The Animation Community Mourns Two Nickelodeon Legends
Fans of Jimmy Neutron and The Fairly OddParents both received tragic news this week: voice actors Jeff Garcia and Jim Ward have passed away.
Yesterday morning, TMZ reported that Garcia, the actor and comedian who voiced the fan-favorite character Sheen in the 2001 animated film Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius, all three seasons of the TV show The Adventures of Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius and the brief spinoff series Planet Sheen, had died after his family took him off of life support on Tuesday evening. Garcia, whose health struggles in the months leading up to his death included a brain aneurysm and a stroke, was 50 years old.
Then, this morning, new broke that prolific voice actor and Emmy Award-winner Jim Ward, who voiced characters such as Doug Dimmadome and Chet Ubetcha on The Fairly OddParents, died “due to complications from advanced Alzheimer's” on Wednesday. Ward was 66.
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Now, cartoon fans who grew up loving the work of both Garcia and Ward mourn both Nickelodeon greats and honor the impact they had on the 2000s golden age of kids' comedy animation.
Along with his work in the Jimmy Neutron franchise, Garcia performed voice roles in the films Barnyard, Rio 1 &2 and Happy Feet. For his work on Jimmy Neutron, Garcia won the 2004 Annie Award for Outstanding Voice Acting in an Animated Television Production. Garcia was also a regularly performing stand-up comedian since the early 1990s, and he continued working comedy clubs until his recent health problems forced him to step back from performing.
In addition to his iconic and oft-memed work on The Fairly OddParents, Ward's immense body of work as a voice actor included roles in popular animated shows such as Ben 10, Danny Phantom, Hey Arnold! and Biker Mice from Mars, for which he won his Emmy. Ward was also a mainstay of video game voice acting during that time, playing memorable parts in game franchises such as Ratchet & Clank, Call of Duty, Metal Gear Solid and Fallout, among many, many other credits.
Now, Millennials on the internet must come to terms with the passing of two voices that defined an entire era in animated entertainment.
