Mike Henry (voice actor)
Mike Henry | |
---|---|
Born | Michael Robert Henry November 7, 1965 Pontiac, Michigan, U.S. |
Education | Collegiate School Washington and Lee University |
Occupations |
|
Years active | 1989–present |
Spouses | Linda Murray
(m. 2002; div. 2005)Sara Voelker (m. 2007) |
Children | 2 |
Website | www |
Michael Robert Henry
Early life and education
Henry was born in Pontiac, Michigan,[5] on November 7, 1965, to artist parents and raised in Richmond, Virginia, with his younger brother Patrick. Their parents divorced when Henry was eight years old and the boys were primarily raised by their mother.[6] He was awarded a scholarship and attended the nearby preparatory Collegiate School.[6] Henry graduated from Washington and Lee University (1988) where he earned his B.A. in history and served as class president his sophomore-senior years. Although interested in comedy, Henry never believed he could make a career of it so instead opted for more "business stuff".[7]
Career
Early career
At 24, after a brief career in advertising, Henry moved to California to pursue acting. There he began taking classes at the Groundlings Theater and performing stand-up comedy.[8] After three years in Los Angeles, Henry returned to Virginia to shoot short comedy films that he wrote and acted in.[9] During that time, Henry often acted in his brother Patrick's student films at the Rhode Island School of Design, where he was introduced to his brother's college roommate, Seth MacFarlane.[6] Henry recalled in 2018, "We immediately hit it off and cracked each other up and kept in touch."[8]
Henry later moved to New York City where he acted in commercials, studied improvisation at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theater[10] and wrote, produced, starred in and co-directed (with his brother Patrick) comedy shorts for Lorne Michaels' Burly Bear Network.[11]
Family Guy
Henry’s break came in 1998, when MacFarlane contacted him about being part of a new show called Family Guy. Mike agreed and joined the project as a writer and voice actor. Henry has stated that the inspiration for Cleveland's voice was based on "this guy that [he] had once played basketball with".
Two episodes into the second season, Family Guy was taken off the network's permanent schedule and shown irregularly thereafter. The show returned in March 2000 to finish airing the second season which contained 21 episodes; all the cast came back for the series return. During its second season, Fox publicly announced that the show had been cancelled.[14] Despite the announced cancellation, in 2001 Fox decided to make the third season.[15] During the third season, Fox announced that the show was canceled for good.[16][17] Soon after Family Guy was cancelled, Henry and his brother created the popular web series Kicked in the Nuts!, a spoof of hidden camera shows. Family Guy was renewed again in 2005 for its fourth season due to strong DVD sales and its syndication on basic cable networks.[18][19] Once again Henry and the rest of the cast came back for their voice works. In October 2017, Family Guy was renewed for its 16th season.[20]
The Cleveland Show
On September 27, 2009,
Departure from voicing Cleveland
On June 26, 2020, after twenty-one years of voicing the character, Henry announced on
In September 2020, part of Henry’s roles was still recorded before stepping down while there is backlash from fans demanding him to return to voice Cleveland.
Personal life
Henry married Linda Murray in 2002. They divorced in 2005 after three years of marriage.[6] They have a son together named Jack.[6] Henry has been married to his second wife, Sara Voelker, since 2007.[6] They have a daughter together named Josie.[6] Henry and Voelker currently reside in Henrico, Virginia.
Filmography
Film
Year | Title | Role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
2005 | Stewie Griffin: The Untold Story | Cleveland Brown, Herbert, Bruce, The Greased-up Deaf Guy, Fred Rogers, Various characters (voices) |
Direct-to-DVD ;Also co-producer |
2012 | Ted | Southern Newscaster | Cameo |
2014 | A Million Ways to Die in the West | Cowboy | Cameo |
Television
Year | Title | Role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
1999–present | Family Guy | John Herbert, Bruce Straight, The Greased-up Deaf Guy, Various characters (voices) |
Also co-producer, producer, supervising producer, story editor, executive story editor, consultant, and writer; Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Animated Program (2008) (2009)
Nominated–Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Comedy Series |
1999–2021 | Stepped down from voicing these characters on June 26, 2020 | ||
2003 | Kicked in the Nuts! | Kicked in the Nuts Guy | Also co-creator, producer, director, editor, and writer |
2003–2006 | Gilmore Girls | Ed | 4 episodes |
2005–2010 | Robot Chicken | Various characters (voices) |
4 episodes |
2005–present | American Dad! | Jackson, Various characters (voices) |
|
2007 | Scrubs | Urologist | Episode: "My Point of No Return" |
2007 | Blue Harvest | Cleveland Brown as R2-D2, Herbert as Obi-Wan Kenobi, Bruce as Greedo, Fouad as Imperial Officer, Various characters (voices) | Television film |
2009–2013 | The Cleveland Show | Cleveland Brown, Rallo Tubbs , Various characters(voices) |
88 episodes; Also co-creator, executive producer, and writer; Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Animated Program (2011)
|
2010 | Something, Something, Something, Dark Side | Cleveland Brown as R2-D2, Herbert as Obi-Wan Kenobi, Bruce as Captain Piett, Consuela, Various characters (voices) |
Television film |
2010 | Robot Chicken: Star Wars Episode III | Yaddle (voice) | Television special |
2011 | It's a Trap! | Cleveland Brown as R2-D2, Herbert as Obi-Wan Kenobi, Rallo Tubbs as Nien Nunb, Consuela as Gatekeeper Droid, Various characters (voices) |
Television film |
2011 | Night of the Hurricane | Cleveland Brown, Rallo Tubbs, Dwayne Meighan, Various characters (voices) |
Television special |
2017–present | The Orville | Dann | |
2024 | Ted | Bank Teller | Season 1 Episode 1 "Just Say Yes" |
Web
Year | Title | Role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
2008–2009 | Seth MacFarlane's Cavalcade of Cartoon Comedy | Various characters (voices) | 3 episodes |
Video games
Year | Title | Voice role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
2006 | Family Guy Video Game! | Cleveland Brown, Herbert, The Greased-up Deaf Guy, Various characters (voices) |
|
2012 | Family Guy: Back to the Multiverse | Cleveland Brown, Herbert, Consuela, Various characters (voices) |
|
2014 | Family Guy: The Quest for Stuff | Cleveland Brown, Herbert Rallo Tubbs ,Various characters (voices) |
References
- ^ "Michael R. Henry". Writers Guild of America West. Retrieved October 11, 2021.
- ^ Itzkoff, Dave (August 27, 2009). "Spinning Off Into Uncharted Cartoon Territory". The New York Times. Retrieved June 29, 2020.
Now a 43-year-old comedy producer and performer, Mr. Henry is…
- ^ Chung, Gabrielle (June 26, 2020). "Family Guy's Mike Henry Says He'll No Longer Voice Cleveland Brown Character". People.com. Retrieved June 29, 2020.
Henry, 54…
Note: Birthdate given as March 25, 1964, at "Mike Henry Biography". TV Guide. Archived from the original on September 15, 2015. - ^ "Mike Henry of "Family Guy" talks voices, gags and instinct - Campus Times". Campus Times. 2008-09-11. Retrieved 2018-05-01.
- ^ "About". Mike Henry official website. Archived from the original on August 13, 2019. Retrieved June 29, 2020.
- ^ ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2018-05-01.
- ^ "'Family Guy' voice actor visits University". PantherNOW. 2014-10-24. Retrieved 2018-05-01.
- ^ a b "Playing in 'Cleveland'". Backstage.com. Retrieved 2018-05-02.
- ^ "Welcome Back, Cleveland". Style Weekly. Richmond, Virginia. Retrieved 2018-05-02.
- ^ "Mike Henry (VI)". Metacritic. Retrieved 2018-05-02.
- ^ Burruss, Mary. "Voice of the People". Style Weekly. Richmond, Virginia. Retrieved 2018-05-10.
- ^ "Mike Henry: The Origins of Cleveland and Herbert". YouTube. Archived from the original on 2021-12-21. Retrieved 2009-04-16.
- Campus Times. September 11, 2008. Archived from the originalon October 16, 2009. Retrieved September 8, 2009.
- ^ Gilbert, Matthew (April 30, 2005). "Family Guy Returns, Just As Funny As Ever". Boston.com. Retrieved August 24, 2009.
- ^ Levin, Gary (November 18, 2003). "Family Guy may return". USAtoday.com. Retrieved September 27, 2009.
- ^ "Family Guy has finally been officially canceled by Fox". TKtv. May 16, 2002. Retrieved August 24, 2009.
- ^ McKinley, Jesse (May 2, 2005). "Canceled and Resurrected, on the Air and Onstage". The New York Times. Retrieved May 17, 2023.
- ^ James, Meg (April 13, 2005). "Fox Reuniting Itself with Family Guy". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved September 3, 2009.
- ^ Rosenthal, Phil (November 20, 2003). "Yet another Family reunion". Chicago Sun-Times. p. 53.
- ^ Levine, Daniel S. (2017-05-22). "'Family Guy' Renewed or Cancelled: Is it Coming Back for Season 16?". Heavy.com. Retrieved 2018-05-02.
- ^ "FOX Announces Fall Premiere Dates For The 2009–2010 Season". The Futon Critic. June 15, 2009. Retrieved August 23, 2009.
- ^ "Baby Not On Board". Family Guy. Season 7. Episode 4. November 2, 2008. Fox.
- ^ "'Cleveland' rocks at Fox". Archived from the original on 2012-07-03.
- ^ "Breaking News - FOX Picks Up Third Season of "The Cleveland Show"" (Press release). Fox Broadcasting. Retrieved 2018-05-03 – via TheFutonCritic.com.
- ^ Hinckley, David. "Fox announces 2013-14 fall schedule, which includes return of Kiefer Sutherland's '24'". Daily News. New York City. Retrieved 2018-05-03.
- ^ "Fox Primetime – 'The Cleveland Show' – Fact Sheet" (Press release). Fox Broadcasting. Archived from the original on January 17, 2010. Retrieved August 29, 2009.
- ^ Haring, Bruce (June 26, 2020). "'Family Guy' Voice Actor Mike Henry Stepping Down From 'Cleveland Brown' Role". Deadline. Retrieved June 26, 2020.
- ^ Otterson, Joe (June 26, 2020). "'Family Guy' Star Mike Henry Will No Longer Play Cleveland Brown". Variety. Retrieved June 26, 2020.
- ^ Swift, Andy (September 25, 2020). "Family Guy Reveals New Actor Voicing Cleveland Brown in Season 19". TVLine. Retrieved September 25, 2020.
- ^ a b Rose, Michelle. "Stars out: Liv Tyler leaves '9-1-1: Lone Star'". TV Media. Retrieved October 20, 2020.
External links
- Official website
- Mike Henry at IMDb
- Mike Henry on Twitter