James Sloyan is an American
actor
An actor (masculine/gender-neutral), or actress (feminine), is a person who portrays a character in a production. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. ...
.
Early years
Sloyan left the United States at an early age to live abroad in
Rome
Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...
,
Capri
Capri ( , ; ) is an island located in the Tyrrhenian Sea off the Sorrento Peninsula, on the south side of the Gulf of Naples in the Campania region of Italy. A popular resort destination since the time of the Roman Republic, its natural beauty ...
,
Milan
Milan ( , , ; ) is a city in northern Italy, regional capital of Lombardy, the largest city in Italy by urban area and the List of cities in Italy, second-most-populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of nea ...
, Switzerland, and
Ireland
Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...
. His career in show business began upon his return to the United States, in 1957, when Sloyan received a scholarship to the
American Academy of Dramatic Arts
The American Academy of Dramatic Arts (AADA) is a Private college, private drama school with two locations, one in New York City and one in Los Angeles. The academy offers an associate degree in occupational studies and teaches drama and related ...
. Sloyan's acting career was interrupted in 1962, when he was drafted into the
United States Army
The United States Army (USA) is the primary Land warfare, land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of th ...
during the
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War (1 November 1955 – 30 April 1975) was an armed conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia fought between North Vietnam (Democratic Republic of Vietnam) and South Vietnam (Republic of Vietnam) and their allies. North Vietnam w ...
.
Career
Television
Sloyan's television career includes numerous brief performances on daytime dramas ''
The Young and the Restless
''The Young and the Restless'' (often abbreviated as ''Y&R'') is an American television soap opera created by William J. Bell and Lee Phillip Bell for CBS. The show is set in the fictional Genoa City (named after the real-life Genoa City, Wiscon ...
,
General Hospital
''General Hospital'' (often abbreviated as ''GH'') is an American daytime television soap opera created by Frank and Doris Hursley which has been broadcast on American Broadcasting Company, ABC since April 1, 1963. Originally a half-hour seria ...
'', and ''
Ryan's Hope
''Ryan's Hope'' is an American soap opera created by Claire Labine and Paul Avila Mayer, airing for 13 years on ABC from July 7, 1975, to January 13, 1989. It revolves around the trials and tribulations within a large Irish-American family in ...
'', and guest appearances on prime-time series ''
Hawaii Five-O
Hawaii Five-O or Hawaii Five-0 may refer to:
* ''Hawaii Five-0'' (2010 TV series), an American action police procedural television series
* ''Hawaii Five-O'' (1968 TV series), an American police procedural drama series produced by CBS Productio ...
''; ''
Wonder Woman
Wonder Woman is a superheroine who appears in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character first appeared in ''All Star Comics'' Introducing Wonder Woman, #8, published October 21, 1941, with her first feature in ''Sensation Comic ...
''; ''
Baywatch
''Baywatch'' is an American Drama (film and television), drama television series about lifeguards who patrol the beaches of Los Angeles County, California, and Hawaii, starring David Hasselhoff. It was created by Michael Berk, Douglas Schwartz ...
''; ''
Moonlighting
Moonlighting may refer to:
* Side job, a job taken in addition to one's primary employment
Entertainment
* ''Moonlighting'' (film), a 1982 drama film by Jerzy Skolimowski
* ''Moonlighting'' (TV series), 1985–1989 American television series, s ...
''; ''
Quantum Leap
Quantum leap or ''variation'', may refer to:
In general
* Quantum leap (physics), also known as quantum jump, a transition between quantum states
** Atomic electron transition, a key example of the physics phenomenon
* Paradigm shift, a sudden ch ...
''; ''
The X-Files
''The X-Files'' is an American science fiction on television, science fiction drama (film and television), drama television series created by Chris Carter (screenwriter), Chris Carter. The original series aired from September 10, 1993, to Ma ...
''; ''
MacGyver
Angus "Mac" MacGyver is the title character and the protagonist in the TV series ''MacGyver''. He is played by Richard Dean Anderson in the MacGyver (1985 TV series), 1985 original series. Lucas Till portrays a younger version of MacGyver in Mac ...
''; ''
Party of Five
''Party of Five'' is an American teen and family drama television series created by Christopher Keyser and Amy Lippman that originally aired on Fox from September 12, 1994, to May 3, 2000, with a total of six seasons consisting of 142 epis ...
''; ''
Matlock''; ''
Murder, She Wrote
''Murder, She Wrote'' is an American crime drama television series, created by Peter S. Fischer, Richard Levinson and William Link, starring Angela Lansbury, and produced and distributed by Universal Television for the CBS network. The series f ...
''; and ''
Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman''. He appeared in the
television movies
A television film, alternatively known as a television movie, made-for-TV film/movie, telefilm, telemovie or TV film/movie, is a film with a running time similar to a feature film that is produced and originally distributed by or to a terrestr ...
''
Blind Ambition'', ''
Billionaire Boys Club
The Billionaire Boys Club, or BBC, was an investing and social club organized by Joseph Henry Hunt (born Joseph Henry Gamsky) in Southern California between 1983 and 1989. It was originally simply named "BBC", the initials of Bombay Bicycle Club ...
'', and ''My Son Is Innocent''.
Sloyan has appeared in a number of
science fiction
Science fiction (often shortened to sci-fi or abbreviated SF) is a genre of speculative fiction that deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts. These concepts may include information technology and robotics, biological manipulations, space ...
television series, including ''
Buck Rogers in the 25th Century'', in which he portrayed Barnard "Barney" Smith in the episode "The Plot to Kill a City", and several roles in the ''
Star Trek
''Star Trek'' is an American science fiction media franchise created by Gene Roddenberry, which began with the Star Trek: The Original Series, series of the same name and became a worldwide Popular culture, pop-culture Cultural influence of ...
'' franchise. In ''
Star Trek: The Next Generation'', he portrayed Alidar Jarok (a defecting Romulan admiral) in "
The Defector", and
Alexander Rozhenko
This is a list minor of characters from the science fiction television series '' Star Trek: The Next Generation''. Characters are ordered alphabetically by family name, and only characters who played a significant recurring role in the series a ...
(Worf's son) as an adult in the future, in "
Firstborn
A firstborn (also known as an eldest child or sometimes firstling) is the first child born to in the birth order of a couple through childbirth. Historically, the role of the firstborn child has been socially significant, particularly for a first ...
" using the alias "K'mtar". In ''
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine'', he portrayed the Bajoran scientist
Doctor Mora Pol,
Odo's guardian scientist in the episodes "
The Begotten
"The Begotten" is the 110th episode of the television series '' Star Trek: Deep Space Nine'', the 12th episode of the fifth season.
Set in the 24th century, the series follows the adventures on the Starfleet-managed space station Deep Space N ...
" and "
The Alternate". The ''
Star Trek: Voyager'' episode "
Jetrel
"Jetrel" is the fifteenth episode of the first season of '' Star Trek: Voyager''. In this episode, Neelix struggles with conflicting emotions when he encounters a former enemy of his alien race.
The story was written by James Thomton and Sco ...
" features Sloyan as the title character.
Film
Sloyan is featured in ''
The Sting
''The Sting'' is a 1973 American caper film. Set in 1936, it involves a complicated plot by two professional grifters (Paul Newman and Robert Redford) to con a mob boss ( Robert Shaw). The film was directed by George Roy Hill, who had dir ...
'' as Mottola, who is used to illustrate the concept of a griftee, in a variation on the
pigeon drop
The pigeon drop or Spanish handkerchief or Chilean handkerchief is a confidence trick in which a Mark (victim), mark, or "pigeon", is persuaded to give up a sum of money in order to secure the rights to a larger sum of money, or more valuable obj ...
scam.
He has played roles in ''
The Traveling Executioner'' (1970), ''
The Gang That Couldn't Shoot Straight
''The Gang That Couldn't Shoot Straight'' is a 1971 American comedy crime film directed by James Goldstone and written by Waldo Salt, based on the 1969 novel by Jimmy Breslin, which, in turn, is based on the life of gangster Joe Gallo. The film ...
'' (1971), and ''
Xanadu'' (1980).
Advertisements
For 20 years, Sloyan was the
voice
The human voice consists of sound made by a human being using the vocal tract, including talking, singing, laughing, crying, screaming, shouting, humming or yelling. The human voice frequency is specifically a part of human sound produ ...
of Lexus. The company's first commercial, "
Balance
Balance may refer to:
Common meanings
* Balance (ability) in biomechanics
* Balance (accounting)
* Balance or weighing scale
* Balance, as in equality (mathematics) or equilibrium
Arts and entertainment Film
* Balance (1983 film), ''Balance'' ( ...
," aired in 1989 and went on to win several awards as well as homages in pop culture and media. Sloyan served as Lexus' sole voice actor until 2009, when he was replaced by
James Remar
William James Remar (born December 31, 1953) is an American actor. He has played numerous roles over a 45-year career, most notably Ajax in '' The Warriors'' (1979), Albert Ganz in '' 48 Hrs.'' (1982), Dutch Schultz in '' The Cotton Club'' (198 ...
. Sloyan later narrated ads for Mitsubishi.
Sloyan was also a voice actor for
Sprint Nextel
Sprint Corporation was an American telecommunications company. Before being Merger of Sprint Corporation and T-Mobile US, acquired by T-Mobile US on April 1, 2020, it was the fourth-largest mobile network operator in the United States, serving 5 ...
long-distance services, and in film trailers for movies such as ''
Jumper
Jumper or Jumpers may refer to:
Clothing
*Jumper (sweater), is a long-sleeve article of clothing; also called a top, pullover, or sweater
**A waist-length top garment of dense wool, part of the Royal Navy uniform and the uniform of the United St ...
'', ''
The Shadow
The Shadow is a fictional character created by American magazine publishers Street & Smith and writer Walter B. Gibson. Originally created to be a mysterious radio show narrator and developed into a distinct literary character in 1931 by Gibs ...
'', and ''
How to Make an American Quilt
''How to Make an American Quilt'' is a 1995 American drama film based on the 1991 novel of the same name by Whitney Otto. Directed by Jocelyn Moorhouse, the film features Winona Ryder, Anne Bancroft, Ellen Burstyn, Kate Nelligan and Alfr ...
''.
CED Voices.com
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Personal life
Sloyan and Deirdre Lenihan, an actress, have been married since 1973. They are the parents of actors Daniel Sloyan and Samantha Sloyan
Samantha Sloyan (born January 4, 1979) is an American actress. Sloyan is best known for her multiple collaborations with filmmaker Mike Flanagan in ''Hush'', ''The Haunting of Hill House'', ''Midnight Mass'', ''The Midnight Club'', and ''The Fall ...
.
Partial filmography
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sloyan, James
Living people
American male film actors
American male television actors
American male voice actors
Year of birth missing (living people)
20th-century American male actors
21st-century American male actors