Heya all , im sure you have all heard by now that beloved actor James Avery has passed away due to complications following open heart surgery for those that don’t recall the name he played various acting roles such as Uncle Phil in the fresh prince of Bel air and several voice acting roles in you favorite cartoons such as The shredder in the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles cartoon..And even The Real Ghostbusters he played killerwatt and the judge in Jailbusters.
Damn, no love for James??? The guy was a phenomenal talent. I definitely remembered him as the original voice of The Shedder, but despite being an RGB fan, I almost forgot he voiced Killerwatt & the Judge! Maybe because they were brief guest spots as oppose to series-long characters? At any rate, thanks for pointing that out, Beardedbuster. R.I.P, James. You are missed!
sucks to hear that. The guy had an awesome presence on the screen. Thanks Morydees for that clip, totally forgot about that movie. One moment that still cracks me up was as Uncle Phil when he helped Will out at the pool hall and he hustled the hustlers.
Some of the best acting between him and Will Smith is that father scene on fresh prince. I read that the hug was totally impromptu at the end and James grabbed Will for a very fitting end. You could see his eyes tearing up. I believe Will’s lines were improvised too.
Crazy fact, Will smith is now older then Uncle Phil was at the beginning of Fresh Prince.
I great actor and will be sorry to see him go. He was probably the best TV uncle there ever was and definitely the best Shredder there ever was. Rest in Peace James Avery.
I was very sad to hear of his passing, he was a tremendous talent both on camera and doing voice work. In fact on the Season 4 DVD of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles their is an interview with him where he talks about getting the part of the Shredder and also how during the 1980’s he spent a lot of time doing voice overs for various shows, as well as appearing on camera.
Next to Killerwat, the Shredder, the Judge Ghost and Uncle Phil, one my favorite parts that he played was a guest spot on CSI during the first season as a blind airplane passenger.
I always liked James Avery. I am the only person among my peers who knew his name instead of, “He was Uncle Phil.” We keep loosing all the good actors and not enough of the lame ones.
