George Newbern (born December 30, 1964) 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, George Newbern is the son of Betty, a Spanish teacher, and David Newbern, a radiologist. Newbern 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, at age 12 in 1976. 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.
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). Newbern 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 voices a role in the cartoon series The Pirates of Dark Water, and he has done voiceovers in 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. He is also a prolific narrator of audiobooks, with narration credits on nearly 500 titles.Audio books narrated by George Newbern at Audible website
Personal life Newbern and actress Marietta DePrima met in the mid-1980s. They graduated together at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois, where DePrima was a member of Kappa Alpha Theta. The couple married in 1990 and have three children.
Filmography
Film Year Title Role Notes 1986 My Little Girl Woody 1987 Adventures in Babysitting Dan Lynch Double Switch Bart / Matt Television film 1988 Paramedics Uptown Switching Channels Siegenthaler It Takes Two Travis Rogers 1991 Father of the Bride Bryan MacKenzie 1992 Little Sister Mike 1993 Doorways Dr. Thomas Mason Television film Doppelganger Patrick Highsmith Television film Torch Song Wedge Television film 1994 Power Play Justin Avery I Spy Returns Bennett Robinson Television film Witness to the Execution Phillip Tyler Television film 1995 Father of the Bride Part II Bryan MacKenzie Theodore Rex Theodore RexVoice A green check mark indicates that a role has been confirmed using a screenshot (or collage of screenshots) of a title's list of voice actors and their respective characters found in its credits or other reliable sources of information. 1996 Far Harbor Jordan The Evening Star Tommy Horton 1998 Twice Upon a Time Joe Television film The Simple Life of Noah Dearborn Christian Nelson Television film 1999 Friends and Lovers Ian Wickam 2000 If These Walls Could Talk 2 Tom Television film 2001 The Sons of Mistletoe Jimmy Adams Television film 2003 Kids' Ten Commandments: Stolen Gearts Matthew Voice, direct-to-video 2005 Buffalo Dreams Dr. Nick Townsend Television film 2006 Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children Sephiroth Voice 2007 A Dennis the Menace Christmas Henry Mitchell 2008 Fireflies in the Garden Jimmy Batman: Gotham Knight Clark Kent, Man in Black, Guido, Man, Youth 3Voice 2009 The Patient George Dadnapped Neal Morris Television film Locker 13 Robert Diener Segment: "Midnight Blues" Saw VI Harold Abbott 2010 Superman/Shazam!: The Return of Black Adam Clark Kent/Superman Voice, direct-to-video 2011 The Heart of Christmas Dr. Sandler Television film 2012 3 Day Test Martin Taylor Direct-to-video Monster High: Escape from Skull Shores Andy Beast Voice, television film Superman vs. The Elite Clark Kent/Superman Voice, direct-to-video 2014 Justice League: War Steve Trevor Voice, direct-to-video 2015 Justice League: Throne of Atlantis Steve Trevor Voice, direct-to-video 2016 Pup Star Bark Voice, direct-to-video 2017 Pup Star: Better 2Gether Bark Voice, direct-to-video I Am Elizabeth Smart Ed Smart Television film2018 Brimming With Love Addison Rickford Television film 2019 Justice League vs. the Fatal Five Kal-El / Clark Kent / Superman Voice, direct-to-video 2020 Father of the Bride, Part 3(ish) Bryan MacKenzie Short film
Television Year Title Role Notes 1982 The Blue and the Gray Pvt Lawrence Jones (Union deserter at Bull Run) Miniseries 1986 Family Ties Eric Episode: "My Brother's Keeper" 1986–1992 Designing Women Payne McIlroy 4 episodes 1990 Poochinski Det. Robert McKay TV pilot Working Girl Everett Rutledge 12 episodes 1991–1993 The Pirates of Dark Water RenVoice 1994-1995 The Boys Are Back Mike Hanson18 episodes 1995 Courthouse Sean 5 episodes 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 Chicago Hope Dr. Scott Frank 6 episodes 1998 From the Earth to the Moon Stuart Roosa Miniseries Friends Danny 3 episodes 2000 Bull Robert "Ditto" Roberts III 20 episodes 2001–2004 Justice League Clark Kent / SupermanVoice, main role 2002 Providence Owen Frank 21 episodes 2003 Static Shock Clark Kent / Superman Voice, episode: "Toys in the Hood" 2004 Boston Legal Dr. Allen Konigsberg Episode: "Loose Lips" CSI: Crime Scene Investigation Dr. Todd Coombs Episode: "Bloodlines" Johnny Bravo Man, Waiter, Moustache Man Voice, episode: "Get Shovelized/T Is for Trouble" 2005 Las Vegas Matt Monroe Episode: "For Sail by Owner" 2004–2006 Justice League Unlimited Clark Kent / Superman, Bizarro Voice, main role2005-2006 Reunion Paul Phillips Recurring role, five episodes 2006 Cold Case Bill Huxley (1979) Episode: "The Key" 2006–2008 The Batman Clark Kent / Superman Voice, 4 episodes 2008 CSI: Miami Kevin Weaver Episode: "To Kill a Predator" Ben 10: Alien Force Frank Tennyson Voice, episode: "What Are Little Girls Made Of" Grey's Anatomy Stan Mercer Episode: "There's No 'I' in Team" Ghost Whisperer Roger Gardner Episode: "Ball & Chain" Jericho President John Tomarchio Episode: "Condor" 2009 Criminal Minds 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" 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 Hot in Cleveland Jordan 2 episodes 2012–2018 Scandal Charlie Recurring role 2015 Granite Flats Scottie Andrews 8 episodes 2017 Grimm Julian Levy Episode: "The Son Also Rises" 2018–2019 Law & Order: Special Victims Unit Dr. Al Pollack 4 episodes 2022 Reboot Anders Episode: "Step Right Up" 2022 Close Enough Sam Snood the Science Dude Voice, episode: "Bridgette the Brain" 2023 Record of Ragnarok HerculesVoice
Video games Year Title Role Notes 2003 Final Fantasy X-2 Nooj 2005 Kingdom Hearts IISephiroth 2007 Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII 2008 Dissidia Final Fantasy 2011 Dissidia 012 Final Fantasy 2011 Star Wars: The Old Republic Commander Naughlen, Master Volryder, Captain Perovius, Kon Yel, Lieutenant Tasser, Scientist Uncredited 2013 Injustice: Gods Among UsClark Kent / Kal-El / Superman 2016 DC Universe Online 2017 Injustice 2 2018 Dissidia Final Fantasy NTSephiroth Mobius Final Fantasy 2022 MultiVersus Clark Kent / Kal-El / Superman
References
External links
Voice chasers Interview with George Newbern on Voiceover Role in Superman vs the Elite