RIP Ed Asner, voice of J. Jonah Jameson on "Spider-Man: TAS"

[RoyalRubble]

Ed Asner passed away at the age of 91. While his most famous role is probably that of Lou Grant on both The Mary Tyler Moore Show and the spin-off Lou Grant series, he has played numerous other roles throughout his career, as well as did some voice acting.

Notably for this forum, Asner was the voice of jolly J. Jonah Jameson on the 90s Spider-Man TAS. I thought he portrayed the character with a lot of heart and managed to make it one of the most entertaining versions of Jameson out there. (And the competition is pretty strong!) He also voiced another important character in Spidey's life, none other than Uncle Ben, on The Spectacular Spider-Man in 2008.

All of this is just a small part of Asner's extensive filmography, but important and entertaining nevertheless.

 

[Frontier]

A lot of people have their own Jameson (and to most JK Simmons is the definitive article) but to me Ed Asner's voice is the first voice to really define the character for me and convey both his irrational hatred of Spider-Man while still retaining the dignity and integrity of an honest newsman.

He was also a great Uncle Ben.

RIP Mr. Asner.

 

[Roxas_Sora]

Well, this reduces the chances of Spider-Man's animated series being revived at some point. Losing Madame Web's voice (the wife of Stan Lee) was a hard hit too. Then again, J Jonah Jameson is one character I would never want to hear.

But seriously, my condolences to Ed Asner's relatives. May he rest in peace.

 

[Rick Jones]

He played a really good JJJ. Jameson tends to get very cartoony but this version never did. He was a lot easier to take seriously than the others, though he did also have his comedic moments as Spider-Man's foil. He was probably the only one we saw on screen that seemed to actually have backstory and that helped him feel three-dimensional. He wasn't just a blustering hot head or a rough boss but I could actually see him hurting Spider-Man if he ever got the chance. This isn't to say that I don't absolutely love the versions that we see played by guys like JK Simmons or Daran Norris, etc, but this version was perfect for this show. I think this show had excellent voice casting but sometimes the actors could get very hammy when they were in the moment. I don't think I ever felt that with Mr. Asner. He played the role just how he needed to.

For the little that we saw with him, he was also a great choice for Uncle Ben in TSSM.

Great actor all around. Rest in Peace.


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[Low Spark of Lyman]

Interesting, I first saw this while a MeTV ad aired for airing specially selected episodes of The Mary Tyler Moore Show in memory of him. I did see the ones for DC and in general, but somehow didn't see this yet.

Anyway, I definitely remember him as Jameson in the '94 series. Definitely a good choice for the character.

 

[Rick Jones]

He managed to have three different roles in three different Spider-Man series. He was JJJ in 94 TAS, he was that one cop , Officer Barr, in the new MTV series and then he was Uncle Ben in Spectacular.

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[Neo Ultra Mike]

Let's face it there are only two really serious portrayals anyone really cares about of J. Jonah Jamenson outside of the comics; This show with Ed Asner, and J.K Simmons. Even Darran Norris in Spectacular Spider Man was pretty much doing a Simmons impression because yeah once Simmons got the role that's how people saw the character; this super fast super easily agitated and aggressive with a charming energy that makes you not hate the character despite how crummy he can treat Peter or the people around him. It is very enjoyable and incredible performance and I get why he keeps being asked back to voice the character over the years in various projects but... I honestly don't feel we ever saw Simmons have a version of Jonah with any pathos or earnest integrity towards him. Even when they tried having a moment here or there like him protecting Parker in the first Spider man movie it felt forced and out of nowhere that it just felt ... out of character honestly. Like I get the idea of Jonah being this jerkhole with a secret heart of gold but Simmons never showed off that golden heart. He showed off being a really entertaining jerkhole but never the heart, which is what Ed Asner brought to the character.

I admit maybe i'm bias as The 90's Spider Man is not only my introduction to a lot of Spider Man and Marvel mythos in general and to a lot of it's characters and their attitude but quite honestly I think it easily has the best portrayal of Jonah. Because it shows you where he's coming from with his hatred of Spidey but how he does care about doing the right thing, even risking his own life on several occasions like trying to delay Scorpion so Parker could save the city. And I always really enjoyed the episode where Robbie was framed and Jonah took it upon himself to try and find out who was behind trying to take down Robertson because he knew his friend was innocent so even though he went in over his head he still helped out and helped uncover the case along with Spidey. I guess his comedy moments weren't quite as good but they were still funny like him and Wilson Fisk being the ones to try and throw the best wedding ceremony for Peter and MJ because of the good will it would showcase the town or still procaliming how horrible Spider Man is even in the Spidey Carnage alternate universe where that Peter Parker would kill him. Ed delievered a lot of honest heart as well as comedy to the character that really only he could deliver and it's awesome having an actor who was playing roles in shows my parents were fan of still having carried over long enough to be in projects I can love as well. The guy's had several noteable roles worth giving praise to in various fields but I am glad we have one here for his J. Jonah because I feel this will get overlooked by a lot of people because they feel Simmons owned the role and in some respects he did but... until shown otherwise this is the only J. Jonah Jameson who had the heart as well as the humor to really make him stick out as this well rounded character so I hope future generations will remember this performance and all Asner gave to it.

 

[Frontier]

I think Norris' Jonah was a little more hyper than JK Simmons'...of course he also sometimes sounded as close to a heart attack .

 

[Rick Jones]

I don't think we got to see the movies really dive deep into JJJ but I do think of that one scene from the first movie where the Goblin comes to the Daily Bugle looking for Peter and JJ sees Peter and is shooing him off while telling the Goblin that he has no idea who he's talking about, protecting him while his own life is in danger. We see this kind of stuff with JJJ in Spectacular Spider-Man as well. I just wanted to say that there was more to these guys though we don't to see as much of what might be making them tick as we do in TAS.

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[Trevor]

He was a good J. Jonah Jameison up there wi Simons and Paul Kligman.
Every Christmas I enjoy watching The Man Who Saved Christmas in which he played the father of Jason Alexander’s A.C. Gilbert.