Beloved Star Wars voice actor Tom Kane has suffered a stroke that has deprived him from speaking, in a recent reveal by his daughter Sam.
You may be familiar with Tom Kane’s career as he did voice work for several characters in Clone Wars including the narrator, Admiral Yularen, and Master Yoda himself. Unfortunately, Kane’s stroke damaged the speech center of his brain and he cannot communicate verbally. Doctors say that recovery is possible, but they warn “that he may not do voiceovers again.” As a result, Mr. Kane may be forced to retire.
Tom Kane’s Daughter’s Announcement About His Condition
His daughter posted a statement on Tom Kane’s Facebook that the actor had stuffer a stoke:
“Hi everyone! This is Tom’s daughter, Sam. Our family wanted to share why my dad has been MIA. About two months ago he had a left side stroke that gave him right sided weakness and damage to the speech center of his brain. This means right now he cannot efficiently communicate verbally, nor read or spell. He is still competent and very much himself, but can only get out a few words right now.
As many of you might know about strokes, it is possible for him to gain these functions back and we have found him excellent care in Kansas City for speech, occupational, and physical therapy, but for now, we have been warned by his Neurologist that he may not do Voiceovers again.
My dad still remains in good spirits and his extreme stubbornness has helped him already show improvements in speech. He is fully on board with me sharing this and he will see anything you guys post.
Lots of love from our family to yours.”
This comes as a shock to many of us who are familiar with the voice of Tom Kane, but don’t know the actor behind the mic. With thirty years of voice work under his belt, Kane has brought us many beloved characters to life, ranging from the genius mind of Professor Utonium of The Powerpuff Girls to the wise Master Yoda.
Tom Kane remains in good spirits and is already on the path to improvement of his speech, which should give us all hope that he will pull through. As Master Yoda once said to his squad of clone troopers in The Clone Wars: “Rush not into fight, Long is the War, Only by Surviving it, Will you Prevail.”
Our thoughts and wishes are with Mr. Tom Kane and his family for a speedy recovery during this difficult time.
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Source: CBM
