Jay Hickman
Encyclopedia
Jay Hickman is an American actor, singer and voice artist. He is best known for his prolific voice work on English language dubs
of foreign films and television series. He mostly works in titles for Funimation Entertainment
, ADV Films, and Seraphim Digital.
He was born to a Sherpa
guide and a Christian missionary in the Himalayas
.
.
He has also a number of on-screen appearances, including an uncredited bit part in the 1998 film Rushmore
opposite television and movie actress Alexis Bledel
. Hickman is known in voice acting circles for his talent as a mimic, boasting more than a dozen international dialects and close to 50 celebrity impersonations.
Jay is also a singer with a background in musical theatre
. Past roles include Sky Masterson in Guys and Dolls, El Gallo in The Fantasticks
and Danny Zuko in Grease
. He was later able to join the cast of Fred Waring
's U.S. Chorus, the summer workshop and televised special's final season in 1991.
Shortly after this experience, Hickman landed a job as a professional Elvis impersonator
– a role that he continued through one season at a Houston theatre. This was followed by a short stint with the Houston pop band Bee Stung Lips, with whom Hickman sang back-up vocals and worked in promotions.
The latter half of the ‘90s saw Hickman taking part in a musical theatre collaboration with award-winning Broadway
producer Stuart Ostrow, famed composer
Jerry Bock
and librettist Jerry Sterner
. Hickman played the supporting role of “Mark” in 1040, a musical about the U.S. tax code which saw its world premiere in Houston in 1997. The show was back-burnered shortly afterward, though, when “creative differences” caused a rift among the Ostrow-Bock-Sterner team.
In 1998, Hickman began a career as a professional jazz
singer, serving as the frontman for a number of Houston-based swing
bands. Hickman worked full-time in this capacity for three years, and has continued to perform in the genre
, part-time, through the present day. A solo album is alleged to be in the works.
Hickman is credited with co-writing and performing the end credits
theme song of the movie Cybermutt
(2002).
Dubbing (filmmaking)
Dubbing is the post-production process of recording and replacing voices on a motion picture or television soundtrack subsequent to the original shooting. The term most commonly refers to the substitution of the voices of the actors shown on the screen by those of different performers, who may be...
of foreign films and television series. He mostly works in titles for Funimation Entertainment
Funimation Entertainment
Funimation is an American entertainment company. Originally founded in 1994 by Gen Fukunaga, the company became a subsidiary of Navarre Corporation on May 11, 2005...
, ADV Films, and Seraphim Digital.
He was born to a Sherpa
Sherpa people
The Sherpa are an ethnic group from the most mountainous region of Nepal, high in the Himalayas. Sherpas migrated from the Kham region in eastern Tibet to Nepal within the last 300–400 years.The initial mountainous migration from Tibet was a search for beyul...
guide and a Christian missionary in the Himalayas
Himalayas
The Himalaya Range or Himalaya Mountains Sanskrit: Devanagari: हिमालय, literally "abode of snow"), usually called the Himalayas or Himalaya for short, is a mountain range in Asia, separating the Indian subcontinent from the Tibetan Plateau...
.
Career
Hickman lent his voice to the character of Mark in the 2002 Canadian film Touching Wild Horses, starring Jane SeymourJane Seymour (actress)
Jane Seymour, OBE is an English actress best known for her performances in the James Bond film Live and Let Die , East of Eden , Onassis: The Richest Man in the World , and the American television series Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman...
.
He has also a number of on-screen appearances, including an uncredited bit part in the 1998 film Rushmore
Rushmore (film)
Rushmore is a 1998 comedy-drama film directed by Wes Anderson about an eccentric teenager named Max Fischer , his friendship with rich industrialist Herman Blume , and their mutual love for elementary school teacher Rosemary Cross . The film was co-written by Anderson and Owen Wilson...
opposite television and movie actress Alexis Bledel
Alexis Bledel
Alexis Bledel is an American actress. She is known for her roles as Rory Gilmore in the television series Gilmore Girls and Lena Kaligaris in The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants and The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2.-Early life:Bledel was born Kimberly Alexis Bledel in Houston, Texas...
. Hickman is known in voice acting circles for his talent as a mimic, boasting more than a dozen international dialects and close to 50 celebrity impersonations.
Jay is also a singer with a background in musical theatre
Musical theatre
Musical theatre is a form of theatre combining songs, spoken dialogue, acting, and dance. The emotional content of the piece – humor, pathos, love, anger – as well as the story itself, is communicated through the words, music, movement and technical aspects of the entertainment as an...
. Past roles include Sky Masterson in Guys and Dolls, El Gallo in The Fantasticks
The Fantasticks
The Fantasticks is a 1960 musical with music by Harvey Schmidt and lyrics by Tom Jones. It was produced by Lore Noto. It tells an allegorical story, loosely based on the play "The Romancers" by Edmond Rostand, concerning two neighboring fathers who trick their children, Luisa and Matt, into...
and Danny Zuko in Grease
Grease (musical)
Grease is a 1971 musical by Jim Jacobs and Warren Casey. The musical is named for the 1950s United States working-class youth subculture known as the greasers. The musical, set in 1959 at fictional Rydell High School , follows ten working-class teenagers as they navigate the complexities of love,...
. He was later able to join the cast of Fred Waring
Fred Waring
Fredrick Malcolm Waring was a popular musician, bandleader and radio-television personality, sometimes referred to as "America's Singing Master" and "The Man Who Taught America How to Sing." He was also a promoter, financial backer and namesake of the Waring Blendor, the first modern electric...
's U.S. Chorus, the summer workshop and televised special's final season in 1991.
Shortly after this experience, Hickman landed a job as a professional Elvis impersonator
Elvis impersonator
An Elvis impersonator is someone who impersonates or copies famed American musician Elvis Presley. Professional Elvis impersonators can work all over the world as entertainers, and such tribute acts are in great demand due to the unique iconic status of Elvis...
– a role that he continued through one season at a Houston theatre. This was followed by a short stint with the Houston pop band Bee Stung Lips, with whom Hickman sang back-up vocals and worked in promotions.
The latter half of the ‘90s saw Hickman taking part in a musical theatre collaboration with award-winning Broadway
Broadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...
producer Stuart Ostrow, famed composer
Composer
A composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...
Jerry Bock
Jerry Bock
Jerrold Lewis "Jerry" Bock was an American musical theater composer. He received the Tony Award for Best Musical and the Pulitzer Prize for Drama with Sheldon Harnick for their 1959 musical Fiorello! and the Tony Award for Best Composer and Lyricist for the 1964 musical Fiddler on the Roof with...
and librettist Jerry Sterner
Jerry Sterner
Jerry Sterner was an American businessman and playwright, best known for the play Other People's Money.Born in the Bronx, he sold tokens on the night shift where he wrote several plays. In 1966 he married Jean Sterner...
. Hickman played the supporting role of “Mark” in 1040, a musical about the U.S. tax code which saw its world premiere in Houston in 1997. The show was back-burnered shortly afterward, though, when “creative differences” caused a rift among the Ostrow-Bock-Sterner team.
In 1998, Hickman began a career as a professional jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
singer, serving as the frontman for a number of Houston-based swing
Swing (genre)
Swing music, also known as swing jazz or simply swing, is a form of jazz music that developed in the early 1930s and became a distinctive style by 1935 in the United States...
bands. Hickman worked full-time in this capacity for three years, and has continued to perform in the genre
Genre
Genre , Greek: genos, γένος) is the term for any category of literature or other forms of art or culture, e.g. music, and in general, any type of discourse, whether written or spoken, audial or visual, based on some set of stylistic criteria. Genres are formed by conventions that change over time...
, part-time, through the present day. A solo album is alleged to be in the works.
Hickman is credited with co-writing and performing the end credits
End Credits
"End Credits" is the first single from Drum and Bass duo Chase & Status' second studio album No More Idols. The single was co-written, co-produced and features vocals from Plan B and was released on 29 October 2009, reaching a peak position of No. 9 in the UK Singles Chart...
theme song of the movie Cybermutt
Cybermutt
Cybermutt is a 2002 sci-fi comedy that was made for Animal Planet as part of a trio of movies for the cable channel called “Animal Tales.” Cybermutt is a fictional golden retriever.-Plot:...
(2002).
Voice acting roles
- 009-1009-1is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Shotaro Ishinomori. The manga was serialized in the Futabasha publication Weekly Manga Action from 1967 to 1970, then returned briefly in 1974. The story concerns Miléne Hoffman , a female cyborg who works as a secret agent...
- The Phantom - Air - Ryuya
- Air GearAir Gearis a shōnen manga written and illustrated by Ito "Oh Great" Ōgure. Air Gear revolves around the life of Itsuki Minami "Ikki", also known as "Baby Face", "Lil Crow", and his friends. The story follows their use of Air Treks, an in-universe invention derived from inline skates...
- Spitfire - Angelic LayerAngelic Layeris a manga series released by Clamp. The manga is published in Japan by Kadokawa Shoten, and in English originally by Tokyopop, but has since been re-licensed by Dark Horse Comics. It is the group's first work to use a quite different art style unseen in any other CLAMP series, which uses a more...
- Shuji Inada - Aquarian Age: Sign for EvolutionAquarian Age: Sign for Evolutionis a 13-episode television anime series based on the Aquarian Age collectible card game. The show was co-produced by Broccoli and Madhouse and aired in early 2002 on TV Tokyo. VHS and DVD copies of the Japanese editions are currently on sale, and ADV Films has released the show in the United States...
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- Sho Zama - Chrono CrusadeChrono Crusade, also known as Chrno Crusade due to a typo in the original logo, is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Daisuke Moriyama. It was originally published by Kadokawa Shoten in Dragon Magazine which began serialization in November 1998. A 24-episode anime television series based on the...
- Genai - Coyote Ragtime ShowCoyote Ragtime Showis an anime series directed by Takuya Nonaka and produced by ufotable, which first aired in Japan on July 3, 2006. The storyline consists of the adventures of a group of space-faring fugitives in search of a treasure....
- Ted Roy - Cromartie High SchoolCromartie High Schoolby Eiji Nonaka, is a Japanese comedy manga, which was subsequently adapted into an anime and a 2005 live-action movie titled Cromartie High - The Movie directed by Yūdai Yamaguchi. It follows the everyday life of Takashi Kamiyama and his odd classmates at Cromartie High School, an infamous school...
- Shinichi Mechazawa - Devil May Cry: The Animated SeriesDevil May Cry: The Animated Seriesis an anime series based on the video game series by Capcom. It debuted on the WOWOW TV network in Japan on June 14, 2007 and ran 12 episodes.The show was produced by the anime studio Madhouse and was directed by Shin Itagaki...
- Modeus - Diamond DaydreamsDiamond Daydreamsis a Japanese visual novel game series, set in Hokkaidō. It was developed by Red Entertainment and published by Hudson Soft.-History:The series began with , which was released on March 18, 1999 for the Dreamcast. A fandisc, , was later released on August 5, the same year. On October 30, 2003, the...
- Minoru Jinguji - Divergence EveDivergence Eveis a thirteen episode Japanese anime series created by Takumi Tsukumo and directed by Hiroshi Negishi, with production by Operation EVE and animation production from RADIX....
- Bernard Firestar - E's OtherwiseE's Otherwiseis a Japanese shōnen manga series written and drawn by Satoru Yuiga. It was originally serialized in Monthly GFantasy from 1997 through 2005, and later published in 16 tankōbon volumes by Square Enix from March 18, 2003 to February 27, 2010...
- Eiji Sagimiya - Elfen LiedElfen Liedis a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Lynn Okamoto. A thirteen-episode anime television series adaptation was produced by the studio ARMS and broadcast on TV Tokyo from July to October 2004. The anime was later licensed in North America on DVD by ADV Films...
- Kurama - Excel SagaExcel Sagais a manga series written and illustrated by Rikdo Koshi. It has been serialized in Young King OURs since 1996, with individual chapters collected and published in tankōbon volumes by Shōnen Gahosha. The series follows the attempts of Across, a "secret ideological organization", to conquer the city...
- Toru Watanabe - Full Metal Panic!Full Metal Panic!is an ongoing series of light novels written by Shoji Gatoh and illustrated by Shiki Douji. The series follows Sousuke Sagara, a member of the covert anti-terrorist private military organization known as Mithril, tasked with protecting Kaname Chidori, a spirited Japanese high school girl.Individual...
- Hiroshi Kasuya - Full Metal Panic? FumoffuFull Metal Panic? Fumoffuis a companion series to the anime series Full Metal Panic! by Kyoto Animation, and takes place between the first season and The Second Raid....
- Onodera, Tony - GantzGantzis a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Hiroya Oku. Gantz tells the story of Kei Kurono and his friend Masaru Kato who die in a train accident and become part of a semi-posthumous "game" in which they and several other recently deceased people are forced to hunt down and kill aliens...
- Inamori - GasarakiGasarakiis a mecha anime television series produced by Sunrise. It was directed by Ryousuke Takahashi, who also co-created the series along with Sunrise and was assisted by Goro Taniguchi. The screenplay was written by Toru Nozaki....
- Akihiro Hirokawa - Generator GawlGenerator Gawlis a 1998 12-part anime series. The story is set in 2007, when Professor Takuma Nekasa uncovers a gene code that will unlock the human body's greatest mystery and expose mankind to its greatest threat. As a result, Gawl, Koji, and Ryo—three young scientists from a future period—have traveled back...
- Koji - Ghost HoundGhost Houndis an anime TV series, created by Production I.G and Masamune Shirow, noted for being the creator of the Ghost in the Shell series. The original concept and design was first developed by Shirow in 1987...
- Dr. Atsushi Hirata - GodannarGodannaris an anime series created and directed by Yasuchika Nagaoka.-Background:In 2042, alien threats known as the laid waste to Japan. During a final battle against the Mimetic beasts, Goh Saruwatari defeats the alien "boss" and saves his fiance, Anna Aoi, with his robot, the Dannar.Now, on their...
- Fritz, Yang - GravionGravionis an anime television series produced by Gonzo. It aired in Japan from October 7, 2002 to December 16, 2002 and ran for 13 episodes. In 2004, was released and aired from January 8 to March 25 in Japan, running for twelve additional episodes, answering the questions generated from the first...
- Alex Smith, Ohtori - Guin SagaGuin Sagais the title of a best-selling heroic fantasy novel series by the Japanese author Kaoru Kurimoto, in continuous publication since 1979. A record 100 volumes were originally planned, but the final total stands at 130 volumes, the last four published posthumously, with 21 side-story novels...
- Norisse - Guyver: The Bio-Boosted Armor - Dr. Odagiri
- Jinki: Extend - J. Hearn
- Kaleido StarKaleido Staris an anime series produced by Japanese studio Gonzo Digimation Holding. The series was created by Junichi Sato, who also directed the first season, and written by Reiko Yoshida...
- The Fool - Kekko KamenKekko Kamenis originally a shōnen manga series from Japanese creator Go Nagai, which spawned an OVA series and several live-action films. The manga series is about the misadventures of a student named Mayumi Takahashi who attends a boarding school called Toenail of Satan's Spartan Institute of Higher...
- Shuwarutsu Negataro - KibaKiba (anime), a fantasy anime by Madhouse, began broadcasting on TV Tokyo on April 5, 2006. The series is directed by Hiroshi Kōjina with Upper Deck Japan, a trading card game company, as the main sponsor...
- Cloud - KanonKanonis a Japanese visual novel developed by Key and originally released as an adult game on June 4, 1999, playable on a Microsoft Windows PC. An all ages version for the PC was released in January 2000, and was later ported to the Dreamcast, PlayStation 2, and PlayStation Portable...
- Kuze - Le Chevalier D'EonLe Chevalier D'Eonis a 24-episode anime TV series produced by Production I.G based on an original story by Tow Ubukata. The anime originally aired in Japan on WOWOW from August 19, 2006 to February 2, 2007. The story has also been adapted into a manga series written by Tow Ubukata and illustrated by Kiriko Yumeji,...
- King Louis XV - MadlaxMADLAXis a 26-episode Japanese anime television series produced in 2004 by the Bee Train animation studio. Kōichi Mashimo directed Madlax and the soundtrack was composed by Yuki Kajiura...
- SSS/Three-Speed - Magical Shopping Arcade Abenobashi - Tetsu Asahina
- Martian Successor NadesicoMartian Successor Nadesico, is a science fiction comedy anime TV series, and a later manga series created by Kia Asamiya. The manga, published in English by CPM Manga, is significantly different from the anime....
- Nagare Akatsuki - Megazone 23Megazone 23is a four-part original video animation created by AIC, written by Hiroyuki Hoshiyama, and directed by Noboru Ishiguro, Ichiro Itano, Kenichi Yatagai and Shinji Aramaki. The series was originally titled but the title was changed just before release....
Part III - Eiji - Mezzo DSAMezzo DSAMezzo DSA is a 13-episode anime series created by Yasuomi Umetsu. It is a follow up to the 1998 OVA Mezzo Forte.-Synopsis:Mikura, Kurokawa, and Harada are the 3 members of the Danger Service Agency . Mikura is the brawn of the group, Harada is the brains, and Kurokawa is just a bitter ex-cop who...
- Leon - Misaki Chronicles - Bernard
- My Beautiful Girl, MariMy Beautiful Girl, MariMy Beautiful Girl, Mari is a critically successful South Korean animated film. It follows the story of a young boy during summer vacation and ascends into flights of surrealistic fantasy, which may or may not be dream sequences.-Plot:Kim Nam-woo struggles through life as people around him...
- Nam-Woo (Adult) - Neo RangaNeo Rangais an anime television series created by Studio Pierrot which consists of two seasons, totaling forty-eight episodes. The story is about the three orphaned sisters who have, through a mysterious twist of fate, inherited their very own god - the 18 meter tall Neo Ranga.Neo Ranga was originally...
- Kazuo Fujiwara - NoirNoir (anime)is a 26-episode Japanese anime television series produced in 2001 by the Bee Train animation studio. Kōichi Mashimo directed Noir, it was written by Ryoe Tsukimura, and the soundtrack was composed by Yuki Kajiura...
- Vanel - One PieceOne Pieceis a Japanese shōnen manga series written and illustrated by Eiichiro Oda. It has been serialized in Weekly Shōnen Jump since August 4, 1997; the individual chapters are being published in tankōbon volumes by Shueisha, with the first released on December 24, 1997, and the 64th volume released as...
- Chuu - PapuwaPapuwais a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Ami Shibata and serialized in Square Enix's manga magazine Monthly Shōnen Gangan from April 1991 to June 1995. The series follows Kotaro who is stranded on an uncharted island inhabited by strange talking animals hand has memory of his past...
- Shintaro - Princess TutuPrincess Tutuis a magical girl anime series created by Ikuko Itoh in 2002 for animation studio Hal Film Maker. It was adapted as a 2-volume manga illustrated by Mizuo Shinonome...
- Mytho - RahXephonRahXephonis a Japanese anime series about 17-year-old Ayato Kamina, his ability to control a godlike mecha known as the RahXephon, and his inner journey to find a place in the world...
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- Dragon ShiryuDragon Shiryu, also known as Shiryū, is a fictional character from the Saint Seiya universe created by Masami Kurumada as one of the protagonists of the media franchise, which originated in the manga written and illustrated by Kurumada, later adapted to anime, and subsequently inspiring soundtracks, OVAs,...
, Black Dragon - Saiyuki - Shuei/Rikudo
- Shadow SkillShadow Skillis a manga series with anime adaptations, produced by Studio Deen and aired on Japanese Television in 1998 and has been released in the United States by ADV Films in 2005. The series is based on the manga by Megumu Okada. Shadow Skill is a shōnen series which features Styles of combat, such as...
- Kain Phalanx - Shattered Angels - Kazuya
- Sorcerer on the RocksSorcerer on the RocksA.K.A. is a spin-off of Sorcerer Hunters. As to why the name was change from Chivas 1-2-3, ADV Films didn't want to get into a legal fight with the Whiskey company of the same name. So, the name of the OVAs and the first name of the hero has been changed for the English Dub...
- Shibas Scotch - Spectral Force - Zakiphon
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- Judge; Satan Santa - Tokyo Majin - Ukon Yatsuragi
- Ushio & Tora - Gamin Son; Tsubura
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- Ichirin, Fisherman, Worker B - Yugo the Negotiator - Reiichi Kogure
Screen roles
- Apollo 11Apollo 11In early 1969, Bill Anders accepted a job with the National Space Council effective in August 1969 and announced his retirement as an astronaut. At that point Ken Mattingly was moved from the support crew into parallel training with Anders as backup Command Module Pilot in case Apollo 11 was...
(1996) as MIT #1 - RushmoreRushmore (film)Rushmore is a 1998 comedy-drama film directed by Wes Anderson about an eccentric teenager named Max Fischer , his friendship with rich industrialist Herman Blume , and their mutual love for elementary school teacher Rosemary Cross . The film was co-written by Anderson and Owen Wilson...
(1998) (uncredited) Extra (Cameo)