Mike Henry (voice actor)

Last updated
Mike Henry
Mike Henry by Gage Skidmore 3.jpg
Henry at the 2011 San Diego Comic-Con
Born
Michael Robert Henry

(1965-11-07) November 7, 1965 (age 58)
Education Collegiate School
Washington and Lee University
Occupations
  • Actor
  • comedian
  • writer
  • producer
Years active1989–present
Spouses
Linda Murray
(m. 2002;div. 2005)
Sara Voelker
(m. 2007)
Children2
Website www.mikehenry.co OOjs UI icon edit-ltr-progressive.svg

Michael Robert Henry [1] (born November 7, 1965) [2] [3] is an American actor, comedian, writer, and producer. He is known for his work on the animated sitcom Family Guy , where he was a writer and producer, as well as the voice of Cleveland Brown (until 2021), Herbert, Bruce, Consuela, the Greased-up Deaf Guy, among others. Henry is also known for co-creating and starring in the spin-off The Cleveland Show (2009–2013), for which he voiced Cleveland Brown and Rallo Tubbs, among others. He is also known for his recurring role as Dann in the television series The Orville . [4]

Contents

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". [12] During the show's first four seasons, he was credited as a guest star, but beginning with season five's "Prick Up Your Ears" he has been credited as a main cast member. [13]

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]

Mike Henry in 2018 Michael Henry.jpg
Mike Henry in 2018

The Cleveland Show

On September 27, 2009, The Cleveland Show premiered on Fox. [21] The project was created and executive-produced by Henry, Seth MacFarlane and American Dad! showrunner Rich Appel. The show focused on the Family Guy character Cleveland Brown, who referenced the spin-off at the end of the Family Guy episode "Baby Not on Board". [22] The first season consisted of 22 episodes and was picked up by Fox for a second 13-episode season. The announcement was made on May 3, 2009 before the first season even premiered. [23] Due to strong ratings, Fox picked up two additional nine-episode seasons, bringing the total episode count of the show to 44. The show was renewed for a third and fourth season on May 9, 2011. [24] The series was canceled after its fourth season on May 19, 2013, [25] but reruns continue to air on FXX in the United States and on Much in Canada. The series ran for a total of four seasons and 88 episodes. [26]

Departure from voicing Cleveland

On June 26, 2020, after twenty-one years of voicing the character, Henry announced on Twitter that he was stepping down from voicing Cleveland, stating "persons of color should play characters of color." [27] [28] On September 25, 2020, it was announced that YouTube personality Arif Zahir, who is African American, would replace Henry as Cleveland, but some episodes produced before Henry's departure from the role will still see Henry voicing the character. [29] Speaking to Henry, who would continue to do other voices for the show, Zahir, who is a longtime fan of both the character and the show said, "you created something truly special, and I promise I will do my absolute best to honor your legacy." [30] To the fans he said, "I promise not to let you down." [30] Currently, there has been no word on a potential recasting of Consuela, Fouad and Rallo Tubbs, three characters of color that were voiced by Henry on the series.

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

YearTitleRoleNotes
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 CowboyCameo

Television

YearTitleRoleNotes
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;
NominatedPrimetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Animated Program (2008)
Nominated–Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Comedy Series (2009)
1999–2021 Cleveland Brown,
Rallo Tubbs,
Consuela
Fouad
Stepped down from voicing these characters on June 26, 2020
2003Kicked in the Nuts!Kicked in the Nuts GuyAlso co-creator, producer, director, editor, and writer
2003–2006 Gilmore Girls Ed4 episodes
2005–2010 Robot Chicken Various characters
(voices)
4 episodes
2005–present American Dad! Jackson, Various characters
(voices)
2007 Scrubs UrologistEpisode: "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;
ASCAP Award for Top Television Series (2013)
Nominated–Teen Choice Award for Choice Animated Series (2010)
Nominated–Annie Award for Voice Acting in an Animated Television Production (2011)
Nominated–Teen Choice Award for Choice Animated Series (2011)
Nominated–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 TellerSeason 1 Episode 1 "Just Say Yes"

Web

YearTitleRoleNotes
2008–2009 Seth MacFarlane's Cavalcade of Cartoon Comedy Various characters (voices)3 episodes

Video games

YearTitleVoice roleNotes
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
Bruce,
Consuela,
Rallo Tubbs,
Various characters (voices)

Related Research Articles

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Seth MacFarlane</span> American actor, animator, filmmaker, and singer (born 1973)

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cleveland Brown</span> Family Guy and The Cleveland Show character

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cleveland Brown Jr.</span> Fictional character

Cleveland Orenthal Brown Jr., or simply Junior, is a fictional character in the animated television series Family Guy and its spin-off series The Cleveland Show. He is the son of Cleveland Brown and his late ex-wife Loretta. On Family Guy, he was depicted as slim and hyperactive; however, on The Cleveland Show, he was shown to have undergone a marked transformation, both in terms of a significant increase in weight and a newly subdued personality, with the new full name of Cleveland Raj Rerun Dwayne Brown Jr. — in "A Rodent Like This", the redesigned Junior is revealed to be a CIA imposter known as Agent 14, who kidnapped and replaced the original Junior as part of a plan to kill Tim the Terrorist; though the plot of the episode doesn't make it clear if it's true, or just a prank he staged for his stepbrother Rallo. He was voiced by Mike Henry in Family Guy and by Kevin Michael Richardson in The Cleveland Show and the character's return to the former show.

<i>Family Guy</i> (season 1) Episode list for a season of an animated series

The first season of Family Guy aired on Fox from January 31 to May 16, 1999, and consisted of only seven episodes, making it the shortest season to date. The series follows the dysfunctional Griffin family—father Peter, mother Lois, daughter Meg, son Chris, son Stewie and their anthropomorphic dog Brian, all of whom reside in their hometown of Quahog, a fictional city in the U.S. state of Rhode Island. The show features the voices of series creator Seth MacFarlane, Alex Borstein, Seth Green, and Lacey Chabert in the roles of the Griffin family. The executive producers for the first season were David Zuckerman and MacFarlane. It is also the only full season to feature Chabert, before she was replaced by Mila Kunis for the rest of the series' run, starting with the season two episode "Da Boom".

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The Cleveland Show is an American animated sitcom created by Seth MacFarlane, Richard Appel, and Mike Henry for the Fox Broadcasting Company. A spin-off of Family Guy, and the second television series in the franchise, the series centers on Cleveland Brown, his new wife Donna Tubbs-Brown, and their children Cleveland Brown Jr., Roberta Tubbs, and Rallo Tubbs. Similar to Family Guy, it exhibited much of its humor in the form of cutaway gags that often lampoon American culture, though it used significantly less than Family Guy. The animation was produced by Fox Television Animation.

Herbert (<i>Family Guy</i>) Fictional character

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References

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