"Ratchet & Clank" and "Wolverine and the X-Men" Voice Actor Jim Ward Dies at 66
Jim Ward, a voice actor with countless credits in both animation and video games dating back to the 1980s, has died at the age of 66.
Ward's wife, Janice informed TMZ that he'd passed away on December 10 due to complications from advanced Alzheimer’s. Ward had to retire from acting in 2021, when he was diagnosed with both COVID-19 and Alzheimer's. Prior to that, amongst his impressive resume, he was probably best known for his ongoing role as Captain Qwark in the Ratchet & Clank video games.
Following his earliest roles in the 1980s, including doing voices for series like Mighty Mouse: The New Adventures, Ward began to work steadily in the 1990s. His voice was heard as both Spider-Man and Venom in the 1993 SEGA CD video game The Amazing Spider-Man vs. The Kingpin while his first of many Star Wars projects, including numerous video games, was in the Star Wars: Dark Empire audio drama in 1994, where he played C-3P0. In 2001, he began playing multiple characters -- including Doug Dimmadome, Chet Ubetcha, Dif, and Pa Speevak -- in The Fairly OddParents.
His occasional work in live-action included an episode of ER and a small role in 2002's Spider-Man for Sam Raimi, as the project coordinator of a military-backed exoskeleton project who learned the hard way not to compete with Norman Osborn (lest the Green Goblin blow you up).
On the Disney front, Ward's work included Playhouse Disney's Higglytown Heroes, Treasure Planet (as the voice of Torrance, one of John Silver's crew) and the Oliver & Company Disney Read-Along book release (as the voice of Dodger). Ward could also be heard providing additional voices in Toy Story 3, Cars and Inside Out among other Disney and Pixar projects.
Besides his Spider-Man-related projects, Ward's Marvel work included voicing Henry Peter Gyrich and Baron Strucker in The Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes; Professor X, the Sentinels, Warren Worthington II, and Abraham Cornelius in Wolverine and the X-Men; and the Controller in the 2008 Iron Man video game.
Deadline ran a statement from Ward's rep, Arlene Thornton, who said “He was one of the most loyal and talented clients since the early ‘80s. His ability to improvise on the spot as well as his dead-on impressions were beyond impressive. He was a one-man comedy show every time he came to the office to do his auditions. We will miss him dearly and we will never forget the joy he brought to our lives on a daily basis.”
Ward's many other projects included My Life as a Teenage Robot, Casper: A Spirited Beginning, Ben 10, Avatar: The Last Airbender, Danny Phantom, Biker Mice from Mars, Kung Fu Panda: Legends of Awesomeness, Justice League Action, New Looney Tunes and so much more.