Tony Jay
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Tony Jay (2 February 1933 – 13 August 2006) was a British actor. A former member of the
Royal Shakespeare Company The Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) is a major British theatre company, based in Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, England. The company employs over 1,000 staff and opens around 20 productions a year. The RSC plays regularly in London, Stratf ...
, he was known for his voice work in radio, animation, film, and video games. Jay was particularly noted for his distinctive raspy
baritone A baritone is a type of classical music, classical male singing human voice, voice whose vocal range lies between the bass (voice type), bass and the tenor voice type, voice-types. It is the most common male voice. The term originates from the ...
voice, which often led to him being cast in villainous or authoritative roles. His voice acting roles included Claude Frollo in
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's '' The Hunchback of Notre Dame'' (1996),
Megabyte The megabyte is a multiple of the unit byte for digital information. Its recommended unit symbol is MB. The unit prefix ''mega'' is a multiplier of (106) in the International System of Units (SI). Therefore, one megabyte is one million bytes ...
in '' ReBoot'' (1994–2001),
Shere Khan Shere Khan () is a fictional Bengal tiger featured in the Mowgli stories of Rudyard Kipling's ''The Jungle Book, Jungle Book''. He is often portrayed as the main antagonist in the book's media adaptations, itself an exaggeration of his role in ...
in '' The Jungle Book 2'' (replacing George Sanders, who played the character in the original film), the TV series '' TaleSpin'', and the Elder God (plus various other roles) in the '' Legacy of Kain'' series of video games. Jay also made many distinguished on-screen appearances, including the role of Nigel St John on '' Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman'' (1993–1995). He further made guest appearances on programs including ''
The Golden Girls ''The Golden Girls'' is an American sitcom created by Susan Harris that aired on NBC from September 14, 1985, to May 9, 1992, with a total of 180 half-hour episodes, spanning seven seasons. The show's ensemble cast stars Beatrice Arthur, Betty ...
'' in 1987, ''
Twin Peaks ''Twin Peaks'' is an American Surrealist cinema, surrealist Mystery film, mystery-Horror film, horror Drama (film and television), drama television series created by Mark Frost and David Lynch. It Pilot (Twin Peaks), premiered on American Broad ...
'' in 1990 to 1991, and '' Night Court'' in 1991. Jay also portrayed Professor Werner in ''
Twins Twins are two offspring produced by the same pregnancy.MedicineNet > Definition of Twin Last Editorial Review: 19 June 2000 Twins can be either ''monozygotic'' ('identical'), meaning that they develop from one zygote, which splits and forms two e ...
'' (1988), the father figure/mentor to
Arnold Schwarzenegger Arnold Alois Schwarzenegger (born July30, 1947) is an Austrian and American actor, businessman, former politician, and former professional bodybuilder, known for his roles in high-profile action films. Governorship of Arnold Schwarzenegger, ...
's character, Julius Benedict.


Early life

Jay was born in London. He attended Pinner County Grammar School, and completed his National Service with the
Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the Air force, air and space force of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. It was formed towards the end of the World War I, First World War on 1 April 1918, on the merger of t ...
in 1953. He later recalled, "I was always an actor at school"; but opted for the financial security of a real estate business. Jay moved to
South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...
in about 1966, after hearing of the potential there for his line of work. He left South Africa to return to England in 1973, after which he moved to the United States in 1986.


Career

While establishing his real estate business in England, Jay acted occasionally in amateur productions.


South Africa

Within three months of relocating to South Africa at the age of 33, Jay found himself acting in radio dramas such as the detective series ''Sounds of Darkness'' where he played a savvy but blind
FBI The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic Intelligence agency, intelligence and Security agency, security service of the United States and Federal law enforcement in the United States, its principal federal law enforcement ag ...
agent (1967–1972). The experience led him to decide to take acting up professionally. Jay acted, wrote, and directed radio plays on the South African Broadcasting Corporation's first commercial radio station,
Springbok Radio Springbok Radio (spelled ''Springbokradio'' in Afrikaans, ) was a South African nationwide radio station that operated from 1950 to 1985. History SABC's decision in December 1945 to develop a commercial service was constrained by post-war financia ...
(1950–85). He was especially associated with the comic series ''Taxi!'' (1969–1972,1975–1978), in which he not only portrayed New York cabby Red Kowalski, but also co-wrote many scripts with Joe Stewardson. Other shows in which he was involved included ''Lux Radio Theatre'', ''Playhouse 90'', and ''Tuesday Theatre''. Jay adapted, cast, and directed the first 6 months of episodes for '' The Avengers''. The series, based on Seasons 4–6 of the 1960s British television series of the same name, was broadcast on Springbok from 6 December 1971 to 28 December 1973. To bridge the gap between the visual orientation of the British television series and the sound-only perspective of radio, Jay created a narrator which he embued with irony and scepticism. Jay's voice work led him to do commercials for companies such as Gunston Cigarettes, Barclays Bank, and Bols Brandy.


United Kingdom

After Jay's return to Britain in 1973, he worked in various television productions. For the BBC series ''
Fall of Eagles Autumn, also known as fall (especially in US & Canada), is one of the four temperate seasons on Earth. Outside the tropics, autumn marks the transition from summer to winter, in September (Northern Hemisphere) or March (Southern Hemisphere ...
'' (1974) he portrayed Tsar Alexander III of Russia, during which time he met
Patrick Stewart Sir Patrick Stewart (born 13 July 1940) is an English actor. With a career spanning over seven decades of Patrick Stewart on stage and screen, stage and screen, he has received List of awards and nominations received by Patrick Stewart, variou ...
, who played
Vladimir Lenin Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov ( 187021 January 1924), better known as Vladimir Lenin, was a Russian revolutionary, politician and political theorist. He was the first head of government of Soviet Russia from 1917 until Death and state funeral of ...
. Jay appeared as the merchant in Shakespeare's '' Timon of Athens'' (1981) for BBC Shakespeare, and in single episodes of popular television programmes such as '' The Sweeney'' (1975), '' The Professionals'' (1978) and the comedy '' Whoops Apocalypse'' (1982). During this period he was cast as Vladimir Maximovitch in
Woody Allen Heywood Allen (born Allan Stewart Konigsberg; November 30, 1935) is an American filmmaker, actor, and comedian whose career spans more than six decades. Allen has received many List of awards and nominations received by Woody Allen, accolade ...
's '' Love and Death'' (1975), which was shot in Hungary and France.
George Lucas George Walton Lucas Jr. (born May 14, 1944) is an American filmmaker and philanthropist. He created the ''Star Wars'' and ''Indiana Jones'' franchises and founded Lucasfilm, LucasArts, Industrial Light & Magic and THX. He served as chairman ...
met with Jay about playing
Obi-Wan Kenobi Obi-Wan "Ben" Kenobi () is a character in the ''Star Wars'' franchise. In the original film trilogy, he is a Jedi Master who trains Luke Skywalker in the ways of the Force. In the prequel trilogy, he mentors Luke's father, Anakin Skywalke ...
in a planned film with the working title '' Galactic Warfare''. Despite Jay agreeing to the role, Lucas decided to cast
Alec Guinness Sir Alec Guinness (born Alec Guinness de Cuffe; 2 April 1914 – 5 August 2000) was an English actor. In the BFI, British Film Institute listing of 1999 of BFI Top 100 British films, the 100 most important British films of the 20th century ...
, instead. On stage he had small roles in plays such as
Anton Chekhov Anton Pavlovich Chekhov (; ; 29 January 1860 – 15 July 1904) was a Russian playwright and short-story writer, widely considered to be one of the greatest writers of all time. His career as a playwright produced four classics, and his b ...
's '' The Three Sisters'' (1976) and Terence Rattigan's '' The Deep Blue Sea'' (1981). More important roles followed with an appearance as Jaggers in '' Great Expectations'' (1984) at the
Old Vic Old or OLD may refer to: Places *Old, Baranya, Hungary *Old, Northamptonshire, England *Old Street station, a railway and tube station in London (station code OLD) *OLD, IATA code for Old Town Municipal Airport and Seaplane Base, Old Town, Mai ...
, and as Shylock in '' The Merchant of Venice''. Jay was cast as Vincent Crummles in the Royal Shakespeare Company's -hour-long production of '' The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby'' (1986) at
Stratford-upon-Avon Stratford-upon-Avon ( ), commonly known as Stratford, is a market town and civil parish in the Stratford-on-Avon (district), Stratford-on-Avon district, in the county of Warwickshire, in the West Midlands (region), West Midlands region of Engl ...
.


United States

After a tour of Britain, ''Nicholas Nickleby'' embarked on a limited tour of the United States, starting with performances in Los Angeles in June 1986, then on to
Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...
,
Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...
, Washington, D.C., and New York City. "Even before I left England, I told friends I'd be staying if I got the chance," he recalled in a 1986 ''The New York Times'' interview. During its run from August to October 1986 at the Broadhurst Theatre on Broadway, Jay's performance was described as "brilliantly played" by the ''
New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
''. Consequently, he was nominated for the 1987
Drama Desk Award The Drama Desk Awards are among the most esteemed honors in New York theater, recognizing outstanding achievements across Broadway, Off-Broadway, and Off-Off-Broadway productions within the same categories. The awards are considered a signific ...
as Outstanding Featured Actor in a Play. Jay's acting drew the attention of an agent who arranged for him to return from England to the United States for an audition. Jay was cast in a pilot program called ''Circus'' which was unsuccessful. On set Jay met make-up artist Kathy Rogers, who would become his second wife. He moved to the United States where he became a resident. In addition, Jay won parts in television series such as '' Night Court'' (1984), ''
The Golden Girls ''The Golden Girls'' is an American sitcom created by Susan Harris that aired on NBC from September 14, 1985, to May 9, 1992, with a total of 180 half-hour episodes, spanning seven seasons. The show's ensemble cast stars Beatrice Arthur, Betty ...
'' (1987), ''
Twins Twins are two offspring produced by the same pregnancy.MedicineNet > Definition of Twin Last Editorial Review: 19 June 2000 Twins can be either ''monozygotic'' ('identical'), meaning that they develop from one zygote, which splits and forms two e ...
'' (1988), and '' Eerie, Indiana'' (1991). Bigger roles included Paracelsus on the 1987 CBS TV series adaptation of ''
Beauty and the Beast "Beauty and the Beast" is a fairy tale written by the French novelist Gabrielle-Suzanne Barbot de Villeneuve and published in 1740 in (''The Young American and Marine Tales''). Villeneuve's lengthy version was abridged, rewritten, and publish ...
''; Minister Campio on '' Star Trek: The Next Generation'' (1992); and Lex Luthor's villainous aide-de-camp Nigel St. John in '' Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman'' (1993–95). Jay's voice-over work included Monsieur D'Arque, an amoral asylum superintendent, in Disney's 1991 hit animated film version of ''
Beauty and the Beast "Beauty and the Beast" is a fairy tale written by the French novelist Gabrielle-Suzanne Barbot de Villeneuve and published in 1740 in (''The Young American and Marine Tales''). Villeneuve's lengthy version was abridged, rewritten, and publish ...
''. From 1994 to 2001 he supplied the voice for the virus
Megabyte The megabyte is a multiple of the unit byte for digital information. Its recommended unit symbol is MB. The unit prefix ''mega'' is a multiplier of (106) in the International System of Units (SI). Therefore, one megabyte is one million bytes ...
in the animated series '' ReBoot''. According to one source, Jay was preferred to
Patrick Stewart Sir Patrick Stewart (born 13 July 1940) is an English actor. With a career spanning over seven decades of Patrick Stewart on stage and screen, stage and screen, he has received List of awards and nominations received by Patrick Stewart, variou ...
, Derek Jacobi and Ian McKellen for the voice of the main antagonist Judge Claude Frollo in
Disney The Walt Disney Company, commonly referred to as simply Disney, is an American multinational mass media and entertainment industry, entertainment conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios (Burbank), Walt Di ...
's 1996 animated film adaptation of '' The Hunchback of Notre Dame'', directed by Gary Trousdale and Kirk Wise, who had also steered his performance in the film version of ''Beauty and the Beast''. Jay reprised Frollo's voice for
Walt Disney World The Walt Disney World Resort is an destination resort, entertainment resort complex located about southwest of Orlando, Florida, United States. Opened on October 1, 1971, the resort is operated by Disney Experiences, a division of the Wa ...
's nighttime light and fireworks show '' Fantasmic!'' From 1995 to 1996 Jay was the voice of the alien warlord Lord Dregg, the villain during the last two seasons of the original 1987 ''
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles ''Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles'' (''TMNT'') is an American media franchise created by comic book artists Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird. It follows Leonardo (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles), Leonardo, Donatello (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles), D ...
'' animated TV series. He is also well known among fans of the 1996–2003 video game series '' Legacy of Kain'' for his voicing of the original Mortanius and of the Elder God, alongside several other minor characters. In various animated projects Jay took over the voice of
Shere Khan Shere Khan () is a fictional Bengal tiger featured in the Mowgli stories of Rudyard Kipling's ''The Jungle Book, Jungle Book''. He is often portrayed as the main antagonist in the book's media adaptations, itself an exaggeration of his role in ...
, which actor George Sanders had originated for the 1967 Disney animated film '' The Jungle Book''. In 11 episodes spanning 1990–91, Jay voiced Shere Khan for Disney's animated TV series '' TaleSpin'', '' The Jungle Book: Rhythm and Groove'' videogame (2000), and '' House of Mouse'' (2001–02). His final appearance as Khan came in the 2003 film '' The Jungle Book 2''. His final role was voicing Spiderus in '' Miss Spider's Sunny Patch Friends''. Jay was a devotee of classic Broadway and made several recordings and performances of old-time Broadway lyrics, in spoken-word form. A CD of these readings, ''Speaking of Broadway'', was released in 2005; a version recorded in 1996 was entitled ''Poets on Broadway'', as was his website. On it Jay recites lyrics written by the likes of
Noël Coward Sir Noël Peirce Coward (16 December 189926 March 1973) was an English playwright, composer, director, actor, and singer, known for his wit, flamboyance, and what ''Time (magazine), Time'' called "a sense of personal style, a combination of c ...
,
Ira Gershwin Ira Gershwin (born Israel Gershovitz; December 6, 1896 – August 17, 1983) was an American lyricist who collaborated with his younger brother, composer George Gershwin, to create some of the most memorable songs in the English language of the ...
, and Oscar Hammerstein, accompanied by synthesized music which he composed.


Personal life

Jay began a relationship with Marta MacGeraghty in 1974. They had a son, born in 1989. They did not marry until 2004, and remained together until Jay's death in 2006.


Illness and death

In April 2006, Jay underwent surgery at
Cedars-Sinai Medical Center Cedars-Sinai Medical Center is a non-profit, Tertiary referral hospital, tertiary, 915-bed teaching hospital and multi-specialty academic health science centre, academic health science center located in Los Angeles, California. Part of the Cedars ...
in Los Angeles to remove a non-cancerous tumour from his lungs. Afterwards, he became critically ill and was readmitted to Cedars Sinai, where he died on 13 August 2006, aged 73.


Filmography


Film


Television


Video games


Theme parks


Audiobooks and audio plays

Audiobooks: *2005: ''Time's Fool: A Mystery of Shakespeare'' by Leonard Tourney. Reader. Blackstone Audio. *2006: '' The Castle of Otranto'' by Horace Walpole. Reader. Blackstone Audio. Audio plays: *1998: '' The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari'', winner of the Independent Publishers Award. Blackstone Audio. Cast member. Radio serials: *1967–1976: ''The Sound of Darkness''. Writer, Actor (voice). *1968–1972: ''Squad Cars''. Actor, Announcer (voice). *1969–1972: ''Taxi!'' Writer. Red Kowalski (voice). *1971–1972: '' The Avengers''. Announcer (voice), writer, Director.


Commercials

Media * '' Batman & Mr. Freeze: SubZero''. * ''
The Dark Crystal ''The Dark Crystal'' is a 1982 dark fantasy, dark fantasy film directed by Jim Henson and Frank Oz. It stars the voices of Stephen Garlick, Lisa Maxwell (actress), Lisa Maxwell, Billie Whitelaw, Percy Edwards, and Barry Dennen. The film was prod ...
''. * London Broadcasting Company – voice-overs for the station's main jingle packages between 1974 and 1980. Food * Golden Grahams Treats (
General Mills General Mills, Inc. is an American multinational corporation, multinational manufacturer and marketer of branded ultra-processed consumer foods sold through retail stores. Founded on the banks of the Mississippi River at Saint Anthony Falls in ...
snack bar). Toys * '' The Empire Strikes Back'' ( Kenner Products toys). * '' Disney's Hercules''. * '' ReBoot'' ( Irwin Toy). * '' Return of the Jedi'' (Kenner Products toys). Video games * '' Dr. Mario''. * ''
Kirby's Dream Land 2 ''Kirby's Dream Land 2'' is a 1995 action game, action-platformer, platform game developed by HAL Laboratory and published by Nintendo for the Game Boy video game console, handheld video game console. It was released in Japan on March 21, 1995, ...
''. * ''
Super Nintendo Entertainment System The Super Nintendo Entertainment System, commonly shortened to Super Nintendo, Super NES or SNES, is a Fourth generation of video game consoles, 16-bit home video game console developed by Nintendo that was released in 1990 in Japan, 1991 in No ...
''. * '' X-Men 2: Clone Wars''.


Accolades


References


External links

* *
Tony Jay
at Hollywood.com


Tony Jay's Website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jay, Tony 1933 births 2006 deaths 20th-century British male singers 21st-century British male singers 20th-century English male actors 21st-century English male actors 20th-century English singers 21st-century English singers Audiobook narrators British expatriate male actors in the United States Burials at Forest Lawn Memorial Park (Hollywood Hills) Deaths from lung cancer in California Disney people English baritones English male film actors English male television actors English male video game actors English male voice actors Male actors from London Royal Shakespeare Company members