Actor/producer/director Jon Favreua will be receiving one of Hollywood’s highest honors: a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Favreau will be receiving his star not for playing Happy Hogan in the MCU, but for being executive producer of The Mandalorian on Disney +, and an all around Hollywood powerhouse.

Who Is Jon Favreau?

Jonathan Kolia Favreau was born October 19, 1966 in Queens, New York City, New York. He has been married to Joya Tillem since 2000; they have a son and two daughters.

Jon Favreau is a busy man. Actor, director, producer, and scriptwriter, he has his fingers in many pies. Currently Favreau is in charge of Star Wars projects for Disney. He was named a Disney Legend in 2019. He is a voice actor in Star Wars: Clone Wars as Vizsla, reprising the role in The Book of Boba Fett. He is executive producer of The Mandalorian, He will be executive producer of Rangers of the New Republic. He has directed one episode of The Mandalorian, so far. He was the creator of The Book of Boba Fett and wrote the scripts for all seven episodes. He voiced Rio Durant in Solo: A Star Wars Story (2018 ) He is executive producer of the Ahsoka mini-series.

The Actor

Favreau has played “Happy” Hogan, Tony Stark’s chauffeur/bodyguard in six MCU movies so far, and the Disney + cartoon What If. In the pre-MCU Marvel movie Daredevil (2003), he played Franklin “Foggy” Nelson, Matt Murdock’s law partner and friend. He had a recurring role on Friends as Pete Becker, who courted Couretney Cox (Gloria on Misfits of Science). He played Manny Riskin in The Wolf of Wall Street (2013). In Disney’s John Carter (2012), Favreau played a Thark Bookie. He starred in Rocky Marciano (1999).

The Voice Actor

Jon Favreau has lent his voice to several projects, mostly for Disney. He voices Paz Vizsla in The Book of Boba Fett,The Mandalorian, and SW: the Clone Wars. In Disney’s live-action Jungle Book (2016), he voiced Pygmy Hog. He voiced Hurley in G-Force (2009), both the movie and the video game. In Zookeeper (2011), he voiced Jerome the Bear. In Buzz Lightyear of Star Command (not the new movie, but the Saturday morning cartoon back in 2000) he voiced Crumford Lorak. He lent his voice to the Hercules TV show, Robot Chicken, and Rugrats.

An Eight-Sided Education

Favreau told Geoff Boucher of the Los Angeles Times: “Some filmmakers get their start making shaky home movies, others catch the bug in a high school drama class or maybe through an art institute where they put paint to canvas. Favreau has more of an eight-sided education.

“It was Dungeons & Dragons, but I wouldn’t have owned up so quickly a few years ago,” Favreau said sheepishly.

“It’s rough. It’s one of the few groups that even comic-book fans look down on. But it gave me a really strong background in imagination, storytelling, understanding how to create tone and a sense of balance. You’re creating this modular, mythic environment where people can play in it.”

Maybe there should be a new Hollywood respect for eight- and 10-sided dice and a talent for troll tales: Robin Williams, Mike Myers, Stephen Colbert and Vin Diesel have all professed their passion (past or present) for the role-playing game, and famed author George R. R. Martin earned his chops as a fantasy writer while DMing D&D games.

For Favreau, it was the fantasy element that pulled him in, but it was the sense of story that he carried with him.

“It allowed me to not tamp down my imagination; I think there’s a tendency to turn that part of you off,” he said.” John Rogers, producer of Leverage and The Librarians, has also credited Dungeons & Dragons with honing his storytelling skills.

The Director

He directed and co-hosted the documentary series The Chef Show. He’s directed one episode of The Orville. and episode episode of The Revoliution. He He also directed one episode of The Mandalorian.

The first feature film Favreau directed was Elf (2003), starring Will Farrell and the inimitable Bob Newhart, He went on to direct Zathura: A Space Adventure (2005) Iron Man (2008), Iron Man 2 (2010), and Cowboys and Aliens (2011). He directed Disney’s live-action Jungle Book (2016). He directed the CGI remake of The Lion King (2019). It’s been announced he will be directing Jungle Book 2, which is due to be released in 2026.

The Producer

Jon Favreau has been busy as a producer. Extremely busy.

• Swingers (1996) {also scriptwriter}
• Smog (1999) {also writer and director}
• Made (2001) {also writer and director}
• The Big Empty (2003) {also acted in}
• Green Street Hooligans (2005)
• Dinner for Five {also host}
• Iron Man (2008) {also appeared}
• Iron Man 2 (2010) {also appeared in}
• Cowboys and Aliens (2011) {director}
• The Avengers (2012)
• Iron Man 3 (2013) {also appeared in}
• Chef )2014) {)director, writer, star}
• About a Boy
• Revolution
• Avengers: Age of Ultron(2015)
• The Jungle Book (2016) {also director and voice actor}
• one episode of The Orville (also director}
• The Shannara Chronicles
• Avengers: Infinity Wars (2018)
• Avengers: End Game (2019)
• The Chef Show {also co-host}
• The Lion King (2019) {also director}
• Alien Xmas
• Prehistoric Planet
• The Mandalorian {creator}
• Ahsoka
• The Skeleton Crew

Awards and Honors

Favrea has been nominated five times for an Emmy Award; four of his Emmy nominations were for The Mandalorian, and one for Dinner for Five. He’s been nominated twice for a Saturn Award, both times as best director, for Jungle Book (2016) and Iron Man (2008). He’s had three Hugo nominations, two for The Mandalorian and one for Iron Man. He was induced as a Disney Legend in 2019. The Visual Effects Society awarded him a Lifetime Achievement Award in 2018. In 2023 he will receive a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in the Television Category. Congratulations, Jon Favreau! The award is well-deserved.

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