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Jonathan Freeman

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Voice Actor

The Resume

    (February 5, 1950- )
    Born in Bay Village, Ohio
    Provided the voice of Jafar in 'Aladdin (1992)' and 'Return of Jafar (1994)' in addition to all Aladdin-related media
    Performed in the Broadway adaptation of 'Aladdin' as Jafar (2011 - 22)
    Other Broadway credits include 'She Loves Me' (1993 - 94) 'How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying' (1995 - 96), 'The Producers' (2001-07), and '42nd Street' (2001-02)
    Provided the voice of Jukebox Puppet Band's Tito Swing on 'Shining Time Station' (1989-93)

Why he might be annoying:

    He ironically has a fear of birds.
    His resume was micro-thin before getting cast in Aladdin.
    When he and animator Andreas Deja first met, it was over the phone, and Deja (upon hearing his voice), envisioned a tall, slender man with angular features and designed Jafar as such (Freeman's complete opposite physically).
    Despite being an accomplished vocalist, he went through two different 'villain songs' getting scrapped in pre-production for Aladdin, only to get stuck with a Reprise number barely a minute long and near the end of the movie!
    He said: 'For years now, whenever I meet people, kids or adults, they'll say, Talk like Jafar. I tell kids I'll do it - but first they have to close their eyes because I don't look like Jafar in real life. And they would give me the fish-eye: Where's the bird? The staff? The fire!?'

Why he might not be annoying:

    He made a great comedic team with the late Gilbert Gottfried as Iago.
    He was nominated for a Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Musical for his role in 'She Loves Me,' in 1994.
    He may have recorded the last song Howard Ashman ever wrote before his death - 'Humiliate the Boy' - when he was brought in to record the concept demo (this would lead to his eventually getting cast in the role).
    He became the first - and as of 2022 only - Disney Villain to spinoff his own Direct-to-Video sequel (in which this time he did get a full song - 'You're Only Second Rate').
    He is the first and only voice actor to bridge a Disney movie-to-Broadway adaptation in the same role.
    He returned as Jafar for the Aladdin crossover episode of Hercules: The Animated Series, teaming up with James Woods as Hades (as far as Disney Afternoon shows went, it was pretty epic).
    In addition to all of the various shortcomings the 2019 live-action Aladdin had, audiences pretty definitely preferred his Jafar to Marwan Kenzari's wooden interpretation of the evil Vizier (like, it wasn't even close...).
    He said: 'I grew up on Disney movies and, as a kid, I always liked the villains. I loved everything about them - their scale and magic powers - that always appealed to me. So when I got the opportunity to take on Jafar for the film, it was a childhood dream come true.'

Credit: BoyWiththeGreenHair


Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

Year In Review:

    In 2023, Out of 4 Votes: 75.00% Annoying
    In 2022, Out of 8 Votes: 37.50% Annoying