James Avery only has two big roles in his career: Uncle Phil on the Fresh Prince of Bel-Air and the Shredder in the old school Ninja Turtles cartoon. He really stood out as Uncle Phil. When he was mad, he was mad; when he was sarcastic, he was sarcastic; all that and he made Uncle Phil seem so real.
As the old school Shredder, he gave him a deep voice unlike him so much that you'd never know who was voicing Shredder. Unfortunately, after trying out for the new Shredder, he lost to Scottie Ray whom I hold to be the best Shredder. Now I won't stand here and list the reasons why (there are quite a few) but, while James really was a good human Shredder, Scottie just came along and brought out a more menacing and kick ass Shredder.
Hope James gets another big role, times have changed. I'll be watching.