Morgan Lofting obit

Morgan Lofting, the Baroness in ‘G.I. Joe’ Animated Series, Dies at 84

She also provided voices for ‘Spider-Man’ and ‘Transformers’ series and for ‘Total Recall.’ 

She was not on the list.

Morgan Lofting, the veteran voice actress best known for her turn as the Baroness, the ruthless Cobra chief intelligence officer who brought chaos to G.I. Joe animated series and movies, has died. She was 84.

Lofting died unexpectedly Wednesday at her home in Burbank, her agents Nery Lemus and Christopher Arsaga of CelebWorx announced. “As one of the 10 founding actors at our agency, she meant the world to us and our company,” they said in a statement.

The voice actress also portrayed Aunt May and the Black Cat for a 1981-82 Spider-Man series and Moonracer and Firestar for a 1985 Transformers series, and she did voice work on the Arnold Schwarzenegger-starring Total Recall (1990), too.

Lofting came up with a European accent for the dark-haired Baroness, a sexy master of disguise and expert in weapons and hand-to-hand combat who sported black-rimmed eyeglasses and a tight black leather outfit.

She voiced the terrorist in G.I. Joe miniseries in 1983, ’84 and ’89; for four seasons of two series that aired in 1985-86 and 1990-91; in the 1986 TV movie G.I. Joe: Arise, Serpentor, Arise!; and in 1987’s straight-to-video G.I. Joe: The Movie.

Her co-star Mike Bell joked that there was “blood on the control room window” after she would shout “Cobraaaa!” she recalled in a 2017 interview.

During that chat, she expressed amazement that the shows she worked on years ago still resonated.

“You take your money, and you go home, and then 30 years later someone says, ‘Hi, I want you to meet my spouse and my children, and you were so important to me when I was growing up,’” she said. “You begin to realize that these characters help people through their lives.”

Born in Cincinnati on Feb. 2, 1940, Lofting also appeared on four episodes of the CBS primetime soap Knots Landing in 1986-87 and in the 1988 film The Night Before, starring Keanu Reeves and Lori Loughlin.

In 1989, she went back to college to finish her bachelor’s degree and then earned her master’s in history at Cal State Northridge. She later found a love of “bartending with books,” as she called it, as a librarian.

She returned to voice acting in 2013 by playing the former villain Fistina on Ben 10: Omniverse.

Survivors include her brother, Tim, his wife, Lynn, and their son, Brian; her son, Justin, and his wife, Stacie; and her grandchildren, Zac and Ellie.

Actress

Ben 10: Omniverse (2012)

Ben 10: Omniverse

6.4

TV Series

Fistina

Yetta

Additional Voices (voice)

2013–2014

4 episodes

 

Quack Pack (1996)

Quack Pack

6.7

TV Series

Tunnel Rat's Mother (voice)

1996

1 episode

 

G.I. Joe (1990)

G.I. Joe

7.3

TV Series

Baroness (voice)

1990–1991

21 episodes

 

Arnold Schwarzenegger in Total Recall (1990)

Total Recall

7.5

Additional Voices (voice)

1990

 

G.I. Joe: Operation Dragonfire (1989)

G.I. Joe: Operation Dragonfire

7.3

TV Mini Series

Baroness (voice)

1989

5 episodes

 

Keanu Reeves and Lori Loughlin in The Night Before (1988)

The Night Before

6.1

Mom

1988

 

Jem (1985)

Jem

7.4

TV Series

Vera

Lexa

1986–1988

2 episodes

 

The Judge (1986)

The Judge

7.6

TV Series

June

1987

1 episode

 

G.I. Joe: The Movie (1987)

G.I. Joe: The Movie

7.0

Video

Baroness (voice)

1987

 

Donna Mills, Joan Van Ark, Michele Lee, Constance McCashin, John Pleshette, and Ted Shackelford in Knots Landing (1979)

Knots Landing

6.9

TV Series

Ms. Whitehead

Mrs. Whitehead

1986–1987

4 episodes

 

Anne Baxter, James Brolin, and Connie Sellecca in Hotel (1983)

Hotel

6.4

TV Series

Roberta James

1987

1 episode

 

G.I. Joe: Arise, Serpentor, Arise! (1986)

G.I. Joe: Arise, Serpentor, Arise!

7.7

TV Movie

Baroness (voice)

1986

 

G.I. Joe (1985)

G.I. Joe

7.7

TV Series

Baroness

Madame Versailles

Coverta Fatale ...

1985–1986

38 episodes

 

Peter Cullen and Frank Welker in The Transformers (1984)

The Transformers

8.0

TV Series

Oktober Guard

Moonracer

Firestar (voice) ...

1985

6 episodes

 

The Turkey Caper (1985)

The Turkey Caper

6.6

TV Movie

Bridgette (voice)

1985

 

Command 5 (1985)

Command 5

4.3

TV Movie

Nancy Danelli

1985

 

Street Hawk (1985)

Street Hawk

6.7

TV Series

Judge Hanover

1985

1 episode

 

Which Witch Is Which (1984)

Which Witch Is Which

7.0

TV Movie

Bridgette (voice)

1984

 

Anthony Franciosa and Christopher Norris in Finder of Lost Loves (1984)

Finder of Lost Loves

6.7

TV Series

Osborne's Secretary

1984

1 episode

 

G.I. Joe: The Revenge of Cobra (1984)

G.I. Joe: The Revenge of Cobra

7.9

TV Mini Series

Baroness (voice)

1984

5 episodes

 

Stella Stevens and Tamara Dobson in Amazons (1984)

Amazons

4.4

TV Movie

Marge Webster

1984

 

Pernell Roberts in Trapper John, M.D. (1979)

Trapper John, M.D.

6.6

TV Series

Mrs. Harper

1983

1 episode

 

The Christmas Tree Train (1983)

The Christmas Tree Train

6.9

TV Movie

Bridgette (voice)

1983

 

Carpool (1983)

Carpool

5.1

TV Movie

Evelyn Cook

1983

 

G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero - The M.A.S.S. Device (1983)

G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero - The M.A.S.S. Device

8.0

TV Mini Series

Baroness

Maj. Juanita Hooper (voice)

1983

5 episodes

 

Joysticks (1983)

Joysticks

4.5

Mrs. Rutter

1983

 

Als je begrijpt wat ik bedoel (1983)

Als je begrijpt wat ik bedoel

7.4

Mrs. Snooper

Mrs. Dickerdack (English version, voice)

1983

 

Meatballs and Spaghetti (1982)

Meatballs and Spaghetti

7.0

TV Series

(voice)

1982

 

The Junkman (1982)

The Junkman

5.5

Police Dispatcher #2

1982

 

Spider-Man (1981)

Spider-Man

6.8

TV Series

Aunt May Parker

Black Cat (voice)

1981–1982

26 episodes

 

Star Blazers (1979)

Star Blazers

8.4

TV Series

Princess Invidia (voice)

1979–1984

26 episodes

 

Writer

Grimm's Fairy Tale Classics (1987)

Grimm's Fairy Tale Classics

8.5

TV Series

written by

1987

3 episodes

 

My Favorite Fairy Tales Volume 3: Sleeping Beauty/Snow White/Cinderella (1986)

My Favorite Fairy Tales Volume 3: Sleeping Beauty/Snow White/Cinderella

8.4

Video

written by

1986

 

My Favorite Fairy Tales Volume 1: Puss n' Boots/Little Red Riding Hood (1986)

My Favorite Fairy Tales Volume 1: Puss n' Boots/Little Red Riding Hood

7.2

Video

written by

1986