James Carter Cathcart, Veteran 'Pokémon' Voice Actor, Has Died At 71
The voice of Gary Oak and Weevil Underwood had been battling throat cancer for a few years
Cancer has taken another of the Pokémon community. James Carter Cathcart, the voice of Ash Ketchum’s rival Gary Oak since the first episode, who would later become the voice of James and Meowth of Team Rocket as well as Gary’s grandfather Professor Oak, has died at 71 from the throat cancer which drove him to retirement. His death on Tuesday, July 8, comes less than a year after Rachael Lillis, the original voice of Jessie, Misty, and Jigglypuff, lost her life to breast cancer at 55.
Cathcart’s death was announced on Facebook by his wife, Martha Jacobi, who wrote “For those of you who don't know me, I am Jimmy's (aka Carter's) wife. With apologies to extended family and Jimmy's "nearest & dearest" personal, offline friends & colleagues, for not having time to email, text, or call you before before social media went on a "Breaking News" frenzy: Jimmy died, peacefully, very early in the morning, on Tuesday 7/8/25, at Calvary Hospital, in the Bronx.” She then went on to give funeral details that don’t feel all that appropriate to disclose here. They had three children together, daughters Nicole Zoppi and Mackenzie, and son Carter.
Longtime 'Pokémon’ Voice Actor James Carter Cathcart Is Retiring Due To Cancer
The departure of Ash Ketchum from the Pokémon anime also marked the end for most if not all of his supporting cast. Fans eagerly awaited how the voice cast, especially of an English dub that had been through a complete overhaul in 2006, would be shuffled and reassigned to the new characters of
Cathcart was born on March 8, 1954 in New Jersey, and is a known pianist and singer who co-wrote the song "Remember Me" with Kiss guitarist Ace Frehley, which landed on one of Frehley’s solo albums. His voice acting includes commercial work. When it comes to his bigger gigs, his pseudonyms have included Jimmy Zoppi and Billy Beach. He had been with the Pokémon anime since the very first episode “Pokémon, I Choose You!”, as Ash’s aforementioned rival Gary Oak. He would also voice other recurrers such as Todd Snap, Team Rocket scientist Dr. Namba, and President of the League Competition Committee Charles Goodshow, Azalea Town’s Poké Ball crafter Kurt, and memorable one-off characters like the Metapod-owning nameless Samurai (the show’s first one-off character), director Cleavon Schpielbunk, Tommy the Tarzan-esque Kanghaskhan-raised kid, elder twins Hagatha and Nagatha, and Jack Pollockson. As this was a 4Kids production for the first 8 seasons and 400+ episodes (as was the Chronicles spinoff), Cathcart did voice work for the company’s other shows, most notably as insect enthusiast duelist Weevil Underwood on Yu-Gi-Oh! and Vector the Crocodile on Sonic X, which he got to reprise for the Shadow the Hedgehog video game. During Pokémon: Master Quest, the fifth dub season, Cathcart became script adapter, a role which he would continue to hold.
When The Pokémon Company International took over the dub starting with season 9 and the dub underwent a major recast, Cathcart was not only retained, but his duties increased, adding main characters like Team Rocket’s James and Meowth as well as Professor Oak to his arsenal. He succeeded Eric Stuart, Maddie Blaustein, and Stan Hart respectively in those roles, teaming him with Michele Knotz, who took over as Jessie. He also voiced a lot of Pokémon species, including James’s Carnivine and several members of Ash’s team, namely Ash's Muk, Snorlax, Swellow, Torkoal, Torterra (starting as a Turtwig and continuing as a Grotle), and Palpitoad. His retirement announcement in April 2023 coincided with the winding down of Ash’s onscreen journey, 25 seasons ending with Ultimate Journeys’s To Be A Pokémon Master arc that September. While he’s credited to the very end, the effects of the throat cancer on his performance are admittedly noticeable, making fans wonder whether it was actually him.
Colleague Erica Schroeder, whose first major Pokémon role was being Nurse Joy after the departure of Megan Hollingshead, was the first peer to mourn Cathcart on social media, writing on Instagram “Rest in peace dear sweet man. 💔 I will miss you. The community will miss you. The world will miss you. One of the most joyful, exuberant, kind-hearted and talented souls no longer walks with us. James Carter Cathcart you were one of a kind, a gentle, beautiful, playful genius and I was happy to call you my friend. Master of the pen, piano and microphone. Friend to many. Loving father and husband. Thank you for your gifts.” On Pokémon, she would go on to voice Ash's Unfezant from the time it was a Pidove all the way through, as goes for his Leavanny from the time it was a Sewaddle, as well as Serena's Pancham and Sylveon in the XY series, but ultimately her biggest role to date might be taking over as Jessie's Wobbuffet for its final two series, Sun and Moon and Journeys. She currently voices a few of the Pokémon residing on the Brave Olivine in Horizons.
I was fortunate enough to be Facebook friends with James since 2012, and he was kind enough to leave birthday wishes in most of all of them as recently as this year. I attended a Pokémon 25th anniversary event on Zoom (it was February 2021 after all) from the Port Jervis Free Library hosted by him and Knotz that was wonderful. He’ll be missed greatly.
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