Samuel E. Wright

Template:Short description Template:Use mdy dates Template:Infobox person Samuel Ernest Wright (November 20, 1946 – May 24, 2021)<ref name = THR>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> was an American actor. 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",<ref name="Noire">Template:Cite news</ref> 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 the 2000 CGI/live-action film Dinosaur.

Early life

Wright was born on November 20, 1946, in Camden, South Carolina.<ref name = THR/><ref name = NYT>Template:Cite news</ref> He was a student at Camden High School, where he was involved with sports and the arts.<ref name=Legacy>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Career

In 1968, Wright moved to New York City to pursue his acting career full time.<ref name = NYT/> Wright originated the part of "Sam" in Over Here! on Broadway<ref name="playbill news">Template:Cite news</ref> (1974). In addition, on Broadway, Wright replaced Ben Vereen as the Leading Player in Pippin<ref name = THR/> (1972).

Wright played Enos' partner Officer Turk Adams in the TV series Enos, the Dukes of Hazzard spin-off in 1980–81.<ref name="d" /> Wright was nominated for a Tony Award in 1984 for Best Featured Actor in a Musical for his performance in The Tap Dance Kid.<ref name="NYT" /> He portrayed jazz trumpeter and composer Dizzy Gillespie in the 1988 Clint Eastwood film Bird.<ref name="bbc">Template:Cite news</ref>

He originated the role of Mayor Joe Clark in Mule Bone (1991).<ref name="play">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> He was nominated for a Tony Award 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.<ref name="NYT" />

He also played the part of Jericho on the short-lived Fox television program Jonny Zero in 2005.<ref name="d">Template:Cite news</ref>

Music and voice-over work

Wright narrated the 1988 documentary film Thelonious Monk: Straight, No Chaser, produced by Clint Eastwood.<ref>See film credits on IMDB.</ref>

Wright performed and recorded several songs for the Walt Disney Pictures animated film The Little Mermaid, as Sebastian the Crab,<ref name="latimes1989"/> and is widely known for the songs "Under the Sea", and "Kiss the Girl". He voiced Sebastian in The Little MermaidTemplate:'s sequels and spin-offs, including The Little Mermaid 2: Return to the Sea and The Little Mermaid: Ariel's Beginning (the latter being his final voice role), and recorded several albums in reggae style, among them Sebastian from The Little Mermaid and Sebastian: Party Gras!.<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> Wright also voiced Kron, the leader of the Iguanadon herd, Dinosaur, another Disney animated film. <ref name="d"/>

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.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Personal life and death

Wright met his wife Amanda Wright, a dance director, at a production of William Shakespeare's The Two Gentlemen of Verona in London's West End.<ref name = NYT/> They married on June 14, 1974.<ref name=Legacy/> Together they had three children: Keely, Dee, and Sam Jr.<ref name="latimes1989">Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="latimes1991">Template:Cite news</ref>

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.<ref name="sebastianrip">Template:Cite news</ref>

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes	Template:Abbr
1988	Bird	Dizzy Gillespie		<ref name="cinemablend">Template:Cite news</ref>
	Me and Him	Paramedic #1
1989	The Little Mermaid	Sebastian (voice)		<ref name="d"/>
1993	Strapped	Dave		citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
2000	Dinosaur	Kron (voice)		<ref name="cinemablend"/>
	The Little Mermaid II: Return to the Sea	Sebastian (voice)	Direct-to-video	<ref name="cinemablend"/>
2008	The Little Mermaid: Ariel's Beginning		Direct-to-video; Final role	<ref name="cinemablend"/>

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes	Template:Abbr
1976	Ball Four	C. B. Travis	5 episodes	<ref name = THR/>
1979	Hollow Image	Scotty	Television film	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
1980–1981	Enos	Officer Turk Adams	18 episodes	<ref name="d"/>
1982	The Neighborhood	Moving Man	Television film	<ref name="tcm"/>
1985	Brass	Captain Michael Shore
1986	The Gift of Amazing Grace	Morris	Episode: "The Gift of Amazing Grace"
	The Cosby Show	Dr. Dan Morgan	Episode: "Close to Home"	<ref name = THR/>
1991	Separate but Equal	Artis Patterson	TV mini-series	<ref name="tcm"/>
	Sebastian's Caribbean Jamboree	Sebastian (voice)	Television special
	Sebastian's Party Gras!			<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
1992–1994	The Little Mermaid		31 episodes	<ref name="bbc"/><ref name="d"/>
1992	Raw Toonage		Episode: "Draining Cats and Dogs/Mars vs. Man"	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
1993	Alex Haley's Queen	Alfred	2 episodes	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
	Marsupilami	Sebastian (voice)	8 episodes	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
1994–2000	Law & Order	Jerome Osborn, Dubois, and Morris Stokely	3 episodes	<ref name="huffpost"/>
1997	New York Undercover	Gil Jefferson	Episode: "Fade Out"	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
2001–2002	House of Mouse	Sebastian (voice)	6 episodes	<ref name="syfy"/>

Video games

Year	Title	Role	Template:Abbr
1992	Ariel the Little Mermaid	Sebastian	<ref name="syfy">Template:Cite news</ref>
1997	Ariel's Story Studio		<ref name="bva"/>
1999	Disney's Arcade Frenzy
2000	The Little Mermaid II: The Video Game

Theatre

Year	Title	Role	Notes	Template:Abbr
1971	Jesus Christ Superstar	Reporter, Leper, Apostle	Broadway
1971, 1973	Two Gentlemen of Verona	Valentine, Performer	Broadway, West End	<ref name="Tony award"/><ref name="play"/>
1972	Pippin	Leading player	Broadway	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
1974	Over Here!	Sam		<ref name="playbill news"/><ref name="play"/>
1983	The Tap Dance Kid	William Sheridan		<ref name="bbc"/><ref name="playbill news"/>
1989	Welcome to the Club	Bruce Aiken		<ref name="Tony award"/>
1991	Mule Bone	Mayor Joe Clark		<ref name="play"/>
1997	Promises, Promises	Mr. Kirkeby	Off-Broadway	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
	The Lion King	Mufasa	Broadway	<ref name="bbc"/>

Discography

• Sebastian from The Little Mermaid (1990)
• Sebastian: Party Gras! (1991)
• The Little Mermaid: Songs from the Sea (1992)

External links

• [https://www.imdb.com/{{#if: 0942789

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• Samuel E. Wright at AllMusic
• {{#if:Samuel E. Wright|Template:PAGENAMEBASE discography at Discogs|{{#if:Template:Wikidata|Template:Wikidata Template:PAGENAMEBASE discography at DiscogsTemplate:EditAtWikidata|Template:PAGENAMEBASE discography at Discogs}}}}