Danny Jacobs (actor)

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Danny Jacobs
NationalityAmerican
Occupations
  • Actor
  • comedian
Years active1993–present

Danny Jacobs is an American actor and voice actor. He made his voice acting debut in 1999 with an uncredited role in Full Blast. He began his role of King Julien (originally voiced by Sacha Baron Cohen) in The Penguins of Madagascar (2008–2015) and had reprised his role in the Christmas special Merry Madagascar (2009), the Valentine's Day short Madly Madagascar (2013) and All Hail King Julien (2014–2017). He also impersonated Cohen's character Borat Sagdiyev (as well as a cameo appearance as a Pirate with an Eye Patch) in Epic Movie (2007).

Besides King Julien, his voice work includes the role of Rowdy Remington in Kick Buttowski: Suburban Daredevil (2010–2012), Victor Zsasz in Batman: Arkham Asylum (2009) and Batman: Arkham City (2011), Special Agent Porter in Justice League: Doom (2012), Snake / Snakeweed in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2012), Grifter and Captain Cold in Justice League: The Flashpoint Paradox (2013), Baron Mordo in Ultimate Spider-Man (2016) and Heinrich Zemo in Avengers Assemble (2016).

Early life and career[edit]

Jacobs is a devout Catholic of Lebanese descent. Growing up, Jacobs originally intended to become an NBA player. Jacobs attended Bishop Gallagher High School in Harper Woods, Michigan where he started to become interested in acting after seeing a production of West Side Story, in which he attended the rehearsals. Jacobs would later act in school productions of Grease and The Wiz. He enrolled in Wayne State University where he was in the community theater and later transferred to the University of Arizona where he majored in musical theater. Jacobs was further inspired by his cousin who appeared on the original Broadway rendition of Les Misérables. He moved to Los Angeles where he initially did commercial voice overs as a side gig to his theatrical work. He started animation voice acting as a walla voice actor alongside James Arnold Taylor and Teresa Ganzel.[1][2]

On July 13, 2015, Jacobs donated to Kids Kicking Cancer and had entertained some children with his King Julien voice.[3]

Career[edit]

In 1993, Jacobs originated the role of Chico Fernández in Jeff Daniels' comedy The Vast Difference at the Purple Rose Theatre.

In 1996–97, he won acting awards in Michigan, Florida and Wisconsin for his portrayal of Aram in Richard Kalinoski's "Beast on the Moon."

In 1999, Jacobs landed an uncredited voice role as Curt in Full Blast. He was also a background voice actor for Futurama. In the same year, he appeared in his first live-action role in Get the Hell Out of Hamtown.

Jacobs served as the producing artistic director of the Gem and Century Theatres in Detroit from 2000 to 2002.

Jacobs portrayed Borat Sagdiyev and made a cameo appearance as a Pirate with an Eye Patch in Epic Movie (2007). When portraying the role of Borat, Jacobs did an impression of Sacha Baron Cohen.[citation needed]

Jacobs was a substitute for Baron Cohen as the voice of King Julien in The Penguins of Madagascar, again as an impression of Baron Cohen (Jacobs also provided additional voices in the series). In 2011, he won a Daytime Emmy Award for the role. Jacobs reprised his role in Merry Madagascar (2009) and Madly Madagascar (2013). In 2014–2017, he returned to the role in All Hail King Julien. In Penguins of Madagascar (2014), Jacobs once again reprised his role as King Julien. He had also done voice-overs in various commercials.

In addition to the jobs that led to All Hail King Julien, Jacobs had been doing voice-over work for animated television series, including Phineas and Ferb (in which he provided additional voices) and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (in which he voiced Snake / Snakeweed), as well as several video games. He had said that animation, much like the theatre, gives actors a chance to play a wide range of roles. He said, "I can play any character of any ethnicity, any age, even any gender. And that's a freedom the camera doesn't give you. It's an incredibly freeing thing."[4] He also stated that King Julien is his favorite voice role and would gladly reprise his role if ever asked.[citation needed] Jacobs had received more recognition as King Julien than the character's predecessor Baron Cohen. In Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted (2012), Jacobs provided the singing voice of King Julien for the soundtrack.

He had a voice role in Teen Titans Go! as George Washington.

Awards and nominations[edit]

Jacobs was nominated for the 2010 Annie Award for Voice Acting in a Television Production for his voice role of King Julien in Merry Madagascar (2009), but lost the award to Tom Kenny.[5][6]

He won a 2011 Daytime Emmy Award and 2015 Daytime Emmy Award for his voice role of King Julien in The Penguins of Madagascar (2008–2015) and All Hail King Julien (2014–2017).

Filmography[edit]

Film[edit]

Year Title Role Notes
1999 Full Blast Curt Voice; uncredited
2006 Grounds Zero Omar
2006 The Mikes Paramedic
2007 Epic Movie Borat Sagdiyev, Pirate
2008 Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa Tourist (voice) [7]
2009 Merry Madagascar King Julien (voice) [7]
2011 Batman: Year One Arnold John Flass' Attorney (voice) Direct-to-video[7]
2012 Justice League: Doom Special Agent Porter (voice) Direct-to-video[7]
2012 Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted Croupier, Circus Master (voice) [7]
2012 Batman: The Dark Knight Returns Officer Merkel (voice) Direct-to-video[7]
2013 Justice League: The Flashpoint Paradox Grifter (voice) Direct-to-video[7]
2013 Madly Madagascar King Julien (voice) Short film; direct-to-video[7]
2014 Penguins of Madagascar King Julien (voice) [7]
2021 Lego Star Wars: Terrifying Tales Raam, Protocol Droid, Watto (voice) [7]

Television[edit]

Year Title Role Notes
2007 Mad Men Yoram Ben Shulhai Episode: "Babylon"
2008–2015 The Penguins of Madagascar King Julien, additional voices (voice) [7]
2010–2012 Kick Buttowski: Suburban Daredevil Rowdy Remington (voice)
2012 Ben 10: Ultimate Alien Dr. Pervis (voice) Episode: "Catch a Falling Star"[8]
2012–2013 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Snakeweed (voice) 2 episodes[7]
2014 Teen Titans Go! George Washington (voice) Episode: "Money Grandma"[7]
2014–2017 All Hail King Julien King Julien, Pancho, Buck (voice) Main role[9][7][10]
2015 Pig Goat Banana Cricket Cuddles Jr., Lasagna, Townsperson, Barbershop Quartet (voice) 2 episodes[7][11][12]
2015–2017 Be Cool, Scooby-Doo! Harmon, Madcap, Casper Cosgoode (voice) 2 episodes[7]
2015–2018 Miles from Tomorrowland Admiral Watson, additional voices (voice) Recurring role[7][13]
2016 Ultimate Spider-Man Baron Mordo, Vampire, Man (voice) 2 episodes[7][14][15]
2016 Avengers Assemble Heinrich Zemo (voice) Episode: "The House of Zemo"[7][16]
2016 The Mr. Peabody & Sherman Show Enrico Caruso (voice) Episode: "Enrico Caruso"[7]
2016–2017 Lego Star Wars: The Freemaker Adventures Raam, Yeppau (voice) [7][17]
2016 Transformers: Robots in Disguise Brother Gunter (voice) Episode: "Pretzel Logic"[7][18]
2018–2021 Apple & Onion Various voices [7]
2018 Lego Star Wars: All-Stars Raam, Lt. Mundu, Yeppau, Zradca (voice) [7]
2018–2019 Pinky Malinky Pinky's Dad, additional voices [7]
2019 The Lion Guard Kril (voice) Episode: "Long Live the Queen"[7]
2020 Blood of Zeus King Acrisius, King Periander (voice) 2 episodes[7]
2020–2023 Animaniacs Starbox, additional voices Recurring role[7]
2024 Star Wars: The Bad Batch Avi Singh (voice) Episode: "Infiltration"

Video games[edit]

Year Title Role Notes
2008 Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa King Julien [7]
2008 White Knight Chronicles Nanazel
2009 Batman: Arkham Asylum Victor Zsasz, Frank Boles, Masked Guard, Robert Sterling [7]
2009 Madagascar Kartz King Julien [7]
2009 The Godfather II Hyman Roth
2010 Megamind: Ultimate Showdown Conductor [7]
2010 Marvel Super Hero Squad: The Infinity Gauntlet Annihilus Bugs
2010 White Knight Chronicles II Nanazel [7]
2011 The Penguins of Madagascar: Dr. Blowhole Returns – Again! King Julien
2011 Super Star Kartz King Julien [7]
2012 Madagascar 3: The Video Game King Julien, Stefano [7]
2013 Skylanders: Swap Force Swarm
2014 Skylanders: Trap Team Swarm
2015 Skylanders: SuperChargers Swarm
2017 Dishonored: Death of the Outsider Aristocrats [7]
2020 Avengers Hank Pym [7]
2023 DreamWorks All-Star Kart Racing King Julien [7]

Discography[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ "All Hail King Julien! Ft. Danny Jacobs". YouTube.
  2. ^ "WCD 2016 - Session - Danny Jacobs & Closing Remarks". YouTube.
  3. ^ "Detroit Emmy winning actor Danny Jacobs helps Kids Kicking Cancer". Michigan Live. July 13, 2015. Retrieved December 26, 2020 – via mlive.com.
  4. ^ "Madagascar's King Julien finds a new voice". December 7, 2015. Retrieved November 21, 2018.
  5. ^ "37th Annie Awards". Annie Awards. Retrieved December 26, 2020.
  6. ^ "37th Annual Annie Nominations". Annie Awards. Archived from the original on January 24, 2010. Retrieved May 21, 2013.
  7. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z aa ab ac ad ae af ag ah ai aj ak al "Danny Jacobs (visual voices guide)". Behind The Voice Actors. Retrieved May 26, 2024. A green check mark indicates that a role has been confirmed using a screenshot (or collage of screenshots) of a title's list of voice actors and their respective characters found in its opening and/or closing credits and/or other reliable sources of information.
  8. ^ Ben 10: Ultimate Alien Season 2 Episode 27 closing credits
  9. ^ "The Wildest Party Ever Hits the Jungle When the Netflix Original Series ALL HAIL KING JULIEN Debuts Dec. 19". www.prnewswire.com. November 3, 2014. Retrieved May 26, 2024.
  10. ^ "He Blinded Me with Science". All Hail King Julien. Season 1. Episode 7. April 3, 2015. Netflix.
  11. ^ "The Most Beautiful Cockroach in the World". Pig Goat Banana Cricket. Season 1. Episode 8. September 25, 2015. Nickelodeon.
  12. ^ "BananaLand". Pig Goat Banana Cricket. Season 1. Episode 13. November 13, 2015. Nickelodeon.
  13. ^ "Ocean in Motion/Explorer Exchange". Miles from Tomorrowland. Season 1. Episode 2. February 6, 2015. Disney Junior.
  14. ^ "Miles From Home". Ultimate Spider-Man. Season 4. Episode 3. February 28, 2016. Disney XD.
  15. ^ "Strange Little Halloween". Ultimate Spider-Man. Season 4. Episode 20. October 1, 2016. Disney XD.
  16. ^ "The House of Zemo". Avengers Assemble. Season 3. Episode 19. October 9, 2016. Disney XD.
  17. ^ "The Mines of Graballa". Lego Star Wars: The Freemaker Adventures. Season 1. Episode 2. June 21, 2016. Disney XD.
  18. ^ "Pretzel Logic". Transformers: Robots in Disguise (2015). Season 2.5. Episode 3. November 5, 2016. Cartoon Network.

External links[edit]