Jan Rabson

Jan Rabson
Born(1954-06-14)June 14, 1954
East Meadow, New York, U.S.
DiedOctober 13, 2022(2022-10-13) (aged 68)
Salt Spring Island, British Columbia, Canada
Other namesStanley Gurd, Jr.
OccupationActor
Years active1982–2022
SpouseCindy Akers

Jan Rabson (June 14, 1954 – October 13, 2022) was an American actor. During his four-decade career, he appeared in over 100 titles. He frequently worked in voice over, including as Tetsuo Shima in the Streamline Pictures dub of the anime film Akira (1988) and Larry Laffer in the Leisure Suit Larry video game series (1993–2004; 2013–2020).

Life and career

Rabson was born in East Meadow, New York, on June 14, 1954.[1] Rabson's voice was in thousands of commercials, films, TV shows, and animated films and series. For many years, Jan was a member of Johnny Carson's "Mighty Carson Art Players", performing in on-camera sketches as well as providing the voices for answering machines, cash registers and other inanimate objects for Johnny's sketches. One of his more famous roles included providing the voice for Larry Laffer in Leisure Suit Larry 6: Shape Up or Slip Out!, Leisure Suit Larry: Love for Sail!, Leisure Suit Larry's Casino, Leisure Suit Larry: Magna Cum Laude, Leisure Suit Larry: Reloaded and Leisure Suit Larry: Wet Dreams Don't Dry.

Rabson performed in all of the Pixar Cars Toons shorts as well as Toy Story 3, Up, WALL-E and many more. In some of his anime dubbing and on-camera work, he used the name Stanley Gurd, Jr., and is best known for voicing Tetsuo Shima from the first English dub of Akira under that name. He is also the voice of Horse from the preschool series Slim Pig.

In 1988, Rabson was the first contestant and champion on Blackout.

In 2013, he reprised his role of Tetsuo Shima for AficionadosChris' review of Akira.[2]

Personal life and death

Rabson resided in Salt Spring Island, British Columbia, Canada and divided work between Vancouver and Los Angeles productions. He died of a heart attack on October 13, 2022, at the age of 68.[1][3][4]

Partial filmography

Television

Year Title Role Notes
1982 One Day at a Time Charlie Episode: "Stick 'Em Up"
1982 The Facts of Life Waiter Episode: "New York, New York"
1982 Knight Rider Charlie Episode: "Not a Drop to Drink"
1983 Cheers Director Episode: "Now Pitching, Sam Malone"
1985 Hunter Reporter Episode: "The Big Fall"
1986 What's Happening Now!! Murray Episode: "Mr. First Nighter"
1987 G-Force: Guardians of Space Hooty, Dr. Brighthead, Computer (voice) English dub
1987, 1990 Night Court Laughton, Mr. Borelli 2 episodes
1989 Designing Women Man Episode: "Manhunt"
1989 Just the Ten of Us Rod Serling Lookalike Episode: "Highway to Heaven"
1990 Growing Pains Rod Serling Episode: "Happy Halloween"
1991 James Bond Jr. Gordon Leiter, Goldfinger, Jaws, Skullcap, The Worm, Snuffer (voice) 65 episodes
1991 Parker Lewis Can't Lose Future Jerry Episode: "Jerry's First Date"
1991–1993 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Kerma (voice) 4 episodes
1993 Animaniacs Papa (voice) Episode: "Hollywoodchuck"[5]
1996 The Real Adventures of Jonny Quest Avery, Donaldson (voice) Episode: "Alligators and Okeechobee Vikings"[5]
1996 Babylon 5 Vendor Episode: "Interludes and Examinations"
1996 Baywatch Frank Episode: "Shark Fever"
1997 Pinky and the Brain Farmer, Referee (voice) 2 episodes[5]
1997 Almost Perfect Man in Line Episode: "Gimme Shelter"
1999 Batman Beyond Rocketeer Leader (voice) Episode: "Heroes"[5]
1999 Beverly Hills, 90210 Sal Episode: "Local Hero"
2002 Rugrats Steve Malone, Weatherman (voice) Episode: "Silent Angelica"[5]
2002 Justice League Professor Erlich (voice) Episode: "Paradise Lost"[5]
2008 Bratz Principal Affleck (voice) 3 episodes[5]
2011–2020 Superbook Professor Quantum (voice) 20 episodes[5]
2015 My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic Wind Rider (voice) Episode: "Rarity Investigates!"[5]

Film

Year Title Role Notes
1982 Chasing Dreams Scout
1987 Royal Space Force: The Wings of Honnêamise Dormuhot (voice) English dub
1987 Fatal Attraction Party Guest
1995 Toy Story Mr. Mike, Gas Station Attendant (voice)
1996 The Hunchback of Notre Dame Frollo's Soldiers (voice)
1996 Theodore Rex Tina Rex (voice) [5]
1997 Hercules Driver (voice)
1998 A Bug's Life Axel, Grasshopper (voice)
1998 Akira Tetsuo Shima (voice) Streamline Pictures English dub
1999 Toy Story 2 Japanese Businessman (voice)
2001 Monsters, Inc. Sushi Chef (voice)
2003 Finding Nemo Seagulls (voice)
2004 Barbie as the Princess and the Pauper Nack, Midas (voice) [5]
2005 A Fairy Tale Christmas Crofton, Farmer (voice) [5]
2006 Cars T.J. Hummer (voice)
2007 Betsy Bubblegum's Journey Through Yummi-Land Mayor Marshmallow (voice) [5]
2007 Bratz Super Babyz Tuber, Announcer (voice) [5]
2008 Horton Hears a Who! Town Cryer (voice) [5]
2008 WALL-E Axiom Passenger (voice)
2009 Up Construction Worker, Television Announcer (voice)
2009 Playmobil: The Secret of Pirate Island Sea Biscuit, Voodoo Daddy (voice) [5]
2010 Toy Story 3 Sparks (voice) [5]
2011 Quest for Zhu Zhu Fu, Mangawanga (voice) [5]
2013 Monsters University Astronomy Club President (voice)

Video games

Year Title Role Notes
1993 Leisure Suit Larry 6: Shape Up or Slip Out! Larry Laffer [5]
1994 Freddy Pharkas: Frontier Pharmacist Sam Andreas, Wheaton Hall, Jim Laffer [5]
1996 Leisure Suit Larry: Love for Sail! Larry Laffer [5]
1998 Leisure Suit Larry's Casino Larry Laffer [5]
2004 Leisure Suit Larry: Magna Cum Laude Larry Laffer
2013 Leisure Suit Larry: Reloaded Larry Laffer, Short Man
2018 Leisure Suit Larry: Wet Dreams Don't Dry Larry Laffer
2020 Leisure Suit Larry: Wet Dreams Dry Twice Larry Laffer

References

  1. ^ a b Obituary: Jan Rabson
  2. ^ Video on YouTube
  3. ^ Mateo, Alex (October 14, 2022). "Voice Actor Jan Rabson Passes Away". Anime News Network. Retrieved October 21, 2022.
  4. ^ Chalk, Andy (October 17, 2022). "Leisure Suit Larry voice actor Jan Rabson has died". PC Gamer. Retrieved October 21, 2022.
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v "Jan Rabson (visual voices guide)". Behind The Voice Actors. Retrieved July 30, 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 credits or other reliable sources of information.