NEED TO KNOW
Voice actor Jim Ward, known for his roles on Ratchet & Blank and The Fairly OddParents, has died. He was 66.
Ward’s death was confirmed by Stephanie Miller, the host of The Stephanie Miller Show, a syndicated radio talk show that the actor also co-hosted and was an announcer for 13 years until 2017.
“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. Can you let Steph know? Thanks, Janice,” she posted to X on Wednesday, Dec. 10.
On Instagram, she added that “he was beyond brilliance.”
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Best known for his work on the Nickelodeon animated series The Fairly OddParents, Ward voiced the character of Doug Dimmadome, a major business owner in Dimmsdale who sometimes assumed the role of the villain, and Chet Ubetcha, the news reporter for Dimmsdale’s local station Channel 7 News. Per his IMDb page, Ward appeared on 95 episodes throughout the series’ run from 2001 to 2017.
Additionally, Ward also lent his voice to various characters on the 2005 Cartoon Network animated series Ben 10 and voiced Captain Qwark in Ratchet and Clank, the action-adventure video game series.
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Other acting and gaming roles include the voice of Hector LeMans in Grim Fandango; Rodney Betters in FEAR; Belial in Diablo III; as well as roles in a range of Star Wars games, Metal Gear Solid 3, Batman: Arkham Knight and BioShock 2.
Per IGN, Ward experienced a “severe case” of COVID-19 in 2021 following his hospitalization related to a memory issue that reportedly paralyzed him for four months. Later on, Ward developed Alzheimer’s disease, which prevented him from being a part of Ratchet and Clank: Drift Apart.
