Kenneth W. James

"When performing Bowser in the studio I tend to make claw hands. Somehow it helps me sound like a monster!"

- Kenny James

Kenneth W. "Kenny" James is an American voice actor for Bowser and Dry Bowser.

History
James was born in Nevada, but grew up in Texas. In 1988, James began singing and was later the lead singer in several bands before becoming active in community theater. In 2001, James started doing voiceover work, with Bowser being one of the first roles for which he auditioned and was chosen. His debut was in Super Mario Strikers, where he voiced Bowser and the Super Team and has voiced Bowser regularly since Super Mario Galaxy. Despite this, Scott Burns (James' predecessor) voice was still heard in subsequent series titles such as Mario Party DS, Mario Super Sluggers and Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games. When portraying Bowser, James often makes claw hands to help him act as a monster.

In 2009, James returned to voice Bowser in Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story and New Super Mario Bros. Wii. In 2010, James continued to voice Bowser in Super Mario Galaxy 2 and Mario Sports Mix. As of now, he is the only voice actor of Bowser and continues to voice the character, as well as Dry Bowser (as of Mario Kart Wii) and Dreamy Bowser.

He has been a fan of video games since playing the arcade game Pong. His first Nintendo games were Super Mario Bros and Duck Hunt on the NES, and he later played more games on the system. Outside of video games, James has voiced characters in two different online Dr. Who audio series and has done several other audio books.

Portrayals

 * Super Mario Strikers – Super Team / Bowser
 * Super Mario Galaxy – Bowser
 * Mario Kart Wii – Bowser / Dry Bowser
 * Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story – Bowser
 * Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games – Dry Bowser
 * New Super Mario Bros. Wii – Bowser
 * Super Mario Galaxy 2 – Bowser
 * Mario Sports Mix – Bowser
 * Super Mario 3D Land – Bowser / Dry Bowser
 * Mario & Sonic at the London 2012 Olympic Games – Bowser / Dry Bowser
 * Fortune Street – Bowser
 * Mario Kart 7 – Bowser
 * Mario Party 9 – Bowser
 * Mario Tennis Open – Dry Bowser
 * New Super Mario Bros. 2 – Bowser / Dry Bowser
 * Paper Mario: Sticker Star – Bowser
 * New Super Mario Bros. U – Bowser
 * New Super Luigi U – Bowser
 * Mario & Luigi: Dream Team – Bowser / Dreamy Bowser
 * Mario & Sonic at the Sochi 2014 Olympic Winter Games &mdash; Bowser / Dry Bowser
 * Super Mario 3D World – Bowser
 * Mario Party: Island Tour – Bowser / Dry Bowser
 * Yoshi's New Island – Bowser
 * Mario Golf: World Tour – Bowser
 * Mario Kart 8 – Bowser / Dry Bowser
 * Mario Party 10 – Bowser / Dry Bowser
 * Puzzle & Dragons: Super Mario Bros. Edition – Bowser / Dry Bowser
 * Super Mario Maker – Bowser
 * Mario Tennis: Ultra Smash – Bowser / Dry Bowser
 * Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam – Bowser / Paper Bowser / Dry Bowser
 * Mario & Sonic at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games – Bowser / Dry Bowser
 * Mini Mario & Friends: amiibo Challenge – Mini Bowser

Trivia

 * James' favorite game on the Wii is Mario Kart Wii.