Jonathan Daniel Charasuchin, better known as Jonathan Harris, was an American actor and voice actor, who was best known for his television roles as Bradford Webster in the BBC/syndicated British adaptation of The Third Man, Dr. Smith in the 1960s CBS sci-fi series Lost in Space, Don Carlos Fernandez in Zorro, and for voicing Big Ben Healy in the Problem Child animated series.
For Disney, he voiced Manny in Disney/Pixar's 1998 animated film A Bug's Life, and reprised this role in the video game of the same name. He also voiced Geri the Cleaner in Toy Story 2, Phineas Sharp in the Darkwing Duck episode "In Like Blunt", Ajed Al-Gebraic in the Aladdin episode "Genie Hunt", Henry Villanova in the Quack Pack episode "Transmission: Impossible", and Era in Buzz Lightyear of Star Command.
Harris was born in the Bronx, New York City, to Sam and Jennie Charasuchin, poor Russian-Jewish immigrants. The second of three children, Harris' father worked in Manhattan's Garment District. The family lived in a six-story tenement, and his mother often took in boarders to make ends meet, giving them Harris' room and bed and relegating him to sleep on the dining room chairs. By age 12, he was working in a pharmacy as a stockboy. While there was little money for luxuries, Harris' father made an effort to expand his son's cultural horizons with occasional trips to see Yiddish Theatre, as well as by listening to opera on the dining room radio. Although he could seldom afford tickets to them, Broadway plays were an early interest for Harris. He also developed interests in archaeology, Latin, romantic poetry, and Shakespeare.
He legally changed his name from "Charasuchin" to "Harris" before entering college after a year-long standoff with his father, who disagreed with the change. Harris earned a degree in pharmacology from Fordham University, from which he graduated in 1936. For a time, he worked in various drugstores before marrying in 1938.
He died three days before his 88th birthday.
Roles[]
Trivia[]
- He was considered to voice Shere Khan in The Jungle Book until that role was taken by the late George Sanders.
