B. J. Ward (actress)

Betty Jean Ward (born September 12, 1944) is an American actress. She is the creator and the star of Stand-Up Opera, a musical one-woman show.

Personal life
Ward was first married to Donald Trenner in 1966, they divorced in 1978, She was later married to director Gordon Hunt from 1995 until his death in 2016.

Early career
She made her debut on the stage in 1960, in the original off-Broadway production of The Fantasticks, where she was an understudy for the role of Luisa/the Girl. B.J. Ward had gotten the part by calling the producer of the show.

She toured with the Groundlings for a short while before starting her own voice over career starting with Hanna-Barbera's Jana of the Jungle in 1978.

Singing career
Ward also worked as a singer. She is well known for her acclaimed one-woman show, "Stand-Up Opera", which became a massive success with critics and audiences alike. She has released seven albums throughout her singing career.

Though Ward is best known as a voice actress, she has also appeared on television. In 1985, she made a rare film appearance in the television film Malice in Wonderland alongside Elizabeth Taylor and Jane Alexander. She has guest-starred on television series such as Frasier, ER, and In-Laws.

Ward has also done voices for video games and theme parks, including:
 * Voices for EPCOT and Disneyland Paris, including the safety narration for Spaceship Earth from 1994 to 2007.
 * The narration of the former PeopleMover attraction at Disneyland.
 * Mother / Sarah in the 1993 version of the Walt Disney's Carousel of Progress.
 * Some of the singing voices ("Burrow's Rabbit", opossums and rabbits) in Splash Mountain
 * The current voice guide for "It's a Small World" and the refurbished Tomorrowland Transit Authority PeopleMover attraction at Magic Kingdom Park.

Discography

 * Vocal Ease (1970)
 * Queen Of The Night (1994)
 * Stand-Up Opera (1995)
 * Syrinx: Voice of the Songbird (2003)
 * B.J. Ward Sings Marshall Barer (2005)
 * Double Feature: Love Songs From The Movies (2015)
 * Double Feature 2: More Songs From The Movies! (2016)