fiction.wikisort.org - Actor

Samuel Ernest Wright (November 20, 1946[1] – May 24, 2021) was an American actor and singer. He was best known as the voice of Sebastian in Disney's The Little Mermaid, for which he provided the lead vocals to "Under the Sea",[2] which won the Academy Award for Best Original Song. He played Dizzy Gillespie in Bird, the biographical film about Charlie Parker. Wright also played the part of Mufasa in the original cast of The Lion King on Broadway and voiced Kron the Iguanodon in Disney's 2000 CGI/live-action film Dinosaur.

Samuel E. Wright
Wright in 2008
Born	Samuel Ernest Wright (1946-11-20)November 20, 1946 Camden, South Carolina, U.S.
Died	May 24, 2021(2021-05-24) (aged 74) Walden, New York, U.S.
Occupation	Actor, singer
Years active	1968–2008
Spouse	Amanda Wright ​ (m. 1974)​
Children	3

Early life

Wright was born on November 20, 1946, in Camden, South Carolina.[1][3] Wright was a student at Camden High School, where he was involved with sports and the arts.[4]

Career

In 1968, Wright moved to New York City to pursue his acting career full time.[3] Wright was nominated for a Tony Award in 1984 for Best Featured Actor in a Musical for his performance in The Tap Dance Kid and again in 1998 for Best Featured Actor in a Musical as the original lead actor for Mufasa in The Lion King, the Broadway version of Disney's animated classic of the same name.[3] Wright was chosen to play the Scarecrow in the 1995 Apollo Theater Revival of The Wiz alongside Whitney Houston, Keith David, and Cedric the Entertainer.[5] Wright originated the part of "Sam" in Over Here! on Broadway[6] (1974). In addition, on Broadway, Wright replaced Ben Vereen as the Leading Player in Pippin[1] (1972). He originated the role of Mayor Joe Clark in Mule Bone (1991).[7]

Wright played Enos' partner Officer Turk Adams in the TV series Enos, the Dukes of Hazzard spin-off[8] and portrayed jazz trumpeter and composer Dizzy Gillespie in Clint Eastwood film Bird.[9] He also played the part of Jericho on the short-lived Fox television program Jonny Zero.[8]

Music and voice-over work

Wright narrated the 1988 documentary film Thelonious Monk: Straight, No Chaser, produced by Clint Eastwood.[10]

Wright performed and recorded several songs for the Walt Disney animated film The Little Mermaid, as Sebastian the Crab,[11] and is widely known for the songs "Under the Sea", and "Kiss the Girl". He voiced Sebastian in The Little Mermaid's sequels and spin-offs, including The Little Mermaid 2 and The Little Mermaid: Ariel's Beginning, and recorded several albums in reggae style, among them — Party Gras!.[12] Wright also voiced Kron, the leader of the Iguanadon herd, in another Disney animation Dinosaur.[8]

He released a soul music single in 1973, "There's Something Funny Going On" backed with "Three Hundred Pounds of Hungry" on the Paramount Records label.[13]

Personal life

Wright met his wife Amanda Wright, a dance director, at a production of Two Gentlemen of Verona in London's West End.[3] They married on June 14, 1974.[4] Together they had three children: Keely, Dee, and Sam Jr.[11][14]

Wright died from prostate cancer at his home in Walden, New York on May 24, 2021, aged 74. The cancer had been diagnosed three years earlier.[15]

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes	Ref(s)
1988	Bird	Dizzy Gillespie		[16]
	Me and Him	Paramedic #1
1989	The Little Mermaid	Sebastian (voice)		[8]
1991	Sebastian's Caribbean Jamboree		Direct-to-video	[8]
1993	Strapped	Dave		[17]
2000	Dinosaur	Kron the Iguanodon (voice)		[16]
	The Little Mermaid II: Return to the Sea	Sebastian (voice)	Direct-to-video	[16]
2008	The Little Mermaid: Ariel's Beginning		Direct-to-video; Final role	[16]

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes	Ref(s)
1976	Ball Four	C. B. Travis	5 episodes	[1]
1979	Hollow Image	Scotty	Television film	[18]
1980–1981	Enos	Officer Turk Adams	18 episodes	[8]
1982	The Neighborhood	Moving Man	Television film	[18]
1985	Brass	Captain Michael Shore	Television film	[18]
1986	The Gift of Amazing Grace	Morris	Episode: "The Gift of Amazing Grace"	[18]
	The Cosby Show	Dr. Dan Morgan	Episode: "Close to Home"	[1]
1991	Separate but Equal	Artis Patterson	TV mini-series	[18]
1992–1994	The Little Mermaid	Sebastian (voice)	31 episodes	[9][8]
1992	Raw Toonage		Episode: "Draining Cats and Dogs/Mars vs. Man"	[19]
1993	Alex Haley's Queen	Alfred	2 episodes	[20]
	Marsupilami	Sebastian (voice)	8 episodes	[21]
1994–2000	Law & Order	Jerome Osborn, Dubois, and Morris Stokely	3 episodes	[17]
1997	New York Undercover	Gil Jefferson	episode Fade Out	[22]
2001–2002	Disney's House of Mouse	Sebastian (voice)	6 episodes	[23]
2003	Mickeypalooza		Television special	[24]

Video games

Year	Title	Role	Ref(s)
1992	Ariel the Little Mermaid	Sebastian	[23]
1997	Ariel's Story Studio		[21]
1999	Disney's Arcade Frenzy		[21]
2000	The Little Mermaid II: The Video Game		[21]

Theatre

Year	Title	Role	Notes	Ref(s)
1971	Jesus Christ Superstar	Reporter, Leper, Apostle	Broadway
1971, 1973	Two Gentlemen of Verona	Valentine, Performer	Broadway, West End	[25][7]
1972	Pippin	Leading player	Broadway	[24]
1974	Over Here!	Sam	Broadway	[6][7]
1983	The Tap Dance Kid	William Sheridan	Broadway	[9][6]
1989	Welcome to the Club	Bruce Aiken	Broadway	[25]
1991	Mule Bone	Mayor Joe Clark	Broadway	[7]
1997	Promises, Promises	Mr. Kirkeby	Off-Broadway	[25]
	The Lion King	Mufasa	Broadway	[9]

Discography

• Disney's Sebastian from the Little Mermaid (1990)
• Party Gras! (1991)

References

External links

• Samuel E. Wright at IMDb
• Samuel E. Wright at AllMusic
• Samuel E. Wright discography at Discogs

На других языках

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- [en] Samuel E. Wright

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[es] Samuel E. Wright

Samuel Edward Wright más conocido como Samuel Wright (Camden, Carolina del Sur; 20 de noviembre de 1946-Walden, Nueva York; 24 de mayo de 2021)[1] fue un cantante estadounidense de ascendencia caribeña, africana y europea, es más conocido por interpretar a uno de los cangrejos más influyentes para niños, Sebastian el cangrejo en La sirenita y por interpretar la canción Bajo el mar, la cual obtuvo un Premio Óscar a la mejor canción, además interpretó una parte de Mufasa en el musical de Broadway El rey león.

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[ru] Райт, Сэмюэл Эдвард

Сэмюэл Эдвард Райт (англ. Samuel Edward Wright; 20 ноября 1946[5] ― 24 мая 2021) ― американский актер и певец. Он наиболее известен как голос Себастьяна в диснеевском анимационном фильме «Русалочка» и благодаря песне «Under the Sea»[6], которая получила премию Оскар.

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