Sam Witwer
Sam Witwer | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | October 20, 1977 |
| Education | Juilliard School |
| Occupation(s) | Actor, voice actor, musician |
| Years active | 2001–present |
Samuel Stewart Witwer (born October 20, 1977) is an American actor, voice actor, and musician. He is known for playing Crashdown in Battlestar Galactica, Davis Bloome in Smallville, Aidan Waite in Being Human, Mr. Hyde in Once Upon a Time, and Ben Lockwood in Supergirl. He has voiced Starkiller in Star Wars: The Force Unleashed, the Son in Star Wars: The Clone Wars and Emperor Palpatine in Star Wars Rebels, both series of which he voices Darth Maul. In 2019, he joined the cast of Riverdale as Jughead Jones' school teacher Mr. Rupert Chipping. Witwer voiced protagonist Deacon St. John in the PlayStation 4 game Days Gone released in 2019 by SIE Bend Studio.
Early life
Witwer was born on October 20, 1977,[1] and grew up in Glenview, Illinois, a small suburb outside of Chicago. He attended Glenbrook South High School, during which time he was involved in drama and theater classes, as well as being the lead singer of a high school band called "Love Plumber". He attended the Juilliard School for a time before moving to Los Angeles.
Career
Witwer's first on-screen credit was that of a Chicago Bulls commercial. He soon found himself in speaking roles on hit television series, such as ER.
Witwer's first major recurring role came in the form of portraying Lt. Crashdown on Battlestar Galactica, although he has credited much of his current success to his role as Neil Perry on the Showtime series Dexter. Witwer also appeared as Private Wayne Jessup in the movie The Mist.
From 2008 to 2009, Witwer was cast in season 8 of Smallville as Davis Bloome, a charming paramedic who struggles with a darkness within as he is the human camouflage of Doomsday, a character in the comics best known for being the only villain to have "killed" Superman. While Witwer played Davis, Doomsday was played by stuntman Dario Delacio. Witwer's performance in Smallville was incredibly well-received, and he has stated that his experience on the show had opened more opportunities for him in the future of acting.
Witwer made a cameo appearance in The Walking Dead as a dead zombie soldier in a tank in the season 1 episode "Days Gone Bye" which reunited him with director Frank Darabont from The Mist. Witwer also made a guest appearance in NCIS.
From 2011 to 2014, Witwer starred in the North American remake of Being Human. He played the lead role of vampire Aidan Waite.[2] The show, as well as his performance, was well received and lasted 4 seasons.
He voiced Ocean Master in the animated film Justice League: Throne of Atlantis for the DC Universe Animated Original Movies series, replacing fellow Star Wars actor Steve Blum from Justice League: War.
In 2016 Witwer played Edward Hyde on Once Upon a Time, recurring for part of its sixth season after debuting at the end of the fifth.[3]
In 2018, Witwer joined the main cast of The CW drama series Supergirl, portraying the fourth season's main antagonist, Ben Lockwood / Agent Liberty.[4]
Role-playing games
Sam is an avid player of both pen-and-paper and video role-playing games. This is a hobby that he has engaged in for years. He has been a frequent guest on the Podcast Order 66 and has expressed a love for all iterations of Star Wars role-playing games Star Wars: The Roleplaying Game (by West End Games) to Star Wars Roleplaying Game (by Wizards of the Coast) and to the series of cross-compatible Star Wars roleplaying games by Fantasy Flight Games.[5]
Sam appeared in episode 19 of Geek and Sundry's Tabletop playing the Dragon Age role-playing game,[6] and episodes 29[7] and 55 of Dice Camera Action as Mordenkainen.[8]
In January 2017, he appeared as a guest on a play-through of ScratchPad Publishing's Dusk City Outlaws, alongside Elisa Teague, Tom Lommel, Spencer Crittendon, and game designer Rodney Thompson.[9]
Star Wars career
A lifelong Star Wars fan, Witwer provided both his voice and likeness for lead character Galen Marek / Starkiller (Darth Vader's secret apprentice) in the 2008 video game Star Wars: The Force Unleashed and 2010 sequel Star Wars: The Force Unleashed II. He also voiced Darth Sidious (Emperor Palpatine) in the first game, and reprised it for the games Disney Infinity 3.0 and Battlefront and for the original airing of season 2 premier of Star Wars Rebels [10], however in 2019 the role was re-dubbed by Ian McDiarmid who portrayed Palpatine in the films and in Rebels Season 4. Witwer also reprises his role as Darth Maul in Rebels.[11]
For Star Wars: The Clone Wars, Witwer had also vocally performed the Son in a three episode story arc (known as the Mortis trilogy) in season 3 as well as the iconic former Sith Darth Maul in the season 4 finale episodes and in four episodes of season 5. He also lent his voice for Maul in other projects such as the Star Wars: Episode I Brisk commercial as well as the Cartoon Network special Lego Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Out, and again for Star Wars Rebels.
Sam attended The Clone Wars season 5 Red Carpet Premier in Orlando, Florida on August 24, 2012 during Celebration VI along with some of his co-stars Matt Lanter, James Arnold Taylor, Dee Bradley Baker, Tom Kane, Daniel Logan, Stephen Stanton and Ashley Eckstein, as well as Supervising Director Dave Filoni. During Celebration VI, he also had his own panel called Sam Witwer "The Maul Within" on August 26, 2012. In 2013, he attended for the first time the annual event, Star Wars Weekends at Disney's Hollywood Studios in Orlando, Florida for a three-day weekend and fans praised him for his roles in The Force Unleashed games and on The Clone Wars. During the live show "Behind the Force", Sam showed his acting skills by saying one or two lines of the characters that he's played in the Star Wars universe.
Sam also guest voiced an alien as well as a stormtrooper during the siege of Maz Kanata's palace in Star Wars: The Force Awakens.
In 2018, Witwer reprised his portrayal as Darth Maul and performed the voice acting role for the character in Solo: A Star Wars Story, marking the sixth project for which Witwer voices Darth Maul, and the first live-action performance.
Music career
Witwer serves as the front-man for the band The Crashtones, whose first studio album Colorful of the Stereo was released February 15, 2006.[12] Witwer released a new album May 7, 2019 entitled Revenge of the Crashtones.
Filmography
Film
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2006 | Crank | Shootout Henchman | |
| 2007 | The Mist | Private Jessup | |
| 2008 | Pathology | Party Boy | |
| 2009 | Gamer | Social Worker | |
| 2010 | The United Monster Talent Agency | Dracula | Short film |
| 2010 | No God, No Master | Eugenio Ravarini | |
| 2011 | The Return of Joe Rich | Joe Neiderman | |
| 2014 | Space Dogs: Adventure to the Moon | Kazbek (voice) | English dub |
| 2015 | Tales of Halloween | Hank | Short film |
| 2015 | Justice League: Throne of Atlantis | Ocean Master (voice)[13][14] | Direct-to-video |
| 2015 | Wrestling Isn't Wrestling | Chyna | Short film |
| 2015 | Star Wars: The Force Awakens | Alien, Stormtrooper, Additional Characters (voices)[14] | |
| 2016 | Rogue One | Stormtrooper, Additional Characters (voices)[14] | |
| 2016 | Officer Downe | Burnham | |
| 2018 | Solo: A Star Wars Story | Darth Maul (voice)[15] | Cameo |
| 2019 | Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker | Additional Voices |
Television
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2001 | ER | Tommy | Episode: "Fear of Commitment" |
| 2001, 2003 | JAG | Beasley, Sonar Operator | 2 episodes |
| 2001 | Arliss | Mourner | Episode: "Of Cabbages and Kings" |
| 2002 | Dark Angel | Marrow | Episode: "Love in Vein" |
| 2002 | She Spies | Jason | Episode: "Daddy's Girl" |
| 2003 | Angel | John Stoler | Episode: "Shiny Happy People" |
| 2003 | The Lyon's Den | Bryce Cherot / Chucke Porter | Episode: "Duty to Save" |
| 2003 | Star Trek: Enterprise | Sloth #3 | Episode: "The Shipment" |
| 2004 | Cold Case | James Creighton | Episode: "The Plan" |
| 2004 | NCIS | Staff Sgt. Rafael | Episode: "Split Decision" |
| 2004 | Star Trek: New Voyages | Guardian's Voice | Episode: "In Harm's Way" |
| 2004–05 | Battlestar Galactica | Crashdown | 11 episodes |
| 2006 | Dexter | Neil Perry | 3 episodes |
| 2006 | Bones | Mitchell Downs | Episode: "The Titan On The Track" |
| 2007 | It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia | Muscular Guy in Store | Episode: "Dennis and Dee's Mom Is Dead" |
| 2007 | Shark | Richard Lee Franco | Episode: "Every Breath You Take" |
| 2007–08 | CSI: Crime Scene Investigation | Officer Casella | 2 episodes |
| 2008–09 | Smallville | Davis Bloome | Main role (Season 8), 12 episodes |
| 2010 | The Walking Dead | Tank Soldier (uncredited) | Episode: "Days Gone Bye" |
| 2011–14 | Being Human | Aidan Waite | 52 episodes Nominated–Canadian Screen Award for Best Actor in a Continuing Leading Dramatic Role |
| 2011–2020 | Star Wars: The Clone Wars | The Son / Darth Maul (voices) | 9 episodes Nominated–Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Performer in an Animated Program |
| 2012 | Lego Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Out | Darth Maul / Emperor Palpatine (voices) | Television special |
| 2014 | Grimm | Max Robbins | Episode: "The Show Must Go On" |
| 2015–18 | Star Wars Rebels | Darth Maul / Emperor Palpatine (voices) | 7 episodes |
| 2015 | Stalker | Jamie Tolliver | Episode: "Love Kills" |
| 2015 | Rosewood | Heath Casablanca | Episode: "Aortic Atresia and Art Installations" |
| 2016 | Once Upon a Time | Mr. Hyde | 5 episodes |
| 2017 | Electric Dreams | Chris | Episode: "Real Life" |
| 2018–2020 | Supergirl | Benjamin Lockwood / Agent Liberty | 18 episodes |
| 2018–2020 | Star Wars Resistance | Hugh Sion (voice) | 3 episodes |
| 2019–present | Riverdale | Mr. Chipping | |
| 2020 | DC Universe All Stars | Himself / Host | 6 episodes |
Video games
| Year | Title | Voice role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | Star Wars: The Force Unleashed | Starkiller, Emperor Palpatine[16] | Also likeness[17][14] |
| 2008 | Soulcalibur IV | Starkiller | English version[14] |
| 2010 | Star Wars: The Force Unleashed II | Starkiller, Emperor Palpatine | Also likeness[17][14] |
| 2012 | Kinect Star Wars | Emperor Palpatine | [14] |
| 2015 | Disney Infinity 3.0 | Darth Maul, Emperor Palpatine | |
| 2015 | Star Wars Battlefront | Emperor Palpatine | |
| 2016 | Lego Star Wars: The Force Awakens | Emperor Palpatine | |
| 2017 | Star Wars Battlefront II | Darth Maul, Emperor Palpatine | |
| 2019 | Days Gone | Deacon St. John | Also likeness[17] |
| 2019 | Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order | Emperor Palpatine | Cameo |
References
- ^ Rose, Mike (October 20, 2018). "Today's top celebrity birthdays list for October 20, 2018". The Plain Dealer. Retrieved October 20, 2018.
- ^ Abrams, Natalie (June 28, 2010). "Sam Witwer Joins U.S. Cast of Being Human". TV Guide. Retrieved November 7, 2015.
- ^ Petski, Denise (March 15, 2016). "'Once Upon A Time' Casts Duo For Mental Hospital Arc". Deadline. Retrieved September 24, 2016.
- ^ Agard, Chancellor (July 17, 2018). "Smallville alum Sam Witwer joins Supergirl season 4 as Agent Liberty". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved July 17, 2018.
- ^ "Order 66 episode forum". d20radio.com.
- ^ Sam Witwer extended interview from Dragon Age - TableTop ep. 19 on YouTube
- ^ Dungeons & Dragons (November 16, 2016), Episode 29 - Dice, Camera, Action with Dungeons & Dragons, retrieved June 23, 2017
- ^ Dungeons & Dragons (July 12, 2017), Episode 55 - Dice, Camera, Action with Dungeons & Dragons, retrieved October 24, 2017
- ^ Dusk City Outlaws Actual Play: The Stonesetter Job Part 1 on YouTube
- ^ Rad, Chloi (April 18, 2015). "Star Wars Celebration: Sam Witwer Reprises Role As Palpatine In Star Wars Rebels". IGN. Ziff Davis, LLC. Retrieved November 7, 2015.
- ^ Avalanche Software. Disney Infinity 3.0. Scene: Closing credits, 5:39 in, Featuring the Voice Talents of.
- ^ Sotonoff, Jamie (April 28, 2014). "Glenview native Sam Witwer moving on from vampire role". Daily Herald. Retrieved April 7, 2016.
- ^ "Warner Bros. Names Two New DC Animated Films to Follow JUSTICE LEAGUE: THRONE OF ATLANTIS". newsarama.com. Retrieved December 21, 2016.
- ^ a b c d e f g https://www.behindthevoiceactors.com/Sam-Witwer/
- ^ "The Solo: A Star Wars Story Ending Explained". GamesRadar. May 17, 2018. Retrieved May 19, 2018.
- ^ "Sam Witwer Biography". IMDB.com. Archived from the original on November 4, 2011.
- ^ a b c Stuart, Keith (October 7, 2010). "Star Wars, Sam Witwer, and the art of video game acting". The Guardian. Retrieved April 27, 2017.
External links
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