Kevin Michael Richardson (born October 25, 1964) is an American actor who provides voices for a number of characters in animation and video games. He is known for his extremely deep, villainous voice and has been playing a wide variety of characters since the early 1990s. Among his many voice roles are Chairman Drek in the video game Ratchet & Clank, Tartarus in the video game Halo 2, Robert Hawkins in Static Shock, Kilowog in Green Lantern: The Animated Series, Trigon in Teen Titans and Teen Titans Go!, Captain Gantu in Lilo & Stitch, Bulkhead in Transformers Prime, Antauri in Super Robot Monkey Team Hyperforce Go!, Cleveland Brown, Jr. in The Cleveland Show, Principal Brian Lewis in American Dad!, The Shredder in the 2012 incarnation of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Dark Laser on The Fairly OddParents, Mr. Gus in Uncle Grandpa, Happy in The 7D, Crusher in Blaze and the Monster Machines and many others.
Early life
A classically trained actor and a native of the Bronx, New York, Richardson first gained recognition as one of only eight U.S. high school students selected for the National Foundation for the Arts' "Arts '82" program. As a result of this he earned a scholarship to Syracuse University and a spot on a PBS special directed by John Houseman.
Career
Richardson has usually portrayed villainous characters due to his deep and powerful voice. In 1995, he obtained his first voice role; Mayor Tilton on the animated TV version of The Mask.
His credits include Captain Gantu from Lilo & Stitch, Shnitzel in the Chowder pilot (and was later replaced by John DiMaggio), Goro in Mortal Kombat, the second voice of Skulker on Danny Phantom, Sarevok in the Baldur's Gate series, Jolee Bindo in Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, Crunch Bandicoot in the Crash Bandicoot games, Tartarus from Halo 2, Ultimate Supreme Executive Chairman Drek in Ratchet & Clank, Antauri in Super Robot Monkey Team Hyperforce Go!, Openly Gator from Queer Duck, Doctor Payne and others on The Proud Family, Dark Laser on Fairly Oddparents, Maurice from The Penguins of Madagascar, Tech E. Coyote and Slam Tasmanian on Loonatics Unleashed and the voice of Exile in the 1990s animated series Road Rovers. Richardson also replaced Keith David as the voice of Tombstone on The Spectacular Spider-Man. He provided a character voice set for Icewind Dale: Heart of Winter and Icewind Dale II. He was the voice of Heihachi in the Playstation 2 game Soul Calibur II, though he is listed in the role as Victor Stone.
In 2001, he voiced Barney Rubble on the TV animated movie The Flintstones: On the Rocks. In 2003, he voiced Trigon on the TV animated Series Teen Titans. Trigon is the Demonic King overlord, father to Raven, one of the main 5 Titan heroes. In 2004, he became the first African-American to voice the Joker in the Kids WB animated series, The Batman, a role which garnered him two Daytime Emmy Award nominations. In 2008, he did the voice of Bishop for Wolverine and the X-Men. Later, he did the voice of Nick Fury on The Super Hero Squad Show.
He often plays characters based on comedian Bill Cosby, such as on Family Guy ("Brian Does Hollywood"), where Stewie is a contestant on the comedian's Kids Say the Darndest Things; as Cosby himself on The Boondocks and playing the role of Numbuh 5's father Mr. Lincoln, who is also a homage of Cosby on Codename Kids Next Door. He also voiced Cleveland Brown, Jr. and Lester Krinklesac and numerous others on The Cleveland Show.
Richardson's voice roles (in 2011) include Panthro in the 2011 Thundercats series, Martian Manhunter on Young Justice, and Bulkhead, one of the lead characters on Transformers: Prime.
He played Kilowog in Green Lantern: Rise of the Manhunters, the video game sequel to the live-action film Green Lantern, and later reprised the role in the animated series Green Lantern: The Animated Series.
Richardson was nominated for Voice Actor of the Year by Behind the Voice Actors in 2012 and in 2013.
In 2015, Richardson provided the voice of a Nigerian king on the Simpsons episode "The Princess Guide". Later, he provided the voice of Judge Michaels in Tyler Perry's first animated film Madea's Tough Love.
Personal life
Richardson married his wife Monica in May 2006. They have two children.
Filmography
Live action
Animation
Feature films
Direct-to-video and television films
Video games
References
- Book references
- Brooks, Tim; Marsh, Earle F. (2009). The Complete Directory to Prime Time Network and Cable TV Shows 1946â€"Present (9th ed.). Random House Publishing Group. ISBN 9780307483201.Â
- Terrace, Vincent (2008). Encyclopedia of Television Shows, 1925 through 2010 (2d ed.). McFarland. ISBNÂ 9780786486410.Â
- Perlmutter, David (2014). America Toons In: A History of Television Animation. McFarland. ISBNÂ 9781476614885.Â
External links
- Official website
- Kevin Michael Richardson on Twitter
- Kevin Michael Richardson at the Internet Movie Database
- Kevin Michael Richardson at Anime News Network's encyclopedia
