Jonathan Freeman (actor)
Jonathan Freeman is an American actor, voice actor, singer, and puppeteer, known for puppetering and voicing Tito Swing in Shining Time Station and for voicing Jafar in Disney's Aladdin franchise, as well as the Kingdom Hearts franchise and the 2011 Aladdin musical.
Early life
Freeman was born in Bay Village, Ohio on February 5, 1950. He graduated from Ohio University.Career
As well as being the voice of Jafar in Aladdin, a role he once said he's called in to reprise every 3 to 6 months, Freeman is also known for being the puppeteer for Tito Swing of the Jukebox Band on the PBS series Shining Time Station. Freeman reprised his role as Jafar in the direct-to-video sequel to Aladdin, The Return of Jafar.In 1994, he was nominated for a Tony Award for Best Performance by a 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.
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.
Freeman reprised his role as Jafar in the Hercules crossover with Aladdin.
Freeman began his run starring as Admiral Boom and the Bank Chairman in the Broadway production of Mary Poppins on December 12, 2009.
Freeman also reprises his role as Jafar on stage in the new musical adaptation of Aladdin, which played at Seattle's 5th Avenue Theatre from July 7–31, 2011. He is currently reprising the role in the Broadway production, which opened in March 2014 at the New Amsterdam Theatre, and he is the only actor from the original cast of the animated film to do so.
Filmography
Film
Television and web
Video games
Theatre work
Broadway credits
- Aladdin as Jafar
- Mary Poppins as Admiral Boom and the Bank Chairman
- The Little Mermaid as Grimsby
- Beauty and the Beast as Cogsworth
- The Producers as Roger De Bris
- 42nd Street as Bert Barry
- On the Town as Pitkin W. Bridgework
- How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying as Mr. Bratt
- She Loves Me as Headwaiter – Nominated – Tony Award for Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Musical
- Platinum as Minky
- Sherlock Holmes as Lightfoot McTague
Off Broadway credits
- Of Thee I Sing as Senator Lyons
- Finian's Rainbow as Finian
- A Class Act as Lehman
- An Empty Plate In The Cafe Du Grand Boeuf as Claude
- Sail Away as Joe
- Wall To Wall as Frank Loesser
- Li'l Abner as Dr. Rasmussen
- On The Town as Pitkin W. Bridgework
- In A Pig's Valise as Zoot/Gut
- Claptrap as Harvey
- Bertrano as Louie/Momo
- Confessions Of Billie as Conrad Gerhardt
- Thirteen Days To Broadway as Cy
- Babes In Arms as Steve
- Pinocchio as Fire Eater
- The Miser as Cleante
- Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme as Dancing Master
Regional/Stock credits
- Restoration Comedy as Sir Novelty
- A Christmas Carol as Scrooge
- You Can't Take It with You as Boris Kolenkov
- An Empty Plate In The Cafe Du Grand Boeuf as Claude
- Peter Pan as Hook/Mr. Darling
- How To Succeed in Business Without Really Trying as Bert Bratt
- Fortinbras as Claudius
- Babes In Toyland as Gonzorgo
- A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum as Marcus Lycus
- The Flowering Peach as Shem
- Emigration Of Adam as Issac Kurtzik
- Gay Divorce as Teddy
- The Student Prince as Hubert
- Can-Can as Boris
- Arsenic and Old Lace as Jonathan
- The Desert Song as Benny
- George Washington Slept Here as Steve
- How To Succeed In Business Without Really Trying as Bud Frump
Soundtrack
| 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" | Tito Swing | |
| 1992 | Alan Menken & Howard Ashman | "Prince Ali Reprise" "Humiliate the Boy" "Why Me?" | Aladdin | Jafar |
| 1994 | Alan Menken & Howard Ashman | "You're Only Second Rate" | The Return of Jafar | Jafar |
| 2001 | Randy Petersen & Kevin Quinn | "It's Our House Now" | Mickey's House of Villains | Jafar |