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B. J. Ward
Ward in 2018
Born
Betty Jean Ward

(1944-09-12) September 12, 1944 (age 79)
Occupations
  • Actress
  • singer
Years active1960–present
Agent SBV Talent Agency
Spouses
  • ( m. 1966; div. 1978)
  • ( m. 1995; died 2016)
Website bjwardnow.com

Betty Jean Ward [1] (born September 12, 1944) [2] is an American actress. She is the creator and the star of Stand-Up Opera, a musical one-woman show.

Personal life

Ward was first married to Donald Trenner in 1966, they divorced in 1978, [1] She was later married to director Gordon Hunt from 1995 until his death in 2016. [3]

Career

Early career

She made her debut on the stage in 1960, in the original off-Broadway production of The Fantasticks, where she was an understudy for the role of Luisa/the Girl. B.J. Ward had gotten the part by calling the producer of the show. [1]

She toured with the Groundlings for a short while before starting her own voice over career starting with Hanna-Barbera's Jana of the Jungle in 1978. [4]

Singing career

Ward also worked as a singer. She is well known for her acclaimed one-woman show, "Stand-Up Opera", which became a massive success with critics and audiences alike. [5] She has released seven albums throughout her singing career.

Though Ward is best known as a voice actress, she has also appeared on television. In 1985, she made a rare film appearance in the TV movie Malice in Wonderland alongside Elizabeth Taylor and Jane Alexander. She has guest-starred on television series such as Frasier, ER, and In-Laws.

Ward has also done voices for video games and for theme parks, including:

Filmography

Television

Film

Video games

Discography

  • Vocal Ease (1970)
  • Queen Of The Night (1994) [5]
  • Stand-Up Opera (1995) [5]
  • Syrinx: Voice of the Songbird (2003) [5]
  • B.J. Ward Sings Marshall Barer (2005) [5]
  • Double Feature: Love Songs From The Movies (2015) [5]
  • Double Feature 2: More Songs From The Movies! (2016) [5]

References

  1. ^ a b c d Don Heckman (March 13, 1987). "B.J. Ward: She Talks A Good Show". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved January 5, 2017.
  2. ^ "Rotten Tomatoes: Movies | TV Shows | Movie Trailers | Reviews - Rotten Tomatoes". Rotten Tomatoes. Archived from the original on May 9, 2022.
  3. ^ Steve Marble (December 20, 2016). "Gordon Hunt, director, voice actor and father of Helen Hunt, dies at 87". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved November 14, 2019.
  4. ^ "BJ Ward". Retrieved October 7, 2023.
  5. ^ a b c d e f g "Music". Retrieved November 14, 2019.
  6. ^ a b "BJ Ward (visual voices guide)". Behind The Voice Actors. Retrieved April 30, 2021. 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 opening and/or closing credits and/or other reliable sources of information.{{ cite web}}: CS1 maint: postscript ( link)

External links