Ned Luke

Ned Luke (born October 4, 1958) is an American actor. He served as the voice and physical actor of Michael De Santa in the 2013 acclaimed video game Grand Theft Auto V[1] and voiced Raffles in the animated movie Rover Dangerfield. Luke has appeared in 29 movies and television shows to date and has also appeared in over 100 commercials.

Ned Luke
Born	(1958-10-04) October 4, 1958 Danville, Illinois, U.S.
Other names	Ned von Leuck
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1984–present
Spouse(s)	Amy Sax ( m. 1997)
Children	1
Relatives	Paul Birch (grandfather)

Early life

Ned Luke was born in Danville, Illinois, to Cindy (née Smith) and Fred Luke. His maternal grandfather was actor Paul Birch.[2]

He graduated from Danville High School in 1977 where he was a bi-sport athlete and honor student. He later attended the University of Illinois in Champaign, Illinois. He has four siblings.

Career

Luke's first major voice role was in Rover Dangerfield, where he played a sheepdog named Raffles opposite Rodney Dangerfield. He was cast as a guest star in several TV shows throughout the 1990s and early 2000s, and has appeared in about 100 television commercials featuring products such as Budweiser and Burger King.

In 2007, having grown disenchanted with show business and desiring that his son experience where he grew up, Luke decided to take a break from acting and moved his family from Los Angeles to his hometown of Danville, where he opened a restaurant with his brother. After two years, he decided to return to acting and he and his family moved to New York City. His agent suggested he audition for the role of Michael De Santa, one of the three protagonists of Rockstar Games' Grand Theft Auto V. Luke initially scoffed at the idea of being in a video game, but after reading the script decided to proceed with the audition.[3] Luke was eventually cast as one of the game's three playable protagonists, Michael De Santa. Grand Theft Auto V went on to set several sales records and has become the highest grossing video game in history.[4]

Personal life

Luke married yoga instructor and part-time actress Amy Sax on November 12, 1997. They have a son, Max "Bubba" and live in Westchester County, New York.[5] Luke is nearly deaf in his right ear.[6]

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1984	The Bear	Football Player
1991	Rover Dangerfield	Raffles	Voice only, supporting role
1996	The Nutty Professor	Construction Worker	Uncredited
1997	On the Line	Officer Al	(TV Movie)
1999	Citation of Merit	Sergeant Smith	Short film
2017	American Gothic	Bill

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1992	Angel Street	Officer	Episode: "The Blonde in the Pond"
1994	Guiding Light	Sherrif	2 episodes
1995	NYPD Blue	Lawyer	Episode: "Cold Heaters"
1996	Murder One	Conspiracy Guy	Episode: "Chapter Eleven"
1996	Renegade	Andy Warwick	Episode: "The Milk Carton Kid"
1997	The Burning Zone	2nd Officer	Episode: "Critical Mass"
1997	High Incident	Gary Butterworth	Episode: "Remote Control"
1999	General Hospital	Body Guard	2 episodes
1999	City Guys	Lonnie Collins	Episode: "Miracle on 134th Street and Lexington Avenue"
2000	The Pretender	David Arnold	Episode: "Junk"
2000	JAG	Senior Chief Petty Officer Braken	1 episode
2000	The Huntress	Detective Ellard	Episode: "The Kid"
2000	Diagnosis Murder	Timmons	1 episode
2004	Third Watch	Ron Connelly	1 episode
2005	As the World Turns	Detective Langstorm	2 episodes
2005	Jonny Zero	Officer Muncie	1 episode
2002–2005	All My Children	Fire Chief/Private Investigator	3 episodes
2005	Law & Order	Ken Cosgrove	1 episode
2009	Katana	Executive	Episode: "Pilot"
2002–2013	Law & Order: Special Victims Unit	Mr. Thurber/Roger Swanson/Mr. Wilmont	3 episodes
2013	Boardwalk Empire	Boorish Man	1 episode
2015	Unfiltered	Randolph Wiley	Lead role, unreleased

Video games

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2013	Grand Theft Auto V	Michael De Santa	Also motion capture
2018	Red Dead Redemption 2	Moonshiner	Motion capture-only
2019	WWE 2K20	A.J. Styles	Only voice

Accolades

Year	Nominee/work	Award	Result
2014	Grand Theft Auto V	Behind the Voice Actors Award for Best Vocal Ensemble in a Video Game	Nominated

References

1. "Preview: 'GTA V' actor Ned Luke talks". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved November 13, 2014.
2. "Ned Luke: Trivia". IMDb.com. Retrieved November 13, 2014.
3. "Interview: Crime pays for 'Grand Theft Auto V' actors". Usatoday.com. Retrieved November 13, 2014.
4. Chalk, Andy (November 7, 2017). "Grand Theft Auto 5 is the best-selling videogame of all time in the US". PC Gamer.
5. John Gaudiosi (October 3, 2013). "Grand Theft Auto V actors think their game is violent, and that's okay". TechHive. Retrieved November 13, 2014.
6. "Gaming Trivia #33: Grand Theft Auto V". Trueachievements.com. Retrieved November 13, 2014.

External links

• Ned Luke on IMDb