Wayne Knight

*Wayne Knight*
Wayne Knight
	File:Newmanseinfeld.JPG Wayne Knight in his signature role of Newman in the popular TV series Seinfeld.

Wayne Knight (born August 7, 1955) is an American actor, known for his roles as Newman in the TV sitcom Seinfeld, Dennis Nedry in Jurassic Park, and Stan Podolak in Space Jam with Michael Jordan. Bespectacled, husky-voiced and heavily built (though he has lost weight in recent years), Knight has been one of Hollywood's busiest and most recognizable character actors since the early-1990s.

Biography

Early life

Knight was born in Cartersville, Georgia, where he grew up, and was an undergraduate at the University of Georgia where a professor once told him that if he loved the theatre, he should stay fat. He left the college as an honor student but one credit shy of a degree to pursue his career at the Barter Theatre in Virginia. After an internship there, he joined the company and left with Equity card in hand to take on New York City. Two years later he had his first role on Broadway.

Career

Knight has had prominent film roles, such as in JFK by Oliver Stone and in the infamous interrogation scene in Basic Instinct. Also, due to the latter, he was the first person to be cast in Jurassic Park after director Steven Spielberg saw him in the scene. Knight was cast as the bumbling InGen Corporation's chief programmer for the park and spy for Biosyn, Dennis Nedry. He also appeared in Dead Again, To Die For, Space Jam, and Dirty Dancing.

During the mid-to-late 1990s he simultaneously played prominent supporting roles on three different TV series on NBC (Seinfeld, 3rd Rock and Against the Grain, featuring the then unknown Ben Affleck), an unusual hat trick for television. He also appeared as a regular on two sketch comedy series, The Edge for Fox and Assaulted Nuts for Cinemax and Channel 4 in the UK.

Knight has appeared on Broadway in the plays Gemini, Mastergate, Art, and most recently in Sweet Charity with Christina Applegate. During filming of an episode of Seinfeld, Knight felt what he thought to be angina pains and sought the help of a cardiologist who told him that he was morbidly obese, had high blood pressure and was near diabetic. The actor then took on a serious program involving diet, exercise and outside support. He eventually lost 117 lbs (53 kg). Currently, he maintains about 75-80 lbs (34-36 kg) of that loss.

In Cheaper by the Dozen, he made his first film appearance in his new, slim self. Knight is now currently voicing the cat Mister Blik on the Nickelodeon cartoon Catscratch. He also voices the dragon Dojo Kanojo Cho in the Kids' WB! animated series Xiaolin Showdown. He also voiced the Evil Emperor Zurg on Buzz Lightyear of Star Command on Toon Disney and Disney Channel, Al McWhiggin, the toy store manager of Al's Toy Barn, in Toy Story 2. Tantor in Tarzan, and Demetrius in Hercules and also made guest appearances on The Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy as Jack-O-Lantern and Brandy and Mr. Whiskers as Mr. Cantarious the snail.

Knight recently completed a pilot for the improv comedy series Thank God You're Here for NBC.

Selected filmography

External links

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