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Jonathan Freeman | |
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 Freeman at the 2020 GalaxyCon Richmond | |
| Born | February 5, 1950 Bay Village, Ohio, U.S. |
| Alma mater | Ohio University |
| Occupations |
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| Years active | 1972–present |
Jonathan Freeman (born February 5, 1950) is an American actor and singer. He is known for voicing Jafar in Disney's Aladdin franchise, as well as the Kingdom Hearts franchise and the 2011 Aladdin musical.
Freeman was born in Bay Village, Ohio on February 5, 1950. He graduated from Ohio University.
As well as being the voice of Jafar in Aladdin , a role he once said he is called in to reprise every 3 to 6 months, [1] Freeman is also known for being the puppeteer for Tito Swing of the Jukebox Band (Flexitoon Puppets) on the PBS series Shining Time Station . Freeman reprised his role as Jafar in the Aladdin sequel The Return of Jafar and the Hercules crossover episode "Hercules and the Arabian Night".
In 1994, he was nominated for a Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Musical for his role in She Loves Me . Additionally, he appeared in the Broadway revival productions of How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying , The Producers , On the Town , and 42nd Street , during which his caricature was drawn for Sardi's restaurant in 2002. [2]
Freeman can be heard on the 1997 Varèse Sarabande studio recording of the flop 1965 musical Drat! The Cat! .
He was also seen on stage as Cogsworth in Disney's Beauty and the Beast , and originated the role of Grimsby in Disney's Broadway production of The Little Mermaid . [3]
Freeman began his run starring as Admiral Boom and the Bank Chairman in the Broadway production of Mary Poppins on December 12, 2009. [4]
Freeman also reprised his role as Jafar in the musical adaptation of Aladdin , which played at Seattle's 5th Avenue Theatre from July 7–31, 2011. [5] [6] After nearly eight years with the show, Freeman played his final performance with the company on January 23, 2022. [7]
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1976 | Let My Puppets Come | Madame (Puppetry and Voice) and The Chauffeur | Softcore Pornographic film |
| 1987 | Forever, Lulu | Don | |
| 1988 | Homeboy | Hotel Room Man | |
| 1990 | A Shock To The System | Decorator | |
| 1992 | Aladdin | Jafar (voice) | [8] |
| 1994 | The Return of Jafar | Direct-to-video | |
| 1996 | The Associate | Hockey Game Executive | |
| 1997 | The Ice Storm | Ted Franklin | |
| 2001 | Mickey's Magical Christmas: Snowed in at the House of Mouse | Jafar (voice) | Direct-to-video |
| 2002 | Mickey's House of Villains [8] | ||
| 2007 | The Hoax | Thick Voice (voice) | |
| 2011 | Too Big to Fail | Senator Richard Shelby | Television film |
| 2016 | Life, Animated | Himself | |
| 2020 | The High Note | Martin | |
| TBA | Aladdin: The Broadway Musical | Jafar | Filmed recording of 2019 West End musical |
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1989 | K.I.D.S. TV News | D.J. McCaw | Unknown episodes |
| The Days and Nights of Molly Dodd | Waiter #2 | Episode: "Here's a Cute Way to Wrap up the Holiday Season" | |
| 1989–1995 | Shining Time Station | Tito Swing | 58 episodes |
| 1990 | Mathnet | Joshua | Episode: "The Case of the Unkidnapping" |
| Shining Time Station: 'Tis a Gift | Tito Swing | Television special | |
| 1995 | Aladdin on Ice | Jafar (voice) | Television special; uncredited |
| 1996–1998 | Remember WENN | Rollie Pruitt | 6 episodes |
| 1998 | Hercules | Jafar (voice) | Episode: "Hercules and the Arabian Night" |
| 2001–2003 | House of Mouse | 10 episodes | |
| 2002 | Teamo Supremo | Zomnambulist (voice) | Episode: "Things That Go Bump in the Night!" |
| 2005–2006 | American Dragon: Jake Long | Eli Excelsior Pandarus, Jack Frost (voice) | 3 episodes |
| 2008 | Gossip Girl | Butler | Episode: "The Ex-Files" |
| 2006–2009 | Law & Order: Criminal Intent | Mr. Marty Krebs Wallace Thayer | 2 episodes |
| 2010 | Law & Order: Special Victims Unit | Bobby | Episode: "Merchandise" |
| 2011 | Submissions Only | Greg Bonomelli | Episode: "The Miller/Hennigan Act" |
| 2016 | Elementary | Holder | Episode: "How the Sausage Is Made" |
| 2017 | Oh My Disney Show: "Watch a Disney Movie With ... Aladdin's Jonathan Freeman" | Himself | S2, EP 34 |
| 2019 | TODAY | Episode: "Jonathan Freeman, Voice of Jafar, Reveals A Secret To Playing Aladdin Villain" | |
| 2022 | Helluva Boss | Paimon, Cash Buckzo (voice) | Episode: "The Circus" |
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1994 | Aladdin Activity Center | Jafar | |
| 2001 | Aladdin in Nasira's Revenge | ||
| 2002 | Kingdom Hearts | ||
| 2005 | Kingdom Hearts II | ||
| 2007 | Kingdom Hearts II: Final Mix+ | ||
| 2010 | Kingdom Hearts Re:coded | ||
| 2023 | Disney Speedstorm | ||
| Disney Dreamlight Valley |
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | Broadway.com's Role Call: "Jonathan Freeman of Aladdin" | Himself |
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1998 | Fantasmic! | Jafar | Voice |
| Year | Artist/Writer | Song | Film | Role |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1989 | Kevin Roth | "Cosher Bailey's Engine" "Camptown Races" "Jesse James" "Celito Lindo" "No Business like Show Business" "Polly Wolly Doodle" "The Desperado" "Home on the Range" "Jamaican Farewell" "Born on the Fourth of July" | Shining Time Station | Tito Swing |
| 1990 | Lydia Maria Child | "'Tis A Gift" | Shining Time Station: 'Tis a Gift | |
| 1992 | Alan Menken & Howard Ashman | "Prince Ali Reprise" "Humiliate the Boy" "Why Me?" | Aladdin | Jafar |
| 1994 | "You're Only Second Rate" | The Return of Jafar | ||
| 2001 | Randy Petersen & Kevin Quinn | "It's Our House Now" | Mickey's House of Villains |
Aladdin is a 1992 American animated musical fantasy comedy film produced by Walt Disney Feature Animation and released by Buena Vista Pictures Distribution under Walt Disney Pictures. It is based on the Arabic folktale "Aladdin" from One Thousand and One Nights. The film was produced and directed by John Musker and Ron Clements from a screenplay they co-wrote with the writing team of Ted Elliott and Terry Rossio. Featuring the voices of Scott Weinger, Robin Williams, Linda Larkin, Jonathan Freeman, Frank Welker, Gilbert Gottfried and Douglas Seale, the film follows the titular Aladdin, an Arabian street urchin who finds a magic lamp containing a genie. With the genie's help, Aladdin disguises as a wealthy prince and tries to impress the Sultan of Agrabah to win the heart of his free-spirited daughter, Princess Jasmine, as the Sultan's evil vizier, Jafar, plots to steal the magic lamp.
Jafar is a fictional character in Walt Disney Pictures' animated film Aladdin (1992). He is voiced by Jonathan Freeman, who also portrayed the character in the Broadway musical adaptation. Jafar also appears in the 1994 sequel to Aladdin, but he is not in the 1996 third film or the television series, although he does return in the latter's crossover Hercules and the Arabian Night.
Alan Irwin Menken is an American composer and conductor, best known for his scores and songs for films produced by Walt Disney Animation Studios and Skydance Animation. Menken's contributions to The Little Mermaid (1989), Beauty and the Beast (1991), Aladdin (1992), and Pocahontas (1995) won him two Academy Awards for each film. He also composed the scores and songs for Little Shop of Horrors (1986), Newsies (1992), The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1996), Hercules (1997), Home on the Range (2004), Enchanted (2007), Tangled (2010), Disenchanted (2022), and Spellbound (2024), among others. His accolades include winning eight Academy Awards — becoming the second most prolific Oscar winner in the music categories after Alfred Newman, a Tony Award, eleven Grammy Awards, seven Golden Globe Awards, and a Daytime Emmy Award. Menken is one of twenty-one people to have won an Emmy, a Grammy, an Oscar and a Tony.
How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying is a 1961 musical by Frank Loesser and book by Abe Burrows, Jack Weinstock, and Willie Gilbert, based on Shepherd Mead's 1952 book of the same name. The story concerns young, ambitious J. Pierrepont Finch, who, with the help of the book How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying, rises from window washer to chairman of the board of the World Wide Wicket Company.
Douglas Wright is an American playwright, librettist, and screenwriter. Known for his extensive work in the American theatre in both plays and musicals, he has received numerous accolades including the Pulitzer Prize and a Tony Award.
Beauty and the Beast is Disney’s first stage musical, with music by Alan Menken, lyrics by Howard Ashman and Tim Rice, and a book by Linda Woolverton. Adapted from Walt Disney Pictures' animated film Beauty and the Beast – which in turn had been based on the fairy tale "Beauty and the Beast" by French author Jeanne-Marie Leprince de Beaumont – Beauty and the Beast tells the story of an unkind prince who has been magically transformed into an unsightly creature as punishment for his selfish ways. To revert into his true human form, the Beast must learn to love a bright, beautiful young lady who he has imprisoned in his enchanted castle and earn her love in return before it is too late.
Disney Theatrical Productions Limited (DTP), also known as Disney on Broadway, is the stageplay and musical production company of the Disney Theatrical Group, a subsidiary of Disney Entertainment, a major division and business unit of The Walt Disney Company.
On the Record is a jukebox musical revue featuring many classic songs from a variety of live action and animated films and television series produced by Walt Disney Pictures, Broadway musical plays produced by Walt Disney Theatrical, and even Disneyland attractions. This theatrical celebration of 75 years of Disney music tells the story of four singers recording a greatest hits album in a magical recording studio. After opening in Cleveland in 2004, the production toured for nine months, visiting 24 cities in the United States before closing in Denver in mid-2005.
Gavin Lee is an English actor who has appeared on the stage in musical theatre, notably as Bert in the musical Mary Poppins, in both the West End and on Broadway, and as Squidward Tentacles in the original Broadway cast of SpongeBob SquarePants: The Musical.
Ashley Brown is an American singer and actress who is best known for playing the titular character in the United States national tour and Broadway productions of Mary Poppins.
The Little Mermaid is a stage musical produced by Disney Theatrical Productions, based on the 1989 film by Walt Disney Animation Studios and the fairy tale by Hans Christian Andersen about a mermaid who dreams of the world above the sea and gives up her voice to find true love. Its book is by Doug Wright, music by Alan Menken and lyrics by Howard Ashman, with additional lyrics by Glenn Slater. Its underwater setting and story about aquatic characters requires unusual technical designs and strategies to create gliding movements for the actors.
Henry Hodges is an American actor. Hodges is best known for his musical theatre roles on Broadway; starring as "Chip" in Beauty and the Beast, as "Jeremy Potts" in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang and as "Michael Banks" in Mary Poppins.
Francis Jue is an American actor and singer. Jue is known for his performances on Broadway, in national tours, off-Broadway and in regional theatre, particularly in the San Francisco Bay Area and at The Muny in St. Louis. His roles in plays and musicals range from Shakespeare to Rodgers and Hammerstein to Disney to David Henry Hwang. He is also known for his recurring role on the TV series Madam Secretary (2014–2019).
Norm Lewis is an American actor and baritone singer. He has appeared on Broadway and in London's West End, film, television, recordings and regional theatre. He is also noted for his wide vocal range. Lewis was the second African-American actor after Robert Guillaume to perform in the title role in Andrew Lloyd Webber's The Phantom of the Opera and the first one to do so in the Broadway production. In 2023, he reprised the role in the show's sequel, Love Never Dies, in the West End.
"Prince Ali" and its reprise are two musical numbers from the 1992 Disney animated film Aladdin. The first part was performed by Robin Williams in his role as the Genie and the reprise is performed by Jonathan Freeman in his role as Jafar. The song performed by Williams was nominated for the Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song at the 50th Golden Globe Awards in 1993.
Katherine Baldwin is an American singer and actress known for her work in musical theater. She received a Tony Award nomination for her work in the 2009 Broadway revival of Finian's Rainbow. She also co-starred opposite Bette Midler, David Hyde Pierce, and Gavin Creel in the Broadway revival of Hello, Dolly!, for which she received Tony, Drama Desk, and Outer Critics Circle award nominations for her work as the saucy millineress Irene Molloy. Baldwin continued with the production until it closed in August 2018.
Andrew Keenan-Bolger is an American actor and filmmaker. He is best known for originating the roles of Crutchie in Newsies and Jesse Tuck in Tuck Everlasting on Broadway. His other Broadway credits include Robertson Ay in Mary Poppins, Jojo in Seussical, and Chip in Beauty and the Beast.
Aladdin is a stage musical based on Disney's 1992 animated feature film of the same name with a book by Chad Beguelin, music by Alan Menken and lyrics by Howard Ashman, Tim Rice and Beguelin. It resurrects three songs written by Menken and Ashman for the film but not used, and adds four songs written by Menken and Beguelin.
Aladdin is a Disney media franchise comprising a film series and additional media. It began with the 1992 American animated feature of the same name, which was based on the tale of the same name, and was directed by Ron Clements and John Musker. The success of the film led to two direct-to-video sequels, a television series, a Broadway musical, a live-action remake, various rides and themed areas in Disney's theme parks, several video games, and merchandise, among other related works.
Ainsley Melham is an Australian actor and theatre performer. He began his career as a member of Australian children's musical group Hi-5 from 2013 to 2016, starring in the television series and performing in international tours. He later found success as a prominent theatre performer in Australia and the United States.
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