Jim Ward, an American voice actor known as the voice of Captain Qwark in the Ratchet & Clank series and dozens of other contributions, has passed away at the age of 66.
Political commentator Stephanie Miller, shared the news on social media yesterday. “One of the saddest messages I have ever received from the amazing Mrs. Jim Ward: Our wonderful ‘voice deity’ as Steph anointed Jim Ward, passed away today at 10:45AM,” reads the post. Ward served as co-host of Miller’s morning radio show for many years.
TMZ confirmed the news, adding that Ward’s passing was due to complications from advanced Alzheimer’s. The outlet was told he was being treated in Los Angeles at Silverado Beverly Place Memory Care at the time of his passing.
In the video game space, the voice actor was best known for his work with Insomniac Games on the Ratchet & Clank series, primarily as Captain Qwark, while providing voices for other characters on occasion. During his prolific time in the industry his voice appeared in a large variety of projects—including Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance, The Elder Scrolls Online, Hearthstone, Destroy All Humans!, Fallout 4, and many more.
Outside of games, Ward did voice work on Wolverine and the X-Men for 20 episodes, embodying Professor Charles Xavier and other characters. Most notable was his work as multiple characters of The Fairly OddParents, including Doug Dimmadome. According to his IMDb page, he worked on 95 episodes of the TV show.
Speaking to TMZ, Arlene Thornton, who was Ward’s agent since the early 1980s, said that “his ability to improvise on the spot as well as his dead-on impressions were beyond impressive. He was a one-man comedy show every time he came to the office to do his auditions.”
Over at LinkedIn, voice-over director and recording engineer Juan Carlos Bagnell wrote about Ward’s passing with fondness, recalling working with him multiple times over the years while sharing pictures of him.
“I was so sad to hear this morning that actor Jim Ward passed away at the age of 66,” Bagnell said. “I’d had the pleasure of recording him on several projects. Working with him, those sessions were some of the highlights of my career. A kind, thoughtful, and hilarious person who turned out amazing performances every time he stepped up to the microphone.”
