Rachael Lillis, Who Voiced Popular ‘Pokémon’ Characters, Dies at 55
Rachael Lillis, an actress who voiced the original English versions of Misty and Jessie, popular characters in the 1990s “Pokémon” anime television series, and later in the franchise’s movies and games as well, died on Saturday in Los Angeles. She was 55.
The cause was cancer, according to Laurie Orr, one of her sisters.
Ms. Lillis started voice acting in the 1980s, according to her IMDB page, but her big break came in the late 1990s when she was cast in the English version of the “Pokémon” TV series, a popular Japanese anime based on the “Pokémon” video games. In hundreds of episodes over eight years, Ms. Lillis voiced the characters Misty, a trusted friend of the main character, Ash Ketchum, and Jessie, one of the show’s villains.
She also voiced those characters in two “Pokemon” movies as the cultural phenomenon grew.
Ms. Lillis, who lived in Los Angeles, also was the voice of Jigglypuff, whose fairy song put listeners to sleep and was one of the creatures the characters pursue.
Ms. Lillis, who had dozens of other voice credits to her name, had a strong sense of humor and a talent for voice acting, said Eric Stuart, who voiced James, the other member of Team Rocket in the “Pokémon” series, and worked with Ms. Lillis for many years.
“If you met her, you’d not say this was so natural for her,” Mr. Stuart said in a phone interview. “Rachael in real life was pretty low key, kind of quiet and sweet,” Mr. Stuart added. “The minute she stepped in that booth it was like this whole other energy came out.”
Mr. Stuart first met Ms. Lillis in the mid-1990s, when there were not a lot of people dubbing anime into English.
Later, when Mr. Stuart became a director, he hired Ms. Lillis for other projects. “‘Pokémon’ changed Saturday morning cartoons,” Mr. Stuart said.
Ms. Lillis brought her “A-game” to work even when tired, said Veronica Taylor, who voiced Ash Ketchum, the main character in the “Pokémon” television series. Recording the voices on “Pokémon” in the 1990s was not a high-paying job, and the actors all worked second jobs, Ms. Taylor said.
Rachael Lillis was born in July 1969 in New York State, the youngest of six girls. She graduated from Smith College, where she was pre-med, Ms. Orr said.
Her mother, Constance Lillis, was a homemaker, and her father, John Lillis, is retired from maintenance management and from the Navy.
Besides her roles on “Pokémon,” Ms. Lillis voiced other characters in anime franchises in the 1990s, including Catty in “Gall Force” and Utena Tenjô in the television series “Revolutionary Girl Utena.”
Ms. Lillis’s most recent voice acting credit was in an episode of the animated series “Ollie & Scoops” in 2019. The pandemic proved to be a difficult time for her to keep working, Ms. Taylor said, partly because of a lack of recording equipment at home. Last year, Ms. Lillis traveled to London for a “Pokémon” cast reunion, appearing on a panel with Ms. Taylor and Mr. Stuart.
Meeting fans at conventions and answering their questions was one of Ms. Lillis’s favorite parts of the job, her former colleagues said. “She really enjoyed the interactions she had with people,” Ms. Taylor said.
Terence McGinley contributed reporting.
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