Renae Jacobs (born February 1, 1957) is an American voice actress, who is perhaps best known for voicing journalist and reporter

April O'Neil April O'Neil is a fictional character from the ''Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles'' comics. She is the first human ally of the Ninja Turtles. Her main love interest in the series is Casey Jones. April made her first appearance in the Mirage comic ...

in the original ''

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles ''Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles'' is an American media franchise created by the comic book artists Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird. It follows Leonardo (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles), Leonardo, Michelangelo (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles), Miche ...

'' animated series.

Early life

Renae Jacobs was born February 1, 1957 in

Lansing, Michigan Lansing () is the capital of the U.S. state of Michigan. It is mostly in Ingham County, although portions of the city extend west into Eaton County and north into Clinton County. The 2020 census placed the city's population at 112,644, making ...

, moving to

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

in the early 1980s to pursue a career as a

voice actress Voice acting is the art of performing voice-overs to present a character or provide information to an audience. Performers are called voice actors/actresses, voice artists, dubbing artists, voice talent, voice-over artists, or voice-over talent ...

''Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles''

While working in Los Angeles in 1986, she received a call to audition for ''

''. She was directed through the audition by Stu Rosen. The first day Rosen made it clear he didn't approve of her for the role, and had waited to show her audition after exhausting all the others. She has said that developed her initial personification of O'Neil after reading the description in the casting material, not the comics themselves: It was also the first role she was awarded that wasn't a "crazy little made up fantasy character". In June 2014, it was announced that Jacobs would guest-star on

season three A season is a division of the year based on changes in weather, ecology, and the number of daylight hours in a given region. On Earth, seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of Earth's tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperate and pol ...

Nickelodeon Nickelodeon (often shortened to Nick) is an American pay television television channel, channel which launched on April 1, 1979, as the first cable channel for children. It is run by Paramount Global through its List of assets owned by Param ...

's ''

''. She played April's long-lost mother in the episode "Buried Secrets" who was, in truth, a Kraang creature that had been infused with the human DNA of the real Mrs. O'Neil as an infiltration experiment. She returned to voice April in 2021 for the fan game ''Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles x Justice League''.

Voice work, appearances

She appeared as a contestant on the NBC game show ''

Sale of the Century ''Sale of the Century'' (stylized as ''$ale of the Century'') is an American television game show that originally debuted on September 29, 1969, on NBC daytime. It was one of three NBC game shows to premiere on that date, the other two being th ...

'' in late 1985. In her introduction by hostess Summer Bartholomew, she was described as being "known for her animated personality". Although she did not win her game, she did win almost $900 in cash & prizes. However, her episode ended with the winner winning that week's featured car off the Winner's Board. She was also the "Lady of the Maze" in the first season of the Family Channel game show ''

Masters of the Maze ''Masters of the Maze'' is a children's television game show that aired on the Family Channel from August 29, 1994 to September 15, 1995. After the last episode aired, the show went into reruns until September 22, 1996. The first season was hos ...

''. She has also done voices in other animated series and films including ''

The Glo Friends Save Christmas ''The Glo Friends'' is an American television series that originally aired in 1986 as a segment of ''My Little Pony 'n Friends''. Produced by Sunbow Productions and Marvel Productions in collaboration with Toei Animation, the 26 segments of ''Glo ...

'', '' It's Punky Brewster!'', ''

The Adventures of Don Coyote and Sancho Panda ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...

'', ''

Moon Dreamers ''MoonDreamers'' is an American animated television series that aired in 1986 as part of the ''My Little Pony 'n Friends'' lineup. It appeared on CBN Family Channel from 1989 to 1990, Family Channel from 1990 to 1995 during ''My Little Pony''. ' ...

'', ''

My Little Pony ''My Little Pony'' (''MLP'') is a toy line and media franchise developed by American toy company Hasbro. The first toys were developed by Bonnie Zacherle, Charles Muenchinger, and Steve D'Aguanno, and were produced in 1981. The ponies feature c ...

'' and all films of ''

Rose Petal Place ''Rose Petal Place'' was an American-produced animated film from 1984 made by Ruby-Spears, with a corresponding line of flower-themed dolls made by Kenner Products. The concept for ''Rose Petal Place'' was created by David Kirschner and the fi ...

''.

Personal life

Jacobs has been married to periodontist Dr. David Anson since May 26, 1985. They have a daughter Ariel (born in 1988) and a son Spencer (born in 1992).

Filmography

*''

'' (animated TV film) (1984) *''Rose Petal Place: Real Friends'' (animated TV film) (1985) *'' It's Punky Brewster!'' (animated TV series) (1985) - Additional Voices *''

'' (animated TV film) (1985) *''

'' (animated TV series) (1986) - Additional Voices *''

'' (animated TV series) (1987–1996) - April O'Neil (voice), Lotus Blossom (voice), Additional Voices *''

'' (animated TV series) (1990) - Additional Voices *''

'' (TV series) (1994–1996) Season 1 - "Lady of the Maze" *''

Bride of Chucky ''Bride of Chucky'' is a 1998 American black comedy slasher film written by Don Mancini and directed by Ronny Yu. The fourth installment in the ''Child's Play'' franchise, it stars Jennifer Tilly, Brad Dourif, John Ritter, Katherine Heigl, and Ni ...

'' (1998) - vocals for Baby Glen (uncredited) *''

'' (animated TV series) (2012-2017) - Mrs. O'Neil/Mom Thing (voice; " Buried Secrets")

References

External links

Interviews

Interview with Renae Jacobs
at

Ziggo Ziggo Holding B.V. () is the largest cable operator in the Netherlands, providing digital cable television, Internet, and telephone service to both residential and commercial customers. History The company is the result of the merger between ...

An Interview With Renae Jacobs
a
TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles.com
(April 2013) {{DEFAULTSORT:Jacobs, Renae Living people 1957 births 20th-century American Jews American voice actresses Actresses from Lansing, Michigan 20th-century American actresses 21st-century American Jews 21st-century American women