Morgan Lofting, G.I. Joe’s Baroness and Spider-Man Voice Actor, Dies at 84

Actress Morgan Lofting passed away on Wednesday, November 27th at the age of 84. She was a legend in the voice-over industry, best known for her role as Cobra’s chief intelligence officer the Baroness in the original G.I. Joe animated series. According to The Hollywood Reporter, her passing was unexpected.

Lofting’s agents issued a public statement announcing her passing. They said that she died at her own home in Burbank, California. They added: “As one of the 10 founding actors at our agency, she meant the world to us and our company.” She was represented by Nery Lemus and Christopher Argasa of CelebWorx.

Lofting’s other notable credits include the 1981 Spider-Man animated series, the original Transformers aniamated series and the 1990 sci-fi action film Total Recall. In Spider-Man, she voiced both Aunt May and Black Cat, while in Transformers she voiced Moonracer and Firestar. Her work on G.I. Joe was what she was asked about the most in the decades that followed. She played the Baroness in two miniseries, two movies and in 38 episodes of the main G.I. Joe TV series.

Lofting was born in Cincinnati in 1940. She did some live-action acting as well, including a role in the 1988 film The Night Before with Keanu Reeves and Lori Loughlin. She went back to finish college in the midst of her Hollywood success, earning a bachelor’s degree and a master’s in history at Cal State Northridge. She did not do any voice-over work from 1996 to 2013, instead finding a job she loved as a librarian – or as she called it, “bartending with books.”

Lofting’s Legacy

Lofting spoke to Bestow TV about her G.I. Joe legacy at a convention in 2017. She mused: “You take your money, and you go home, and then 30 years later someone says, ‘Hi, I want you to meet my spouse and my children, and you were so important to me when I was growing up.’ You begin to realize that these characters help people through their lives.”

Lofting said that she was the one to suggest a distinct European accent for the Baroness, taking her performance over the top. She recalled her co-star Mike Bell joking that there was “blood on the control room window” after she shouted “COBRA!” in the recording booth. After nearly two decades off, Lofting gave her final performance in 2013 as the villain Fistina in the animated series Ben 10: Omniverse.

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Lofting is survived by a son, two grandchildren, a brother and a nephew. Fans have been mourning for her on social media all weekend as news of her passing spreads. Those interested in revisiting her performances can find G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero streaming now on Tubi.