Jesse Morris Winfield (né Borgeson; born 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) and My Name Is Will (2008). 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.
According to his personal LinkedIn profile, he currently works as a freelance editor for American Road magazine.
Early life Jess Winfield was born Jess Borgeson, and changed his surname to Winfield in 1993 after marrying his wife, Sandra Thomson; his works prior to 1993 refer to him under his original surname.
Theatrical work 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. He contributed to the editing and adapting of The Complete Works for publication and television performance.
Television 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 & Ais 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 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.
Credits Television YearTitleWriterProducerVoice actorNotes1993Adventures of Sonic the HedgehogEpisodes: "Big Daddy", "King Coconuts", "The Robots' Robot"Credited as Jess BorgesonThe All-New Dennis the MenaceEpisode: "Pig Out"1994–1996Biker Mice from MarsTen episodes1995Action ManEpisodes: "The Outside Edge" and "Space Wars"1996The Incredible HulkEpisode: "Raw Power"The Savage DragonEpisode: "Star"Beast Wars: TransformersEpisodes: "Chain of Command" and "Double Jeopardy"Credited as Jesse Winfield1997–1998101 Dalmatians: The SeriesEpisodes: "Two for the Show", "Watch for Falling Idols", "Smoke Detectors", "Lobster Tale", "The Good-Bye Chick", "The Making Of..."1998Disney's Hercules: The Animated SeriesEpisodes: "Hercules and the Big Kiss", "...River Styx", "...Hostage Crisis", "...Big Games", "...Falling Stars", "...Twilight of the Gods"1999Mickey Mouse WorksEpisodes 7, 9–122000Buzz Lightyear of Star CommandUnknown episodes2001, 2003The Legend of TarzanEpisodes: "Tarzan and the New Wave", "Tarzan and the Flying Ace" (also teleplay)2001–2002House of MouseReused cartoons from Mickey Mouse Works2002Teacher's PetWrote two episodes: "Double Dog Dare" and "A Breed Apart"Executive produced season two2003–2006Lilo & Stitch: The SeriesWrote one episode: "Snafu"Executive produced all episodesProvided additional voices in select episodes2009–2013, 2014, 2016Stitch!International re-version of anime seriesCredited as co-producer for the first two seasons and as "reversion consulting producer" in the third seasonEnglish dub voice of Dr. Jumba Jookiba2011The Penguins of MadagascarEpisode: "Operation: Break-speare"2017Stitch & AiEnglish-language-produced Chinese animated series (English version released 2018)English voice of Dr. Jumba Jookiba
Film YearTitleWriterProducerVoice actorNotes2002Tarzan & JaneFilm uses "Tarzan and the Flying Ace"2003Stitch! The MovieVoice credit under "With the Voice Talents Of"2006Leroy & StitchAlso dialogue director
Stage theater The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged) (1987)
References
External links (archived page)