George Newbern (born December 30, 1964) is an American actor, best known for his roles as Charlie in the ABC show Scandal (2012–2018) and Bryan MacKenzie in Father of the Bride (1991) and its sequels Father of the Bride Part II (1995) and Father of the Bride Part 3 (ish) (2020). He guest starred as Danny (The Yeti) in Friends and had a recurring role as Julia's son Payne in Designing Women.
George Newbern | |
|---|---|
 Newbern at the 2019 WonderCon | |
| Born | December 30, 1964 |
| Occupation | Actor |
| Years active | 1982–present |
| Spouse | |
| Children | 3 |
He is also known for his long-running role as the voice of Superman in various DC media starting with the animated series Justice League, as well as the voice of Sephiroth in the Final Fantasy series and the Kingdom Hearts series.
Early life
editHaving grown up in North Little Rock, Arkansas, Newbern is the son of Betty, a Spanish teacher and David Newbern, a radiologist. George has two brothers (Gordon and John) and one sister (Murry).[1]
Career
editFilm and television
editHe 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 film 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 to 1992, Newbern had a recurring role as Payne McIlroy, 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 had a recurring role for several seasons as a former CIA operative in Scandal.
He starred as Neal Morris, father of Melissa Morris (Emily Osment), in the 2009 Disney Channel film 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.
Voice acting
editAs 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 (replacing Tim Daly due to his obligations elsewhere). He also reprised his role as Superman in The Batman, the DC Showcase short Superman/Shazam!: The Return of Black Adam, and 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. Newbern has portrayed the character longer than any other actor in live-action and animation.
Newbern also lent his voice in 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. He also voiced Sephiroth in the Final Fantasy series and the Kingdom Hearts series.
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. He later appeared in the second season of Jericho as the President of the Allied States of America. 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.
Newbern is also a prolific narrator of audiobooks, with narration credits on nearly 500 titles.
Personal life
editNewbern met actress Marietta DePrima in the mid-1980s. They graduated together at Northwestern University, where she was a member of Kappa Alpha Theta.[2] The couple married in 1990, and have three children.[1]
Filmography
editFilm
edit| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1986 | My Little Girl | Woody | |
| 1987 | Adventures in Babysitting | Dan Lynch | |
| Double Switch | Bart / Matt | Television film | |
| 1988 | Paramedics | Uptown | |
| Switching Channels | Siegenthaler | ||
| It Takes Two | Travis Rogers | ||
| 1991 | Father of the Bride | Bryan MacKenzie | |
| 1992 | Little Sister | Mike | |
| 1993 | Doorways | Dr. Thomas Mason | Television film |
| Doppelganger | Patrick Highsmith | Television film | |
| Torch Song | Wedge | Television film | |
| 1994 | Power Play | Justin Avery | |
| I Spy Returns | Bennett Robinson | Television film | |
| Witness to the Execution | Phillip Tyler | Television film | |
| 1995 | Father of the Bride Part II | Bryan MacKenzie | |
| Theodore Rex | Theodore Rex | Voice[3] | |
| 1996 | Far Harbor | Jordan | |
| The Evening Star | Tommy Horton | ||
| 1998 | Twice Upon a Time | Joe | Television film |
| The Simple Life of Noah Dearborn | Christian Nelson | Television film | |
| 1999 | Friends and Lovers | Ian Wickam | |
| 2000 | If These Walls Could Talk 2 | Tom | Television film |
| 2001 | The Sons of Mistletoe | Jimmy Adams | Television film |
| 2003 | Kids' Ten Commandments: Stolen Gearts | Matthew | Voice, direct-to-video[3] |
| 2005 | Buffalo Dreams | Dr. Nick Townsend | Television film |
| 2006 | Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children | Sephiroth | Voice[3] |
| 2007 | A Dennis the Menace Christmas | Henry Mitchell | |
| 2008 | Fireflies in the Garden | Jimmy | |
| Batman: Gotham Knight | Clark Kent, Man in Black, Guido, Man, Youth 3 | Voice | |
| 2009 | The Patient | George | |
| Dadnapped | Neal Morris | Television film | |
| Locker 13 | Robert Diener | Segment: "Midnight Blues" | |
| Saw VI | Harold Abbott | ||
| 2010 | Superman/Shazam!: The Return of Black Adam | Clark Kent/Superman | Voice, direct-to-video[3] |
| 2011 | The Heart of Christmas | Dr. Sandler | Television film |
| 2012 | 3 Day Test | Martin Taylor | Direct-to-video |
| Monster High: Escape from Skull Shores | Andy Beast | Voice, television film[3] | |
| Superman vs. The Elite | Clark Kent/Superman | Voice, direct-to-video[3] | |
| 2014 | Justice League: War | Steve Trevor | Voice, direct-to-video[3] |
| 2015 | Justice League: Throne of Atlantis | Steve Trevor | Voice, direct-to-video[3] |
| 2016 | Pup Star | Bark | Voice, direct-to-video[3] |
| 2017 | Pup Star: Better 2Gether | Bark | Voice, direct-to-video[3] |
| I Am Elizabeth Smart | Ed Smart | Television film | |
| 2018 | Brimming With Love | Addison Rickford | Television film |
| 2019 | Justice League vs. the Fatal Five | Kal-El / Clark Kent / Superman | Voice, direct-to-video[3][4] |
| 2020 | Father of the Bride, Part 3(ish) | Bryan MacKenzie | Short film |
Television
edit| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1982 | The Blue and the Gray | Pvt Lawrence Jones (Union deserter at Bull Run) | 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 |
| 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 |
| Touched by an Angel | Michael Burns | Episode: "Amazing Grace: Part 1" | |
| Promised Land | Michael Burns | Episode: "Amazing Grace: Part 2" | |
| The Outer Limits | Ryan Unger | Episode: "Stream of Consciousness" | |
| Adventures from the Book of Virtues | Damon | Voice, episode: "Friendship" | |
| Perversions of Science | Walter | Episode: "Planely Possible" | |
| 1997–1998 | Chicago Hope | Dr. Scott Frank | 6 episodes |
| 1998 | From the Earth to the Moon | Stuart Roosa | Miniseries |
| Friends | Danny | 3 episodes | |
| 2000 | Bull | Robert "Ditto" Roberts III | 20 episodes |
| 2001–2004 | Justice League | Clark Kent / Superman | Voice, main role |
| 2002 | Providence | Owen Frank | 21 episodes |
| 2003 | Static Shock | Clark Kent / Superman | Voice, episode: "Toys in the Hood"[3] |
| 2004 | Boston Legal | Dr. Allen Konigsberg | Episode: "Loose Lips" |
| CSI: Crime Scene Investigation | Dr. Todd Coombs | Episode: "Bloodlines" | |
| Johnny Bravo | Man, Waiter, Moustache Man | Voice, episode: "Get Shovelized/T Is for Trouble"[3] | |
| 2005 | Las Vegas | Matt Monroe | Episode: "For Sail by Owner" |
| 2004–2006 | Justice League Unlimited | Clark Kent / Superman, Bizarro | Voice, main role[3] |
| 2005-2006 | Reunion | Paul Phillips | Recurring role, five episodes |
| 2006 | Cold Case | Bill Huxley (1979) | Episode: "The Key" |
| 2006–2008 | The Batman | Clark Kent / Superman | Voice, 4 episodes[3] |
| 2008 | CSI: Miami | Kevin Weaver | Episode: "To Kill a Predator" |
| Ben 10: Alien Force | Frank Tennyson | Voice, episode: "What Are Little Girls Made Of"[3] | |
| Grey's Anatomy | Stan Mercer | Episode: "There's No 'I' in Team" | |
| Ghost Whisperer | Roger Gardner | Episode: "Ball & Chain" | |
| Jericho | President John Tomarchio | Episode: "Condor" | |
| 2009 | Criminal Minds | Steven Baleman | Episode: "Soul Mates" |
| CSI: NY | Alex Sheridan | Episode: "Rush to Judgement" | |
| Castle | Howard Peterson | Episode: "Nanny McDead" | |
| The Cleaner | Perry | Episode: "Path of Least Resistance" | |
| Private Practice | Brian Reynolds | Episode: "Slip Slidin' Away" | |
| 2010 | Nip/Tuck | Dr. Curtis Ryerson | 4 episodes |
| The Mentalist | Dr. Cliff Edmunds | Episode: "Code Red" | |
| Miami Medical | Frank | Episode: "All Fall Down" | |
| NCIS | Arthur Haskell | Episode: "Dead Air" | |
| Suite 7 | Gil | Episode: “Supermen” | |
| 2010–2011 | Hot in Cleveland | Jordan | 2 episodes |
| 2012–2018 | Scandal | Charlie | Recurring role |
| 2015 | Granite Flats | Scottie Andrews | 8 episodes |
| 2017 | Grimm | Julian Levy | Episode: "The Son Also Rises" |
| 2018–present | Law & Order: Special Victims Unit | Dr. Al Pollack | Recurring role |
| 2022 | Reboot | Anders | Episode: "Step Right Up" |
| 2022 | Close Enough | Sam Snood the Science Dude | Voice, episode: "Bridgette the Brain" |
| 2023 | Record of Ragnarok | Hercules | Voice[3] |
Video games
edit| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2003 | Final Fantasy X-2 | Nooj | [3] |
| 2005 | Kingdom Hearts II | Sephiroth | [3] |
| 2007 | Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII | ||
| 2008 | Dissidia Final Fantasy | ||
| 2011 | Dissidia 012 Final Fantasy | ||
| 2011 | Star Wars: The Old Republic | Commander Naughlen, Master Volryder, Captain Perovius, Kon Yel, Lieutenant Tasser, Scientist | Uncredited |
| 2013 | Injustice: Gods Among Us | Clark Kent / Kal-El / Superman | |
| 2016 | DC Universe Online | ||
| 2017 | Injustice 2 | [3] | |
| 2018 | Dissidia Final Fantasy NT | Sephiroth | [3] |
| Mobius Final Fantasy | |||
| 2022 | MultiVersus | Clark Kent / Kal-El / Superman | [5] |
References
edit- ^ a b Lipton, Michael A. (January 8, 1996). "Adventure in Babysitting". People. Retrieved November 21, 2019.
- ^ "Notable Thetas". Kappa Alpha Theta. Archived from the original on December 15, 2018. Retrieved June 11, 2019.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u "George Newbern (visual voices guide)". Behind The Voice Actors. Retrieved September 9, 2023. A green check mark indicates that a role has been confirmed using a screenshot (or collage of screenshots) of a title's list of voice actors and their respective characters found in its credits or other reliable sources of information.
- ^ Couch, Aaron (January 7, 2019). "'Justice League vs. The Fatal Five' Sets Voice Cast (Exclusive)". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved January 31, 2023.
- ^ Villei, Matt (November 18, 2021). "'MultiVersus' Trailer Shows Warner Bros. Characters Getting Their Own 'Smash Bros.'". Collider. Retrieved November 19, 2021.
External links
edit- George Newbern at IMDb
- Voice chasers Archived 2020-03-20 at the Wayback Machine
- Interview with George Newbern on Voiceover Role in Superman vs the Elite Archived September 24, 2020, at the Wayback Machine