Jonathan Freeman (actor)

Jonathan Freeman (born February 18, 1950) is an American actor and puppeteer. He is known for voicing Jafar in Disney's Aladdin franchise, as well as the Kingdom Hearts franchise and the 2011 Aladdin musical.

Jonathan Freeman
Freeman at the 2024 GalaxyCon Columbus
Born	(1950-02-05) February 5, 1950 (age 75) Bay Village, Ohio, U.S.
Alma mater	Ohio University
Occupations	Actor puppeteer
Years active	1972–present

Early life

Freeman was born in Bay Village, Ohio on February 18, 1950.^[1] He graduated from Ohio University.^[1]

Career

As well as being the voice of Jafar in Aladdin, a role he once said he is called in to reprise every 3 to 6 months,^[2] Freeman is also known for being the puppeteer for Tito Swing of the Jukebox Band (Flexitoon Puppets) on the PBS series Shining Time Station. Freeman reprised his role as Jafar in the Aladdin sequel The Return of Jafar and the Hercules crossover episode "Hercules and the Arabian Night".

In 1994, he was nominated for a Tony Award for Best 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.^[3]

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.^[4]

Freeman began his run starring as Admiral Boom and the Bank Chairman in the Broadway production of Mary Poppins on December 12, 2009.^[5]

Freeman also reprised his role as Jafar in the musical adaptation of Aladdin, which played at Seattle's 5th Avenue Theatre from July 7–31, 2011.^[6][7] After nearly eight years with the show, Freeman played his final performance with the company on January 23, 2022.^[8]

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1976	Let My Puppets Come	Madame (Puppetry and Voice) and The Chauffeur	Softcore Pornographic film
1987	Forever, Lulu	Don
1988	Homeboy	Hotel Room Man
1990	A Shock To The System	Decorator
1992	Aladdin	Jafar (voice)	[9]
1994	The Return of Jafar		Direct-to-video
1995	Born to Be Wild	Ed Price
1996	The Associate	Hockey Game Executive
1997	The Ice Storm	Ted Franklin
2001	Mickey's Magical Christmas: Snowed in at the House of Mouse	Jafar (voice)	Direct-to-video
2002	Mickey's House of Villains[9]
2007	The Hoax	Thick Voice (voice)
2011	Too Big to Fail	Senator Richard Shelby	Television film
2016	Life, Animated	Himself
2020	The High Note	Martin
TBA	Aladdin: The Broadway Musical	Jafar	Filmed recording of 2019 West End musical

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1989	K.I.D.S. TV News	D.J. McCaw	Unknown episodes
	The Days and Nights of Molly Dodd	Waiter #2	Episode: "Here's a Cute Way to Wrap up the Holiday Season"
1989–1995	Shining Time Station	Tito Swing	58 episodes
1990	Mathnet	Joshua	Episode: "The Case of the Unkidnapping"
	Shining Time Station: 'Tis a Gift	Tito Swing	Television special
1995	Aladdin on Ice	Jafar (voice)	Television special; uncredited
1996–1998	Remember WENN	Rollie Pruitt	6 episodes
1998	Hercules	Jafar (voice)	Episode: "Hercules and the Arabian Night"
2001–2003	House of Mouse		10 episodes
2002	Teamo Supremo	Zomnambulist (voice)	Episode: "Things That Go Bump in the Night!"
2005–2006	American Dragon: Jake Long	Eli Excelsior Pandarus, Jack Frost (voice)	3 episodes
2008	Gossip Girl	Butler	Episode: "The Ex-Files"
2006–2009	Law & Order: Criminal Intent	Mr. Marty Krebs Wallace Thayer	2 episodes
2010	Law & Order: Special Victims Unit	Bobby	Episode: "Merchandise"
2011	Submissions Only	Greg Bonomelli	Episode: "The Miller/Hennigan Act"
2016	Elementary	Holder	Episode: "How the Sausage Is Made"
2017	Oh My Disney Show: "Watch a Disney Movie With ... Aladdin's Jonathan Freeman"	Himself	S2, EP 34
2019	TODAY		Episode: "Jonathan Freeman, Voice of Jafar, Reveals A Secret To Playing Aladdin Villain"
2022	Helluva Boss	Paimon, Cash Buckzo (voice)	Episode: "The Circus"

Video games

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1994	Aladdin Activity Center	Jafar
2001	Aladdin in Nasira's Revenge
2002	Kingdom Hearts
2005	Kingdom Hearts II
2007	Kingdom Hearts II: Final Mix+
2010	Kingdom Hearts Re:coded
2023	Disney Speedstorm
	Disney Dreamlight Valley

Web

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2016	Broadway.com's Role Call: "Jonathan Freeman of Aladdin"	Himself

Theme parks

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1998	Fantasmic!	Jafar	Voice

Theatre work

Broadway credits

• Aladdin as Jafar (Original Broadway Cast)
• Mary Poppins as Admiral Boom and the Bank Chairman (Replacement)
• The Little Mermaid as Grimsby (Original Broadway Cast)
• Beauty and the Beast as Cogsworth (Replacement)
• The Producers as Roger De Bris (Replacement)
• 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 Featured Actor in a Musical
• Platinum as Minky
• Sherlock Holmes as Lightfoot McTague (Replacement – RSC Transfer)

Off Broadway credits

• Of Thee I Sing as Senator Lyons (City Center Encores)
• Finian's Rainbow as Finian (Irish Repertory)
• A Class Act as Lehman (Manhattan Theatre Club)
• An Empty Plate In The Cafe Du Grand Boeuf as Claude (Primary Stages)
• Sail Away as Joe (Carnegie Hall)
• Wall To Wall as Frank Loesser (Symphony Space)
• Li'l Abner as Dr. Rasmussen (City Center Encores)
• On The Town as Pitkin W. Bridgework (Public Theater/Delacourte)
• In A Pig's Valise as Zoot/Gut (Second Stage)
• Claptrap as Harvey (Manhattan Theater Club)
• Bertrano as Louie/Momo (Primary Stages)
• Confessions Of Billie as Conrad Gerhardt (Performing Garage)
• Thirteen Days To Broadway as Cy (890 Studios)
• Babes In Arms as Steve (Playwrights' Horizon)
• Pinocchio as Fire Eater (Marionette Theater)
• The Miser as Cleante (Greenwich Mews)
• Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme as Dancing Master

Regional/Stock credits

• Restoration Comedy as Sir Novelty (Seattle Repertory Theater)
• A Christmas Carol as Ebenezer Scrooge (Bay Street Theater)
• You Can't Take It with You as Boris Kolenkov (Bay Street Theater)
• An Empty Plate In The Cafe Du Grand Boeuf as Claude (Berkshire Theater Festival)
• Peter Pan as Hook/Mr. Darling (Austin Musical Theater)
• How To Succeed in Business Without Really Trying as Bert Bratt (La Jolla Playhouse)
• Fortinbras as Claudius (La Jolla Playhouse)
• Babes In Toyland as Gonzorgo (Houston Grand Opera)
• A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum as Marcus Lycus (La Jolla Playhouse/Orange County Performing Arts Center)
• The Flowering Peach as Shem (Coconut Grove Playhouse)
• Emigration Of Adam as Issac Kurtzik (Williamstown Theater Festival)
• Gay Divorce as Teddy (Goodspeed Opera House)
• The Student Prince as Hubert (Milwaukee Melody Top)
• Can-Can as Boris
• Arsenic and Old Lace as Jonathan (Meadowbrook Theater)
• The Desert Song as Benny (Coachlight Theater)
• George Washington Slept Here as Steve (Berkshire Theater Festival)
• How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying as Bud Frump (Coachlight Theater)

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"	Shining Time Station: 'Tis a Gift
1992	Alan Menken & Howard Ashman	"Prince Ali Reprise" "Humiliate the Boy" "Why Me?"	Aladdin	Jafar
1994		"You're Only Second Rate"	The Return of Jafar
2001	Randy Petersen & Kevin Quinn	"It's Our House Now"	Mickey's House of Villains