Jodi Benson was born on October 10, 1961 in Rockford, Illinois as Jodi Marie Marzorati. She has received worldwide recognition & critical acclaim as the voice of Ariel in
The Little Mermaid (1989), Tour Guide Barbie in
Toy Story 2 (1999), Weebo in
Flubber (1997) as well as Thumbelina in
Thumbelina (1994). Other projects include
The Little Mermaid: Ariel's Beginning (2008),
The Little Mermaid 2: Return to the Sea (2000),
Lady and the Tramp II: Scamp's Adventure (2001),
101 Dalmatians 2: Patch's London Adventure (2002),
Joseph: King of Dreams (2000),
Balto: Wolf Quest (2001),
Balto III: Wings of Change (2004) &
Enchanted (2007).
She starred in Crazy For You as Polly Baker, receiving a Tony & Helen Hayes award nomination for best actress in a musical. Other Broadway credits include Smile, Welcome to the Club & Marilyn. Internationally, she has had the honor of sharing the stage w/ her husband Ray Benson at the European premiere of
Ira Gershwin's My One & Only, starring as Miss Edythe Herbert. In Los Angeles, she starred in the critically-acclaimed Reprise/UCLA production of Babes in Arms, South Pacific, Flora the Red Menace, Oklahoma!, My Fair Lady & Chess, for which she won the Best Actress Drama League Award.
She can be heard in over a dozen recordings & has a 6-part DVD series titled Baby Faith. Her animated works include
Camp Lazlo! (2005),
The Little Mermaid (1992),
Batman Beyond (1999),
The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy (2001),
The Wild Thornberrys (1998),
Hercules: Zero to Hero (1999),
P.J. Sparkles (1992) as well as many others. On the concert stage, she has performed as a concert soloist w/ symphonies all over the world such as the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra, The National Symphony, Cleveland Philharmonic, Dallas Philharmonic, Tokyo Philharmonic to name a few. She has starred in the Kennedy Center Honors for Ginger Rogers, The 25th Anniversary of Walt Disney, Central Park Disney Spectacular & Disney's 100 Years of Magic. She's honored to be the resident guest soloist for the Walt Disney Company/Disney Cruise Line & ambassador for feature animation. She gives thanks & praise to the Lord for her family, friends, her loving husband Ray as well as her precious children: son
McKinley Benson & daughter Delaney.