Renae Jacobs

Renae Jacobs was born on February 1, 1957, in Lansing, Michigan. Her career aspirations led her to Los Angeles in the early 1980s, where she sought opportunities in voice acting. A turning point in her career arrived in 1986 when she received an audition call for “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.” Jacobs secured the role of April O’Neil, a journalist and reporter, after her audition was selected by producers. She developed the character based on the provided description, aiming to portray April as a strong individual with conviction, loyalty, and a professional demeanor dedicated to her work.

Her work on “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles” spanned from 1987 to 1996, where she voiced April O’Neil across 191 episodes. Beyond this iconic role, Jacobs contributed her voice to various other animated series and films. Her professional credits include “The Glo Friends Save Christmas” (1985), “It’s Punky Brewster!” (1985–1987) providing additional voices, “My Little Pony” (1986–1987) also with additional voices, and “Moon Dreamers” (1986). She was also involved in “The Adventures of Don Coyote and Sancho Panda” (1990) and the animated films “Rose Petal Place” (1984) and “Rose Petal Place: Real Friends” (1985).

In addition to voice acting, Jacobs made a television appearance as a contestant on the NBC game show “Sale of the Century” in late 1985. She also served as the “Lady of the Maze” during the first season of the Family Channel game show “Masters of the Maze” (1994). In 2014, she revisited the “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles” franchise, guest-starring in an episode of Nickelodeon’s “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles” (2012 TV series) as Mrs. O’Neil, April’s mother.