famous actor, Patrick Stewart. He also appeared in popular TV shows like The Sweeney and The Professionals.
He was in the movie Love and Death (1975), directed by Woody Allen. Fun fact: George Lucas, the creator of Star Wars, even met with Tony Jay about playing Obi-Wan Kenobi! But in the end, the role went to Alec Guinness.
On stage, Tony Jay had important roles in plays like Great Expectations and The Merchant of Venice, where he played Shylock. He was also part of the famous Royal Shakespeare Company and performed in their very long play, The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby.
Success in the United States
The play Nicholas Nickleby went on tour in the United States in 1986. Tony Jay loved it there and decided to stay. His acting in the play was highly praised, and he was even nominated for an award!
This success helped him get an agent, and he started getting roles in American TV shows like The Golden Girls and Night Court. He had bigger roles too, like Paracelsus in Beauty and the Beast (a TV series) and Nigel St. John, a villain's helper, in Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman.
Tony Jay became incredibly famous for his voice-over work. He voiced Monsieur D'Arque in Disney's Beauty and the Beast movie. From 1994 to 2001, he was the voice of the scary computer virus Megabyte in the animated show ReBoot. He was chosen over other famous actors to voice the main bad guy, Judge Claude Frollo, in Disney's 1996 movie The Hunchback of Notre Dame. He even voiced Frollo for the Fantasmic! show at Walt Disney World!
He also voiced Lord Dregg in the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles TV series and the Elder God in the Legacy of Kain video games. Tony Jay took over the voice of Shere Khan the tiger for Disney's TaleSpin TV series, the The Jungle Book: Rhythm and Groove video game, and the movie The Jungle Book 2. His very last role was voicing Spiderus in the Miss Spider series.
Tony Jay also loved classic Broadway musicals. He recorded many spoken-word versions of old Broadway songs, which were released on a CD called Speaking of Broadway.
Family Life
Tony Jay started a relationship with Marta MacGeraghty in 1974. They had a son in 1989. They got married in 2004 and stayed together until Tony's death in 2006.
Illness and Passing
In April 2006, Tony Jay had surgery in Los Angeles to remove a non-cancerous growth from his lungs. Sadly, he became very ill afterward and passed away on August 13, 2006, at the age of 73. He is buried in Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Los Angeles, California.
Key Roles
Tony Jay had many memorable roles throughout his career. Here are some of his most well-known:
- Judge Claude Frollo in The Hunchback of Notre Dame (Voice)
- Megabyte in ReBoot (Voice)
- Shere Khan in TaleSpin and The Jungle Book 2 (Voice)
- Elder God in the Legacy of Kain video game series (Voice)
- Monsieur D'Arque in Beauty and the Beast (Voice)
- Lord Dregg in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (Voice)
- Professor Werner in Twins (On-screen)
- Nigel St. John in Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman (On-screen)
- Spiderus in Miss Spider's Sunny Patch Friends (Voice)
Images for kids
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Tony Jay
See also
In Spanish: Tony Jay para niños
