The Only Major Voice Actor Still Alive From Jonny Quest

There may be a few generations out there who still have fond memories of Hanna-Barbera's 1964 animated series "Jonny Quest." The series only ran for one 26-episode season (it was canceled because it was too expensive), but it remained in reruns for decades, leaking into the pop culture consciousness for a new generation of kids raised in the 1980s. These days, "Jonny Quest" might be better known because of the 2003 Adult Swim series "The Venture Bros.," a crass comedy that spoofed "Jonny Quest" directly. The "Jonny Quest" movie never got off the ground.

"Jonny Quest" was a broad, glob-trekking adventure series in the "boy's adventure novel" mold. Jonny, voiced by Tim Matheson, was a wide-eyed and brave 11-year-old who toiled around the globe with his scientist father, Dr. Benton Quest. Dr. Quest was a government agent who investigated mysteries and looked into "enemy agents." For the first five episodes of the series, Dr. Quest was voiced by John Stephenson. After that, the role was taken over by Don Messick. 

The Quests were joined by Hadji (Danny Bravo), Jonny's brother from India, and the boys' burly babysitter, Race Bannon (Mike Road), a tough-as-nails special agent. "Jonny Quest" was noted for its stiff, limited animation style and corny stories. It's loved ironically and honestly. The series earned just enough cultural clout to remain in the pop consciousness, and was rebooted in 1986 as "The New Adventures of Jonny Quest," and then again in 1996 as "The Real Adventures of Jonny Quest." The kid was also featured in a few straight-to-video movies and a handful of video games. 

Sadly, of the central actors to appear on "Jonny Quest," only one remains with us. Tim Matheson has been working steadily since the 1960s and continues to do so today. 

Tim Matheson's first credited screen role was playing a kid named Roddy in a 1961 episode of "Window on Main Street." Matheson was only 13 or 14 at the time. That appearance led to gigs on hit sitcoms like "My Three Sons" and "Leave It to Beaver." He also gained some voice acting experience recording voices for "The Alvin Show." When "Jonny Quest" debuted, Matheson was still in high school. He became something of a darling at Hanna-Barbera and turned up on several more of the studio's adventure shows. He played the title character in "Sinbad Jr. and his Magic Belt" and, impressively, he played Jace, one of the teen sidekicks of Space Ghost in "Space Ghost" (not "Coast to Coast"). Matheson made his feature film debut in 1967, appearing alongside Dick Van Dyke in "Divorce, American Style." 

Going through Matheson's incredible career is a massive undertaking, as he appeared in just about every hit TV series you can think of since the 1970s. "Night Gallery," "Ironside," "Here's Lucy," "Bonanza," "Kung Fu," "Rhoda," "Hawaii Five-0," you name it. In 1999, he landed a high-profile role playing Vice President Hoynes on "The West Wing," a role that got him an Emmy nomination. In 2019, he started his ongoing role as Doc Mullins on the Netflix series "Virgin River." He currently has a recurring role on the hit disaster show "9-1-1: Nashville." 

And I haven't mentioned Matheson's movies or his extensive directorial career. He appeared in over two dozen movies, including "Magnum Force," "1941," "Fletch," "A Very Brady Sequel," and the remake of "Child's Play." Matheson also directed episodes of "St. Elsewhere," "Ed," "Without a Trace," "Person of Interest," and dozens of others. 

Tim Matheson is no slouch.