George Newbern
{{Short description|American actor}}
{{Use American English|date=September 2023}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=September 2023}}
{{Infobox person
| image = George Newbern by Gage Skidmore.jpg
| alt =
| caption = Newbern at the 2019 WonderCon
| birth_name =
| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1964|12|30}}
| birth_place = North Little Rock, Arkansas, U.S.
| occupation = Actor
| years_active = 1982–present
| spouse = {{marriage|Marietta DePrima|1990}}
| children = 3
}}
George Newbern (born December 30, 1964){{Citation needed|date=March 2025}} 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.
Newbern 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
Having 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).
Career
=Film and television=
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 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.
File:George Newbern Muppets Most Wanted Premiere (cropped).jpg premiere in March 2014]]
=Voice acting=
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 (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, Superman vs. The Elite, and Justice League vs. the Fatal Five. 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.
Newbern's 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. Newbern later reprised the role of Sephiroth 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 Toyota Prius car, and portrayed Harold in Saw VI.
Newbern is also a prolific narrator of audiobooks, with narration credits on nearly 500 titles.[https://www.audible.com/search?searchNarrator=George+Newbern Audio books narrated by George Newbern] at Audible website
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.{{cite web |url=https://heritage.kappaalphatheta.org/page/notablethetas |title=Notable Thetas |website=Kappa Alpha Theta |access-date=2019-06-11 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181215143102/https://heritage.kappaalphatheta.org/page/notablethetas |archive-date=2018-12-15 |url-status=dead}} The couple married in 1990, and have three children.{{cite magazine |last1=Lipton |first1=Michael A. |title=Adventure in Babysitting |url=https://people.com/archive/adventure-in-babysitting-vol-45-no-1/ |magazine=People |access-date=November 21, 2019 |date=January 8, 1996}}
Filmography
=Film=
| class="wikitable sortable" |
| Year
! Title ! Role ! class="unsortable" | Notes |
|---|
| 1986
| Woody | |
| rowspan="2"| 1987
| Dan Lynch | |
| Double Switch
| Bart / Matt | Television film |
| rowspan="3"| 1988
| Uptown | |
| Switching Channels
| Siegenthaler | |
| It Takes Two
| Travis Rogers | |
| 1991
| Bryan MacKenzie | |
| 1992
| Mike | |
| rowspan="3"| 1993
| Doorways | Dr. Thomas Mason | Television film |
| Doppelganger
| Patrick Highsmith | Television film |
| Torch Song
| Wedge | Television film |
| rowspan="3"| 1994
| Power Play | Justin Avery |
| I Spy Returns
| Bennett Robinson | Television film |
| Witness to the Execution
| Phillip Tyler | Television film |
| rowspan="2"| 1995
| Bryan MacKenzie | |
| Theodore Rex
| Theodore Rex |
| rowspan="2"| 1996
| Jordan | |
| The Evening Star
| Tommy Horton | |
| rowspan="2"| 1998
| Joe | Television film |
| The Simple Life of Noah Dearborn
| Christian Nelson | Television film |
| 1999
| Ian Wickam | |
| 2000
| Tom | Television film |
| 2001
| Jimmy Adams | Television film |
| 2003
| Kids' Ten Commandments: Stolen Gearts | Matthew |
| 2005
| Dr. Nick Townsend | Television film |
| 2006 |
| 2007
| A Dennis the Menace Christmas | Henry Mitchell | |
| rowspan="2"| 2008
| Jimmy | |
| Batman: Gotham Knight
| Clark Kent, Man in Black, Guido, Man, Youth 3 |Voice |
| rowspan="4"| 2009
| The Patient | George | |
| Dadnapped
| Neal Morris | Television film |
| Locker 13
| Robert Diener | Segment: "Midnight Blues" |
| Saw VI
| Harold Abbott | |
| 2010 |
| 2011
| Dr. Sandler | Television film |
| rowspan="3"| 2012
| Martin Taylor | Direct-to-video |
| Monster High: Escape from Skull Shores
| Andy Beast |
| Superman vs. The Elite
| Clark Kent/Superman |
| 2014 |
| 2015
| Justice League: Throne of Atlantis | Steve Trevor |
| 2016
| Pup Star | Bark |
| rowspan="2"| 2017
| Pup Star: Better 2Gether | Bark |
| 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{{cite news |last=Couch |first=Aaron |date=January 7, 2019 |title=Justice League vs. The Fatal Five Sets Voice Cast (Exclusive) |url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/heat-vision/justice-league-fatal-five-voice-cast-set-1173352 |access-date=January 31, 2023 |magazine=The Hollywood Reporter}} |
| 2020
| Father of the Bride, Part 3(ish) | Bryan MacKenzie | Short film |
=Television=
| class="wikitable sortable" |
| Year
! Title ! Role ! class="unsortable" | Notes |
|---|
| 1982
| Pvt Lawrence Jones (Union deserter at Bull Run) | Miniseries |
| 1986
| Eric | Episode: "My Brother's Keeper" |
| 1986–1992
| Payne McIlroy | 4 episodes |
| rowspan="2"| 1990
| Det. Robert McKay | TV pilot |
| Working Girl
| Everett Rutledge | 12 episodes |
| 1991–1993
| Ren |Voice |
| 1995
| Sean | 5 episodes |
| rowspan="6"| 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
| Dr. Scott Frank | 6 episodes |
| rowspan="2"| 1998
| Miniseries |
| Friends
| Danny | 3 episodes |
| 2000
| Bull | Robert "Ditto" Roberts III | 20 episodes |
| 2001–2004
| Clark Kent / Superman |Voice, main role |
| 2002
| Owen Frank | 21 episodes |
| 2003
| Clark Kent / Superman |
| rowspan="3"| 2004
| Dr. Allen Konigsberg | Episode: "Loose Lips" |
| CSI: Crime Scene Investigation
| Dr. Todd Coombs | Episode: "Bloodlines" |
| Johnny Bravo
| Man, Waiter, Moustache Man |
| 2005
| Matt Monroe | Episode: "For Sail by Owner" |
| 2004–2006
| Clark Kent / Superman, Bizarro |
| 2005-2006
| Reunion | Paul Phillips | Recurring role, five episodes |
| 2006
| Bill Huxley (1979) | Episode: "The Key" |
| 2006–2008
| Clark Kent / Superman |
| rowspan="5"| 2008
| Kevin Weaver | Episode: "To Kill a Predator" |
| Ben 10: Alien Force
| Frank Tennyson |
| Grey's Anatomy
| Stan Mercer | Episode: "There's No 'I' in Team" |
| Ghost Whisperer
| Roger Gardner | Episode: "Ball & Chain" |
| Jericho
| Episode: "Condor" |
| rowspan="5"| 2009
| 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" |
| rowspan="5"| 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
| Jordan | 2 episodes |
| 2012–2018
| Scandal | Charlie | Recurring role |
| 2015
| 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
| Sam Snood the Science Dude | Voice, episode: "Bridgette the Brain" |
| 2023
| Hercules |
=Video games=
| class="wikitable sortable" |
| Year
! Title ! Role ! class="unsortable" | Notes |
|---|
| 2003
| Nooj |
| 2005
| rowspan=4 |Sephiroth |
| 2007 |
| 2008 |
| 2011 |
| 2011
| Commander Naughlen, Master Volryder, Captain Perovius, Kon Yel, Lieutenant Tasser, Scientist | Uncredited |
| 2013
| rowspan=3 |Clark Kent / Kal-El / Superman | |
| 2016
| |
| 2017 |
| rowspan="2"| 2018
| rowspan=2 |Sephiroth |
| Mobius Final Fantasy
| |
| 2022
| Clark Kent / Kal-El / Superman | {{cite web |last=Villei |first=Matt |date=November 18, 2021 |title=MultiVersus Trailer Shows Warner Bros. Characters Getting Their Own Smash Bros. |url=https://collider.com/multiversus-trailer-warner-bros-characters-smash-bros/ |access-date=November 19, 2021 |website=Collider}} |
References
{{reflist}}
External links
{{Commons category}}
- {{IMDb name|0627624}}
- [http://www.voicechasers.com/database/showactor.php?actorid=2789 Voice chasers] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200320063842/https://www.voicechasers.com/database/showactor.php?actorid=2789 |date=2020-03-20 }}
- [http://voicecoaches.com/blog/2012/06/vo-behind-the-scenes-superman-vs-the-elite/ Interview with George Newbern on Voiceover Role in Superman vs the Elite] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200924153931/https://voicecoaches.com/blog/2012/06/vo-behind-the-scenes-superman-vs-the-elite/ |date=September 24, 2020 }}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Newbern, George}}
Category:Year of birth missing (living people)
Category:20th-century American male actors
Category:21st-century American male actors
Category:American male film actors
Category:American male television actors
Category:American male video game actors
Category:American male voice actors