Editing Dan Gilvezan

{{short description|American actor (born 1950)}}
{{Infobox person
| name         = Dan Gilvezan
| image        = Dan Gilvezan 2013.jpg
| caption      = Gilvezan at the 2013 [[Florida Supercon]]
| birth_name   = Daniel John Gilvezan
| birth_date   = {{Birth date and age|1950|10|26}}
| birth_place  = [[St. Louis, Missouri]], [[United States|U.S.]]
| death_date   =
| death_place  =
| alma_mater   = [[Webster University]] (BA)<br>[[The Catholic University of America]] (MA)
| occupation   = Actor
| years_active = 1975{{endash}}present
| spouse       =
| children     = 1
| website      =
| agent        = [http://dpntalent.com/animation-interactive/ DPN]
}}

'''Daniel John Gilvezan''' (born October 26, 1950) is an American actor, known for playing [[Spider-Man|Peter Parker / Spider-Man]] in the 1981 animated series ''[[Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends]]'' and [[Bumblebee (Transformers)|Bumblebee]] in the original 1984-1987 ''[[The Transformers (TV series)|The Transformers]]'' series.

==Early life and career==
Gilvezan was born in [[St. Louis, Missouri]]. He graduated from Webster University with a B.A. in drama and later earned a master's degree from The Catholic University of America. Soon afterwards he began touring with the [[National Players]] company in Washington D.C. From the mid-to-late 1970s, he appeared in plays in summer stock, dinner theater, and children's theater. In 1973 Gilvezan performed in [[Wayside Theatre]]'s touring group along with [[Kathy Bates]].<ref name=folktales>{{cite news | title=Virginia Folk Tales Presented in all Local Elementary Schools | work=Martinsburg Journal | date=December 3, 1973 | author=May, Peggy | pages=5}}</ref><ref name=wtot>{{cite web | url=https://www.allaboutwayside.com/wayside-theatre-on-tour | title=Wayside Theatre on Tour | publisher=allaboutwayside.com | accessdate=May 18, 2023 | author=Laster, James H.}}</ref>

In 1980, while doing an on-camera commercial he met an agent from The Tisherman agency and signed on with them. His first voice-over role was as Spider-Man in ''[[Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends]]'', which continued for three seasons.

In 1984, he voiced [[Bumblebee (Transformers)|Bumblebee]] on ''[[Transformers series|Transformers]]''.
According to an interview in the Transformers Collectors Club magazine, Gilvezan auditioned for both the part of Spike Witwicky and the part of Bumblebee in ''The Transformers'', but was only given the role of Bumblebee because the producers did not want the two characters to be played by the same person.<ref>{{Cite journal | title = The TCC Presents... | journal = Transformers Collectors Club Magazine| volume = 1 | issue = 41 | page= 3 |date = October–November 2011}}</ref> Dan Gilvezan also voiced Outback, Hot Spot and Snapdragon on the show and reprised Bumblebee in the 1986 feature film ''[[The Transformers: The Movie]]''.

Gilvezan also worked on ''[[Jem (TV series)|Jem]]'', providing a few guest roles on various episodes, though he did play (with a British accent) a recurring character called Sean Harrison, one of Kimber's many crushes, who almost proposed to her at the end of the second season.

Later, he voiced [[Slip Stream (G.I. Joe)|Slip Stream]] on ''[[G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero|G.I. Joe]]'', Brick Bradley/Bugman on ''[[Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (1987 TV series)|Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles]]'' for two episodes, as well as Dirk Courage in ''[[Spiral Zone]]''. Gilvezan also played Cooler in Hanna-Barbera's ''[[Pound Puppies (1986 TV series)|Pound Puppies]]'' TV series, Questar on ''[[Dino-Riders]]'', Rolf in ''[[The Legend of Prince Valiant]]'' and [[Dennis the Menace (U.S. comics)|Henry Mitchell]] and Ruff the Dog on the short-lived ''[[All-New Dennis the Menace|The All-New Dennis the Menace]]'' series.

Gilvezan returned to the Spider-Man Universe to lend his voice to [[Spider-Man 2099|Miguel O'Hara/Spider-Man 2099]] in ''[[Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions]]''. In an interview with 2D-X.com, he stated "After a 25 year hiatus, I feel I finally have a grasp of the character. Seriously, the whole experience has been a delight." Gilvezan later reprised his role as Bumblebee in the video game ''[[Transformers: Devastation]]''.

Gilvezan voiced [[Pat Dugan]] in the [[direct-to-video]] film ''[[Justice League: Gods and Monsters]]''.

Gilvezan is also a published author, having written books such as ''Drowned in the Grenadine'', a fictional story of a failed actor seeking to make a comeback, and ''Bumblebee and Me: Life as a G1 Transformer'', an autobiographical recollection of his work on the original ''Transformers'' animated series and its effect on his life and career.

==Television guest starring roles==
He has also guest starred on many television shows, including ''[[The Bernie Mac Show]]'', ''[[NYPD Blue]]'', ''[[Sabrina the Teenage Witch (1996 TV series)|Sabrina, the Teenage Witch]]'', ''[[Family Ties]]'', ''[[ALF (TV series)|ALF]]'', ''[[Thirtysomething (TV series)|thirtysomething]]'', ''[[Punky Brewster]]'', ''[[Archie Bunker's Place]]'', ''[[Newhart]]'', ''[[Who's the Boss?]]'', ''[[Moonlighting (TV series)|Moonlighting]]'', ''[[Normal, Ohio]]'', ''[[Perfect Strangers (U.S. TV series)|Perfect Strangers]]'', ''[[Sisters (U.S. TV series)|Sisters]]'', ''[[3rd Rock from the Sun]]'', ''[[Step by Step (TV series)|Step by Step]]'', ''[[Evening Shade]]'', ''[[Alice (American TV series)|Alice]]'', ''[[Bette (TV series)|Bette]]'', ''[[Bones (TV series)|Bones]]'' and ''[[Boston Legal]]''.

Gilvezan played a reporter on two episodes of ''[[Hill Street Blues]]'', appeared as Kent Beudine on several episodes of ''[[Diagnosis Murder]]'' and starred as Skip Seville on ''[[She-Wolf of London (TV series)|She-Wolf of London]]''. Between 1981 and 1988, he appeared in commercials as the spokesperson for [[Jack in the Box]] restaurants, attempting to compare their menu items to those of [[McDonald's]] and other fast-food chains, to no avail; hence the slogan of "There's No Comparison" was used at the time.

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
*[http://www.dangilvezan.com/ Dan Gilvezan Official website]
*{{IMDb name|id=0319737|name=Dan Gilvezan}}
 
{{s-start}}
{{succession box | before = Ted Schwartz | title = Voice or portrayal of [[Spider-Man]] | years = 1982-1983 | after = [[Christopher Daniel Barnes]]}}
{{succession box | before = None | title = Voice of [[Bumblebee (Transformers)|Bumblebee]] | years = 1984-1986 | after =  [[Mark Ryan (actor)|Mark Ryan]]}}
{{s-end}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gilvezan, Dan}}
[[Category:1950 births]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:American male voice actors]]
[[Category:American male television actors]]
[[Category:American male video game actors]]
[[Category:Male actors from St. Louis]]
[[Category:20th-century American male actors]]
[[Category:21st-century American male actors]]
[[Category:Webster University alumni]]