George Newbern
George Young Newbern (born December 30, 1964) is an American actor, best known for his roles as Det. Robert McKay in Poochinski, Charlie in ABC show Scandal and Bryan MacKenzie in Father of the Bride (1991) and its sequel Father of the Bride Part II as well as Danny (The Yeti) in Friends and his recurring role as Julia's son Payne in Designing Women. He is also known for providing the voices of Superman in many pieces of DC Comics media (most notably the Justice League and Justice League Unlimited animated series and the Injustice video game series), and Sephiroth in the Final Fantasy series and the Kingdom Hearts series.
George Newbern | |
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Newbern at the 2019 WonderCon | |
Born | George Young Newbern December 30, 1964 Little Rock, Arkansas, U.S. |
Occupation | Actor |
Years active | 1982–present |
Spouse(s) | |
Children | 3 |
Life and career
Born in Little Rock, Arkansas, Newbern is the son of Betty, a Spanish teacher, and David Newbern, a radiologist. He began his acting career at the Arkansas Arts Center in Little Rock, in the role of the younger brother in Life With Father, based on Clarence S. Day Jr.'s autobiographical novels. This first acting role spurred him on to other acting roles and eventually on to movie roles. Newbern's first lead role was in 1987's Double Switch, a retelling of The Prince and the Pauper that aired as a part of the Wonderful World of Disney television series.
From 1986–1992, Newbern had a recurring role as Payne McElroy, the son of designer Julia Sugarbaker (played by Dixie Carter), on the series Designing Women. He has since guest-starred on television in such series as Providence, Chicago Hope, Friends, Bull, CSI, Medium, Ghost Whisperer, Touched by an Angel, Criminal Minds, and Private Practice. He has a recurring role as a former CIA operative in Scandal.
He starred as Neal Morris, father of Melissa Morris (Emily Osment), in the 2009 Disney Channel movie Dadnapped, and portrayed Apollo 14 astronaut Stu Roosa in the HBO mini-series From The Earth To The Moon. Film credits include Adventures in Babysitting (1987) with Elisabeth Shue; Double Switch (1987); Switching Channels (1988) with Kathleen Turner, Burt Reynolds and Christopher Reeve; and Father of the Bride (1991) and its sequel Father of the Bride Part II. In 2009 he appeared in Locker 13.
Superman
As a voice actor, Newbern is notable for his role as Clark Kent/Superman on the Cartoon Network series Justice League, Static Shock and Justice League Unlimited (as a replacement for Tim Daly due to his contractual obligations elsewhere). He also reprised his role as Superman in The Batman fifth season two-part opener "The Batman/Superman Story" and the series finale episode "Lost Heroes" even though that series was described as existing in a different continuity. He recently reprised his role as Superman in the DC Showcase short Superman/Shazam!: The Return of Black Adam and as well as Superman vs. The Elite. On February 26, 2016, the DC Universe Online Facebook page reported that Newbern would be taking over the role of Superman from Adam Baldwin. He also provides the voice of Superman in the game Injustice: Gods Among Us and its sequel.
Other roles
Newbern's voice acting career began in 1991 with the cartoon series The Pirates of Dark Water, and he has also done voiceovers on a number of video games and game-related productions. He has also voiced in the infamous Theodore Rex as the character of the same name. In 2003, Newbern provided the voice of Mevyn Nooj in Final Fantasy X-2.
His performance as Nooj reportedly impressed the developers at Square Enix enough for them to cast him as Sephiroth in the English version of Kingdom Hearts II (replacing Lance Bass) and he would also go on to reprise the role in the English-language releases of Final Fantasy VII Advent Children, Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII, Dissidia: Final Fantasy, Dissidia 012 Final Fantasy and Dissidia Final Fantasy NT, with presumptions that he will be returning to voice the character for the Final Fantasy VII remake. He later appeared in the second season of Jericho as the President of the Allied States of America. In 2009, he sent a DNA sample into space to preserve the Newbern genome. Newbern also narrated Toyota's commercials for the 2010 model year of the Prius, one of the car company's younger automotive models, and portrayed Harold in Saw VI.
Personal life
Newbern met actress Marietta DePrima in the mid 1980s. They graduated together at Northwestern University, where she was a member of Kappa Alpha Theta.[1] The couple married in 1990. Together they have three children.[2]
Filmography
Film
Year | Title | Role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
1986 | My Little Girl | Woody | |
1987 | Adventures in Babysitting | Dan Lynch | |
1987 | Double Switch | Bart / Matt | TV movie |
1988 | Paramedics | Uptown | |
1988 | Switching Channels | Siegenthaler | |
1988 | It Takes Two | Travis Rogers | |
1991 | Father of the Bride | Bryan MacKenzie | |
1992 | Little Sister | Mike | |
1993 | Doorways | Dr. Thomas Mason | TV movie |
1993 | Doppelganger | Patrick Highsmith | TV movie |
1993 | Torch Song | Wedge | TV movie |
1994 | I Spy Returns | Bennett Robinson | TV movie |
1994 | Witness to the Execution | Phillip Tyler | TV movie |
1995 | Father of the Bride Part II | Bryan MacKenzie | |
1995 | Theodore Rex | Theodore Rex (voice) | |
1996 | Far Harbor | Jordan | |
1996 | The Evening Star | Tommy Horton | |
1998 | Twice Upon a Time | Joe | TV movie |
1999 | Friends and Lovers | Ian Wickam | |
2000 | If These Walls Could Talk | Tom | TV movie |
1998 | The Simple Life of Noah Dearborn | Christian Nelson | TV movie |
2001 | The Sons of Mistletoe | Jimmy Adams | TV movie |
2003 | Kids' Ten Commandments: Stolen Gearts | Matthew (voice) | Direct-to-DVD animated short film |
2005 | Buffalo Dreams | Dr. Nick Townsend | TV movie |
2006 | Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children | Sephiroth (voice) | Computer animated movie |
2007 | A Dennis the Menace Christmas | Henry Mitchell | |
2008 | Fireflies in the Garden | Jimmy | |
2008 | Batman: Gotham Knight | Man in Black, Guido, Man, Youth 3 (voices) | |
2009 | The Patient | George | |
2009 | Dadnapped | Neal Morris | TV movie |
2009 | Locker 13 | Robert Diener | Segment: "Midnight Blues" |
2009 | Saw VI | Harold Abbott | |
2010 | Superman/Shazam!: The Return of Black Adam | Clark Kent/Superman (voice) | Direct-to-DVD animated short film |
2011 | The Heart of Christmas | Dr. Sandler | TV movie |
2012 | 3 Day Test | Martin Taylor | Direct-to-DVD film |
2012 | Monster High: Escape from Skull Shores | Andy Beast (voice) | TV animated film |
2012 | Superman vs. The Elite | Clark Kent/Superman (voice) | Direct-to-DVD animated film |
2014 | Justice League: War | Steve Trevor (voice) | Direct-to-DVD animated film |
2015 | Justice League: Throne of Atlantis | Steve Trevor (voice) | Direct-to-DVD animated film |
2016 | Pup Star | Bark (voice) | Direct-to-DVD |
2017 | Pup Star: Better 2Gether | Bark (voice) | Direct-to-DVD |
2017 | I Am Elizabeth Smart | Ed Smart | TV film |
2019 | Justice League vs. the Fatal Five | Clark Kent/Superman (voice)[3] | Direct-to-DVD animated film |
Television
Year | Title | Role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
1982 | The Blue and the Gray | Pvt Lawrence Jones (Union deserter at Bull Run) | TV miniseries |
1986 | Family Ties | Eric | Episode: "My Brother's Keeper" |
1986–1992 | Designing Women | Payne McIlroy | 4 episodes |
1990 | Poochinski | Det. Robert McKay | TV pilot |
1990 | Working Girl | Everett Rutledge | 12 episodes |
1991–1993 | The Pirates of Dark Water | Ren (voice) | |
1995 | Courthouse | Sean | 5 episodes |
1997 | Gold Fever | Will Patterson | Documentary |
1997 | Touched by an Angel | Michael Burns | Episode: "Amazing Grace: Part 1" |
1997 | Promised Land | Michael Burns | Episode: "Amazing Grace: Part 2" |
1997 | The Outer Limits | Ryan Unger | Episode: "Stream of Consciousness" |
1997 | Adventures from the Book of Virtues | Damon (voice) | Episode: "Friendship" |
1997 | Perversions of Science | Walter | Episode: "Planely Possible" |
1997–1998 | Chicago Hope | Dr. Scott Frank | 6 episodes |
1998 | From the Earth to the Moon | Stu Roosa | TV miniseries |
1998 | Friends | Danny | 3 episodes |
2000 | Bull | Robert "Ditto" Roberts III | 20 episodes |
2001–2004 | Justice League | Clark Kent / Superman (voice) | |
2002 | Providence | Owen Frank | 21 episodes |
2003 | Static Shock | Clark Kent / Superman (voice) | Episode: "Toys in the Hood" |
2004 | Boston Legal | Dr. Allen Konigsberg | Episode: "Loose Lips" |
2004 | CSI: Crime Scene Investigation | Dr. Todd Coombs | Episode: "Bloodlines" |
2004 | Johnny Bravo | Man, Waiter, Moustache Man (voices) | Episode: "Get Shovelized/T Is for Trouble" |
2004–2006 | Justice League Unlimited | Clark Kent / Superman, Bizarro, Evil Star (voices) | 20 episodes |
2006 | Cold Case | Bill Huxley (1979) | Episode: "The Key" |
2007–2008 | The Batman | Clark Kent / Superman (voice) | 4 episodes |
2008 | CSI: Miami | Kevin Weaver | Episode: "To Kill a Predator" |
2008 | Ben 10: Alien Force | Frank Tennyson (voice) | Episode: "What Are Little Girls Made Of" |
2008 | Grey's Anatomy | Stan Mercer | Episode: "There's No 'I' in Team" |
2008 | Ghost Whisperer | Roger Gardner | Episode: "Ball & Chain" |
2008 | Jericho | President John Tomarchio | Episode: "Condor" |
2009 | Criminal Minds | Steven Baleman | Episode: "Soul Mates" |
2009 | CSI: NY | Alex Sheridan | Episode: "Rush to Judgement" |
2009 | Castle | Howard Peterson | Episode: "Nanny McDead" |
2009 | The Cleaner | Perry | Episode: "Path of Least Resistance" |
2009 | Private Practice | Brian Reynolds | Episode: "Slip Slidin' Away" |
2010 | Nip/Tuck | Dr. Curtis Ryerson | 4 episodes |
2010 | The Mentalist | Dr. Cliff Edmunds | Episode: "Code Red" |
2010 | Miami Medical | Frank | Episode: "All Fall Down" |
2010 | NCIS | Arthur Haskell | Episode: "Dead Air" |
2010 | Suite 7 | Gil | Episode: “Supermen” |
2010–2011 | Hot in Cleveland | Jordan | 2 episodes |
2012–2018 | Scandal | Charlie | TV Series; Recurring S1-S6 - Main S7 - 66 Episodes |
2015 | Granite Flats | Scottie Andrews | 8 episodes |
2017 | Grimm | Julian Levy | Episode: "The Son Also Rise" |
2018-present | Law & Order: Special Victims Unit | Dr. Al Pollack | Recurring role |
Video games
Year | Title | Role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
2003 | Final Fantasy X-2 | Nooj | |
2006 | Kingdom Hearts II | Sephiroth | |
2007 | Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII | Sephiroth | |
2008 | Dissidia Final Fantasy | Sephiroth | |
2011 | Dissidia 012 Final Fantasy | Sephiroth | |
2011 | Star Wars: The Old Republic | Commander Naughlen (uncredited) | |
2013 | Injustice: Gods Among Us | Clark Kent / Kal-El / Superman | |
2016 | DC Universe Online | Clark Kent / Kal-El / Superman | |
2017 | Injustice 2 | Clark Kent / Kal-El / Superman | [4] |
2018 | Dissidia Final Fantasy NT | Sephiroth | |
2018 | Mobius Final Fantasy | Sephiroth |
References
- "Notable Thetas - Heritage - Kappa Alpha Theta". heritage.kappaalphatheta.org. Archived from the original on 2018-12-15. Retrieved 2019-06-11.
- Lipton, Michael A. (January 8, 1996). "Adventure in Babysitting". PEOPLE.com. Retrieved November 21, 2019.
- "'Justice League vs. The Fatal Five' Sets Voice Cast (Exclusive)". The Hollywood Reporter.
- "San Diego Comic-Con 2016 Injustice 2". Comic-Con 2016. Archived from the original on 2016-08-18. Retrieved 2016-07-11.CS1 maint: BOT: original-url status unknown (link)