Jess Winfield (born Jesse Morris Borgeson; March 8, 1961) is an American novelist, self-help author, television writer, voice actor, and magazine editor who is a founding member of The Reduced Shakespeare Company. His books include: What Would Shakespeare Do (2000)[1] and My Name Is Will (2008).[2] He wrote for and served as an executive producer of a number of animated television series, including Teacher's Pet and Lilo & Stitch: The Series. He also served as the voice actor for Jumba Jookiba in the latter series' franchise in the English versions of the anime Stitch! and the Chinese animated series Stitch & Ai, the latter being his last animated television work to date.

Jess Winfield
BornJesse Morris Borgeson
(1961-03-08) March 8, 1961 (age 63)
Los Angeles County, California, U.S.
Occupation
Years active
  • 1981–2017 (theatre and television)
  • 2015–present (magazine editor)
Spouse
Sandra Thomson
(m. 1993)

According to his personal LinkedIn profile, he currently works as a freelance editor for American Road magazine.

Theatrical work

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In 1981, Winfield joined writer-performer Adam Long and actor Daniel Singer to found the Reduced Shakespeare Company, a collective dedicated to the writing and performing of Shakespearean parodies. In 1987, the Company presented The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged), which became an international hit and, eventually, the longest-running comedy production in London's West End, where it was nominated for a Laurence Olivier Award for Best New Comedy in 1997.[3] He contributed to the editing and adapting of The Complete Works for publication[4] and television performance.

Television

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After departing from The Reduced Shakespeare Company, Winfield served as a writer for the Daytime Emmy Award-winning series Teacher's Pet (starring Nathan Lane and Jerry Stiller). He worked extensively for Disney's Lilo & Stitch franchise, writing the animated features Stitch! The Movie and Leroy & Stitch (also serving as a dialogue director), executive producing Lilo & Stitch: The Series, and voicing Jumba Jookiba in the English versions of Stitch! and Stitch & Ai, taking over the role from David Ogden Stiers (who later died in March 2018, the month after Stitch & Ai's original English version first aired). He has also written scripts for several other television series such as Mickey Mouse Works, All-New Dennis the Menace, House of Mouse, The Penguins of Madagascar, The Legend of Tarzan, Buzz Lightyear of Star Command, 101 Dalmatians: The Series, The Savage Dragon, The Incredible Hulk and Hercules.

Author

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Jess Winfield was born Jess Borgeson, and changed his name to Winfield in 1993 after marrying his wife, Sandra Thomson; his works prior to 1993 are known under this former name. Winfield is the author of What Would Shakespeare Do (Ulysses Press, 2000), a self-help book that employs Shakespearean drama as a basis for advice. In 2008, he published the novel My Name Is Will (Twelve/Hachette Book Group, 2008). The work uses a historically plausible story of William Shakespeare's young adulthood in conjunction with a comic modern plot to explore themes of religious persecution, authorial intent, and human sexuality. It has been stated that the modern portion of the novel's plot has been based, in part, on Winfield's years studying Shakespeare in Santa Cruz and Berkeley.[5]

Credits

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Television

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Year Title Writer Producer Voice actor Notes
1993 Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog Yes Episodes: "Big Daddy", "King Coconuts", "The Robots' Robot"
Credited as Jess Borgeson
The All-New Dennis the Menace Yes Episode: "Pig Out"
1994–1996 Biker Mice from Mars Yes Ten episodes
1995 Action Man Yes Episodes: "The Outside Edge" and "Space Wars"
1996 The Incredible Hulk Yes Episode: "Raw Power"
The Savage Dragon Yes Episode: "Star"
Beast Wars: Transformers Yes Episodes: "Chain of Command" and "Double Jeopardy"
Credited as Jesse Winfield
1997–1998 101 Dalmatians: The Series Yes Episodes: "Two for the Show", "Watch for Falling Idols", "Smoke Detectors", "Lobster Tale", "The Good-Bye Chick", "The Making Of..."
1998 Disney's Hercules: The Animated Series Yes Episodes: "Hercules and the Big Kiss", "...River Styx", "...Hostage Crisis", "...Big Games", "...Falling Stars", "...Twilight of the Gods"
1999 Mickey Mouse Works Yes Episodes 7, 9–12
2000 Buzz Lightyear of Star Command Yes Unknown episodes
2001, 2003 The Legend of Tarzan Yes Episodes: "Tarzan and the New Wave", "Tarzan and the Flying Ace" (also teleplay)
2001–2002 House of Mouse Yes Reused cartoons from Mickey Mouse Works
2002 Teacher's Pet Yes Executive Wrote two episodes: "Double Dog Dare" and "A Breed Apart"
Executive produced season two
2003–2006 Lilo & Stitch: The Series Yes Executive Yes Wrote one episode: "Snafu"
Executive produced all episodes
Provided additional voices in select episodes
2009–2013, 2014, 2016 Stitch! Co-producer Yes International re-version of anime series
Credited as co-producer for the first two seasons and as "reversion consulting producer" in the third season
English dub voice of Dr. Jumba Jookiba
2011 The Penguins of Madagascar Yes Episode: "Operation: Break-speare"
2017 Stitch & Ai Yes English-language-produced Chinese animated series (English version released 2018)
English voice of Dr. Jumba Jookiba

Film

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Year Title Writer Producer Voice actor Notes
2002 Tarzan & Jane Yes Film uses "Tarzan and the Flying Ace"
2003 Stitch! The Movie Yes Yes Yes Voice credit under "With the Voice Talents Of"
2006 Leroy & Stitch Yes Yes Also dialogue director

Stage theater

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References

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  1. ^ Winfield, Jess (2000). What Would Shakespeare Do?: Personal Advice from the Bard. Ulysses Press. ISBN 1569752257.
  2. ^ Winfield, Jess (2008). My Name Is Will: A Novel of Sex, Drugs, and Shakespeare. Twelve. ISBN 978-0446508858.
  3. ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2011-07-08. Retrieved 2008-07-01.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  4. ^ Long, Adam; Singer, Daniel; Borgeson, Jess; Winfield, Jess (1996). The Complete Works Of William Shakespeare (Abridged). Samuel French. ISBN 1557832714.
  5. ^ "Jess Winfield - About". jesswinfield.com. Archived from the original on July 13, 2011.
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