According to the Hollywood Reporter, Tom Kane, a beloved voice actor, has died at age 64.
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Kane passed away from stroke complications, and a statement said, “From his unforgettable performances in Star Wars to countless animated series, documentaries, and games, Tom brought wisdom, strength, humor, and heart to every role he touched. His voice became part of our lives, our memories, and the stories we carry with them.”
Kane was the iconic voice on the Disney World monorail…
Monorail
…and narrates Happily Ever After, the fireworks show in Magic Kingdom.
Happily Ever After
One of his most popular roles was as Yoda for Star Wars: The Clone Wars.
©Disney
Kane was also the voice of Lord Monkey Fist on Kim Possible. He also portrayed Magneto and Ultron for some Marvel projects. We also voiced Professor Utonium on The Powerpuff Girls and Mr. Herriman on Foster’s Home for Imaginary Friends.
©Disney
He graduated from the University of Kansas in 1984and began doing small voice parts in video games for Lucasfilm in 1996. He took on the voice of Yoda for the first time in a game released in 1999. Kane continued to voice Yoda on the TV series Star Wars: Clone Wars and the Clone Wars film, where we also voiced Admiral Yularen.
©Disney
Kane said, “I didn’t work on being Yoda. I saw the movie 53 times, so the voice is very much in my head. Everybody tried to do Yoda, not just voice-overs, but everybody. I was doing stuff for LucasArts, and I was goofing around and reading Yoda lines, and what I didn’t know was that Frank Oz [the original voice of Yoda] was directing a movie. They recorded it and played it for George [Lucas], and I’ve been Yoda ever since.”
Our hearts go out to his family and friends during this difficult time.
