Wayne Knight
Wayne Knight | |
|---|---|
| Born | Wayne Eliot Knight August 7, 1955 |
| Alma mater | University of Georgia |
| Occupation | Actor/Comedian/Voice Actor |
| Years active | 1979–present |
| Spouse(s) | Paula Sutor (1996–2003; divorced) |
| Children | 1 |
Wayne Eliot Knight[1] (born August 7, 1955) is an American actor, comedian, and voice actor perhaps best known for his role as Newman in the TV sitcom Seinfeld. His other prominent roles include Dennis Nedry in Jurassic Park, Stan Podolak in Space Jam, Al McWhiggin in Toy Story 2, Tantor in Tarzan, Don Orville in 3rd Rock from the Sun, Zack Mallozzi in Rat Race, Mr. Blik in Catscratch, and Haskell Lutz in The Exes.
Early life
Knight was born in New York City, New York on August 7, 1955, the son of William "Bill" Knight, a textile factory supervisor[2] who soon moved the family to Cartersville, Georgia, where Knight grew up. Knight was a lineman on his high school's football team.[3] He was an undergraduate at the University of Georgia. Contrary to some reports, he was never the mascot for the Bulldogs.[4] He left the college as an honor student but one credit shy of a degree to pursue his career at the Barter Theatre in Virginia. After an internship there, he joined the company and left with Equity Card in hand to take on New York City. Two years later, he had his first role on Broadway.
Career
Knight has had prominent film roles, such as in JFK by Oliver Stone and in the infamous interrogation scene in Basic Instinct. Also, due to the latter, he was the first person to be cast in Jurassic Park after director Steven Spielberg saw him in the scene. Knight was cast as the bumbling overweight InGen Corporation's chief programmer for the park and spy for Biosyn, Dennis Nedry. He also appeared in Dead Again, To Die For, Space Jam and Dirty Dancing.
During the mid-to-late 1990s he simultaneously played prominent supporting roles on two TV series on NBC. He played the part of the mailman Newman in Seinfeld (where he participated in a scene spoofing Kevin Costner's "back and to the left" speech from JFK and a scene spoofing his role as an interrogator in Basic Instinct); he also played Officer Don Orville, Sally's love interest in 3rd Rock from the Sun. He had earlier appeared in Against the Grain, featuring the then unknown Ben Affleck. He also appeared as a regular on two sketch comedy series, The Edge for Fox and Assaulted Nuts for Cinemax and Channel 4 in the UK.
Knight has appeared on Broadway in the plays Gemini, Mastergate, 'Art' and most recently in Sweet Charity with Christina Applegate. During filming of an episode of Seinfeld (The Bottle Deposit), Knight felt what he thought to be angina pains and sought the help of a cardiologist who told him that he was morbidly obese, had high blood pressure and was near diabetic. The actor then took on a serious program involving diet, exercise and outside support. He eventually lost 117 pounds (53 kg). Currently,[when?] he maintains about 75–80 lb (35 kg) of that loss.[citation needed]
In 1994, Knight voiced Peter Feathers, the main 2nd antagonist in "Person To Hat" from a television series called Mike & Spike.
Knight also voiced the black cat Mister Blik on the Nickelodeon cartoon Catscratch and voiced Igor on the Fox Kids cartoon Toonsylvania. He also voices the dragon Dojo Kanojo Cho in the Kids' WB! animated series Xiaolin Showdown. He also voiced Evil Emperor Zurg on Buzz Lightyear of Star Command on Toon Disney and Disney Channel, Al McWhiggin, the toy store manager of Al's Toy Barn, in Toy Story 2. Tantor the elephant in Tarzan and Demetrius the shopkeeper in Hercules and also made guest appearances on The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy as the Jack-O-Lantern and Brandy and Mr. Whiskers as Mr. Cantarious the snail. He recently voiced the bug Juju on Tak and the Power of Juju.
Knight appeared on the Pilot episode of the U.S. version of Thank God You're Here. He made a second appearance on the last episode of the first season. There, he won the Thank God You're Here blue door award.
He played the Punisher's techno sidekick Microchip in Punisher: War Zone. Knight guest stars in The Penguins of Madagascar as Max the Cat in the episodes "Launchtime" and "Cat's Cradle".
In 2009, Knight reprised his role as the Seinfeld character Newman for the seventh season of Curb Your Enthusiasm. Wayne also guest starred on CSI: Crime Scene Investigation season 10 episode Working Stiffs.
Knight guest starred on a 2010 episode of Fox TV's hit drama series Bones. He also guest-starred in the first season of the TV Land comedy series Hot in Cleveland (2010), and was a recurring character for season two. Knight also guest-starred on an episode of The Whole Truth in fall 2010.[5] He plays an Internet-fixated couch potato in the TV Land sitcom, The Exes.
In summer 2011 he appeared in the BBC/Starz series Torchwood: Miracle Day as Brian Friedkin.[6]
Knight will appear as Santa in Elf the Musical in November 2012. He previously appeared on Broadway in Art in 1999.
In 2012 Knight was featured in the romantic comedy, She Wants Me starring Josh Gad, Kristen Ruhlin and Hilary Duff, the film was written and directed by Rob Margolies and executive produced by Charlie Sheen.
Knight is a Democrat and recently attended the 2012 Democratic National Convention in support of President Obama's re-election.[7]
Filmography
Film
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1979 | The Wanderers | Waiter | uncredited |
| 1987 | Dirty Dancing | Stan | |
| 1988 | Everybody's All-American | Fraternity Pisser | |
| 1989 | Born on the Fourth of July | Official #2 - Democratic Convention | |
| 1991 | V.I. Warshawski | Earl 'Bonehead' Smeissen | |
| 1991 | Dead Again | 'Piccolo' Pete Dugan | |
| 1991 | JFK | Numa Bertel | |
| 1992 | Basic Instinct | John Correli | |
| 1993 | Jurassic Park | Dennis Nedry | Nominated—Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actor |
| 1995 | Heat | Man in resturant | |
| 1996 | Chameleon | Stuart Langston | |
| 1996 | Space Jam | Stan Podolak | |
| 1997 | Hercules | Demetrius the Merchant | Voice |
| 1997 | For Richer or Poorer | Bob Lachmen | |
| 1998 | The Brave Little Toaster Goes to Mars | Microwave | Voice direct-to-video |
| 1998 | Soundman | Tim | Voice |
| 1999 | Hercules: Zero to Hero | Orthus | Voice direct-to-video |
| 1999 | My Favorite Martian | Zoot | Voice |
| 1999 | Pros & Cons | Wayne the Guard | direct-to-video |
| 1999 | Tarzan | Tantor | Voice |
| 1999 | Toy Story 2 | Al | Voice |
| 2000 | Buzz Lightyear of Star Command: The Adventure Begins | Zurg | Voice direct-to-video |
| 2001 | Rat Race | Zach Mallozzi | |
| 2003 | Cheaper by the Dozen | Pete the chandelier fixer | cameo |
| 2004 | Black Cloud | Mr. Tipping | |
| 2007 | Forfeit | Bob | |
| 2007 | Throwing Stars | Officer Brooks | |
| 2008 | Kung Fu Panda | Gang Boss | Voice |
| 2008 | Scooby-Doo and the Goblin King | Amazing Krudsky | Voice direct-to-video |
| 2008 | Punisher: War Zone | Microchip | |
| 2012 | She Wants Me | Walter Baum | |
| 2012 | Excuse Me For Living | Albert |
Television
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1982 | For Lovers Only | Video Game Fanatic | TV Movie uncredited |
| 1983 | The Day After | Man in hospital | TV Movie |
| 1984 | The Burning Bed | Juror | TV Movie uncredited |
| 1985 | Assaulted Nuts | Various | Main Role Appeared in 7 episodes |
| 1988 | Tattingers | Kenny Axelrod | Appeared in 2 episodes |
| 1990 | Mathnet | Peter Pickwick | Appeared in 1 episode |
| 1990 | Square One TV | Peter Pickwick | Appeared in 3 episodes |
| 1992-1998 | Seinfeld | Newman | Recurring Role Appeared in 48 episodes Nominated—Q Award for Best Recurring Player (1998) |
| 1992 | Double Edge | Tommy White | TV Movie |
| 1992-1993 | The Edge | Various Characters | Main Role Appeared in 18 episodes |
| 1992 | T Bone N Weasel | Roy Kramp | TV Movie |
| 1993 | Fallen Angels | Leo Cunningham | Appeared in 1 episode |
| 1993 | Against the Grain | Froggy Wilson | Appeared in 1 episode |
| 1993-1994 | The Second Half | Robert Piccolo | Main Role Appeared in 15 episodes |
| 1994 | Golden Gate | Arthur Genopopoulos | TV Movie |
| 1996-2001 | 3rd Rock from the Sun | Don Orville | Main Role Appeared in 100 Episodes Nominated—Screen Actors Guild Awards for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series (1998, 1999) |
| 1997 | Contempt of Court | Merill Bushman | TV Movie |
| 1998 | Hercules | Cyclops Head #2 | Voice Appeared in 1 episode |
| 1998 | Toonsylvania | Igor | Voice Appeared in 19 episodes |
| 2000 | Dilbert | The Security Guard | Voice Appeared in 1 episode |
| 2000 | Buzz Lightyear of Star Command | Emperor Zurg | Voice Appeared in 12 episodes |
| 2001 | That '70s Show | Eric's Guardian Angel | Appeared in 1 episode |
| 2001 | Bleacher Bums | Zig | TV Movie |
| 2002 | Becker | Wally | Appeard in 1 episode |
| 2002 | Master Spy: The Robert Hanssen Story | Walter Ballou | TV Movie |
| 2003 | The Twilight Zone | Nick Dark | Appeared in 1 episode |
| 2003-2006 | Xialon Showdown | Dojo | Voice Appeared in 52 episodes |
| 2003 | Gary the Rat | Gary's Rival | Voice Appeared in 1 episode |
| 2003 | Grim & Evil | Jack O'Lantern | Voice Appeared in 1 episode |
| 2004 | I'm with Her | Kevin | Appeared in 1 episode |
| 2004 | The Drew Carey Show | Owen | Appeared in 1 episode |
| 2004 | Listen Up! | Buddy | Appeared in 1 episode |
| 2005-2007 | Catscratch | Mr. Blik | Voice Appeared in 20 episodes |
| 2005 | Justice League Unlimited | Abnegazar | Voice Appeared in 1 episode |
| 2006 | CSI: NY | Truman Bosch | Appeared in 1 episode |
| 2007 | Tak and the Power of Juju | Bug Juju | Voice Appeared in 1 episode |
| 2009-2012 | The Penguins of Madagascar | Max | Voice Appeared in 3 episodes |
| 2009 | Woke Up Dead | Andrew Batten | Web series Appeared in 10 episodes |
| 2009 | CSI: Crime Scene Investigation | Mr. Terrence Lombard | Appeared in 1 episode |
| 2009 | Nip/Tuck | Don Hoberman | Appeared in 1 episode |
| 2009-2011 | The Super Hero Squad Show | Egghead | Voice Appeared in 3 episodes |
| 2009 | Curb Your Enthusiasm | Himself | uncredited Appeared in 1 episode |
| 2010-2011 | Hot in Cleveland | Rick | Recurring Role Appeared in 5 episodes |
| 2010 | The Good Guys | Perry Black | Appeared in 1 episode |
| 2010 | Bones | Jimmy Walpert III | Appeared in 1 episode |
| 2011 | Torchwood | Brian Friedkin | Appeared in 3 episodes |
| 2011 | Kung Fu Panda: Legends of Awesomeness | Jong Jong's Son |
Voice Appeared in 1 episode |
| 2011–Present | The Exes | Haskell Lutz | Main Role Appeared in 22 episodes |
| 2012 | Green Lantern: The Animated Series | Captain Goray | Voice Appeared in 1 episode |
| 2012 | Pound Puppies | Ralphie Construction Worker #1 |
Voice Appeared in 1 episode |
Video Game
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | Jurassic Park: The Game | Dennis Nedry | uncredited Voice |
Awards and Nominations
- 1994 - Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actor - Nominated
- 1998 - Screen Actors Guild Awards for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series - Nominated
- 1998 - Q Award for Best Recurring Player - Nominated
- 1999 - Screen Actors Guild Awards for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series - Nominated
References
- ^ "Veromi People Search". veromi.net. Retrieved 2012-12-11.
- ^ "Wayne Knight Biography (1955-)". Filmreference.com.
- ^ Fretts, Bruce (October 8, 1993). "Wayne Knight: Gaining Roles, Losing Weight - The "Seinfeld" star takes on three NBC shows this fall". Entertainment Weekly. EW.com. Retrieved 2012-12-11.
- ^ Marsh, Steve (November 30, 2011). "Wayne Knight on His New Sitcom The Exes, Being a ‘Tertiary’ Celebrity, and His Defense of the Laugh Track". NYMag.com Vulture. Retrieved 2012-12-11.
- ^ "Exclusive: The Whole Truth Swears In Wayne Knight". TVGuide.com. Retrieved October 13, 2010.
{{cite web}}: Unknown parameter|name=ignored (help) - ^ "Wayne Knight joins Torchwood: Miracle Day". Den of Geek. Retrieved February 8, 2011.
{{cite web}}: Unknown parameter|name=ignored (help) - ^ Tran, Vivyan (September 7, 2012). "Celebrities spotted at the Democratic National Convention". Politico.
External links
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