‘Star Wars’ & ‘Archer’ Voice Artist Tom Kane Suffers Stroke, Leaves Him Largely Unable To Speak
Celebrated voice artist Tom Kane, whose diverse work ranges from Star Wars: Episode VIII – The Last Jedi and The Clone Wars to the Halloween franchise, Archer and The Powerpuff Girls, had a stroke in November that has left him largely unable to speak, his daughter has revealed.
Posting on Tom Kane’s Facebook page, his daughter Sam explained that her father had been off the radar for two months after suffering a left side stroke that had given him right sided weakness and damage to the speech center of his brain. While he is still “very much himself”, the stroke has left him with little ability to communicate verbally, she added.
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The post goes on to say the family have found him speech, occupational, and physical therapy – and they are hopeful of him gaining those lost functions back – but that they have been warned by a neurologist that he may be unable to do voiceovers again.
“My dad still remains in good spirits and his extreme stubbornness has helped him already show improvements in speech,” she wrote. The post has been greeted by hundreds of well-wishing comments.
A prolific voice artist, Kane has lent his voice to a variety of notable characters including Yoda on various season of Star Wars: The Clone Wars, as well as the 2008 movie. He also played characters on The Force Awakens and Rogue One, and notably voiced Admiral Ackbar on The Last Jedi.
In animated spy series Archer he voiced the butler Woodhouse in several episodes, while he played Professor Utonium in long-running kids’ series Powerpuff Girls.
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