James Carter Cathcart's career highlights explored as the Pokémon voice actor dies at 71

The voice actor, pianist, and vocalist, James Carter Cathcart, also known as Jimmy Zoppi, a voice actor popular for his work in the Pokémon franchise, died on Tuesday, July 8, 2025, as reported by Variety.

James was 71 years old and was battling throat cancer. His wife shared the news of his death on Thursday when she posted on the fan club Facebook page. She wrote:

''JCC died, peacefully, very early in the morning, on Tuesday 7/8/25, at Calvary Hospital, in the Bronx.''

In the Pokémon franchise, James was best known for voicing characters including Professor Oak, James, Gary Oak, and Meowth.

More about James Carter Cathcart's career

In addition to being a voice actor, Carter also served as a script adaptor and voice director. He had begun his voice acting journey in the 1980s, notably voicing Cap'n O.G. Readmore, a cartoon cat mascot used in public service announcements (PSAs) in the U.S, created by ABC Television.

He had then joined Pokémon in 1998, and made his debut as Fergus in Pokémon: The First Movie. His voicing journey began by playing the role of Gary Oak from episode 1 through 2023. Then, from 2006, he played the roles of Team Rocket’s James and Meowth, and later Professor Oak.

He also worked as a script adaptor for the English version of the Pokémon anime from Season 5 to Season 25, meaning he was the sole individual responsible for turning the Japanese Pokémon scripts into smooth English ones for nearly 20 years. He is also the only voice actor to appear in every season of the main Pokémon anime, which is over 700 episodes.

James also acted in some other popular shows, including the Japanese series Sonic X, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Kirby: Right Back at Ya!, One Piece, and Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters. He also participated in video games like Pokémon Snap, Super Smash Bros. Brawl, and Pokémon Masters EX.

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In January 2023, it was reported that James had cancer, which started in his tongue and had spread to his neck. Then, in April the same year, his wife Martha had revealed that Carter's cancer did not respond to the induction chemotherapy, as per reports by The Independent.

In 2023, due to his health issues, James had retired at the end of Pokémon Season 25. Carter is survived by his wife, Martha Jacobi, and family.

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