Jonathan Freeman is an American actor, voice actor, singer, and puppeteer, who is best known for being the puppeteer and voice of Tito Swing in Shining Time Station from 1989 to 1995.
For Disney, he provided the voices Jafar and Ding in the Aladdin franchise. He also played roles for Disney Theatrical Productions such as Grimsby in The Little Mermaid, Cogsworth in Beauty and the Beast, Admiral Boom and the Bank Chairman in Mary Poppins, and reprised Jafar for the Aladdin on Broadway. Additionally, he voiced Eli Excelsior Pandarus and Jack Frost in the Disney Channel animated series American Dragon: Jake Long. He also made an appearance as an executive in Hollywood Pictures' The Associate.
Roles
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Gallery
Jonathan Freeman behind the scenes of Aladdin.
Jonathan Freeman holding a Jafar sculpture.
Jonathan Freeman reprising his role as Jafar in the Broadway adaptation.
Jonathan Freeman at the Aladdin Diamond Edition premiere in September 2015.
Trivia
- In the "Jafar Goes to the Birds" segment on the Aladdin Special Edition DVD, Freeman admitted that he is ornithophobic, meaning afraid of birds. He tried to overcome his fear of them by going to buy one at a pet store, but he didn't end up doing so.
- According to Freeman, he usually returns to the Disney studios about every three months to voice Jafar for a new project.
- According to Freeman, he believes that Jafar was an Opium smoker. However, this is not canon to Disney and is only Freeman's opinion.[1]
- By originating the role of Jafar in the Broadway musical, Freeman is the first Disney voice actor to recreate his role in a Disney Theatrical show.
