Biography

Tony Jay

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Born
February 2, 1933 · London, England, UK
Died
August 13, 2006 · Los Angeles, California, USA (complications from cancer surgery)
Height
6′ 4″ (1.93 m)

Tony Jay was a British actor and narrator. He is known for his deep and distinctive British voice. He was well-known for voicing Claude Frollo from The Hunchback of Notre Dame, Megabyte from ReBoot, Monsieur D'Arque from Beauty and the Beast, Shere Khan from The Jungle Book 2, Magneto in X-Men Legends and the Elder God in the Legacy of Kain. He was considered to portray Obi-Wan in Star Wars before he was turned down by George Lucas.
- IMDb mini biography by: Christian Frates

Despite being known for playing villains, he was known to friends and co-stars as a very kind and friendly man.
Died of complications following surgery to remove a tumor from his lung. Survived by his son, Adam.
All of his dialogue in Beauty and the Beast (1991) was recorded during his audition for the film.
He appeared in both Beauty and the Beast (1987) and Beauty and the Beast (1991).
His trademark voice was often mistaken for that of Jay Robinson, whose own mischievous and "evil" sounding voice sounded remarkably similar. While Jay Robinson was most recognized for his narration of Beyond Bizarre (1997), Jay's voice acting talent was mostly confined to video games and cartoons. One of his last notable roles was that of the "Elder God" in the Legacy of Kain game series, a part he voiced from the franchise's debut.

[on his part as Claude Frollo in The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1996)] Claude Frollo: well, he's a religious zealot. We've tried to make him into a fully fleshed three-dimensional character: a tragic figure, rather than an out-and-out senseless villain. In other words, everything he does in a wicked sense is understandable but not excusable. See, Frollo, when he's trying to get his own way tends to be arch, that's the way I see him. In other words, you can see through him, really, because nobody trusts him. I mean, Phoebus doesn't trust him right from the word "girl", and Esmeralda certainly doesn't, and Quasimodo certainly knows about him. So whatever he's trying, Frollo, in an attempt to get his own way and get his own ambitions realized is really transparent. We can see through him. But that doesn't stop his own fervor, you see.
[on the music of The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1996)] It was one of the greatest kicks of my life with this Alan Menken, Stephen Schwartz score, which I think is epic. I think Alan Menken and Stephen have outdone themselves.
[on his role in The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1996)] You are making your bid for immortality. You are in a movie by Disney.

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