Ned Luke

Ned Luke
Luke in 2024
Born	Ned Armstrong Luke (1958-10-04) October 4, 1958 (age 66) Danville, Illinois, U.S.
Other names	Ned von Leuck
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1984–2007 2009–present
Spouse	Amy Sax ​ (m. 1997)​
Children	1

Ned Armstrong Luke (born October 4, 1958) is an American actor. He is known for portraying Michael De Santa in the 2013 video game Grand Theft Auto V . ^[1] Luke also voiced Raffles in the animated movie Rover Dangerfield . He has appeared in 29 movies and television shows as well as over 100 commercials.

Early life

Ned Luke was born on October 4, 1958 ^{[2] [3]} in Danville, Illinois, to Cindy (née Smith) and Fred Luke.^{[ citation needed ]}

Career

Luke's first major voice role was in Rover Dangerfield , where he played a sheepdog named Raffles opposite Rodney Dangerfield. He was cast as a guest star in several TV shows throughout the 1990s and early 2000s, and has appeared in about 100 television commercials featuring products such as Budweiser and Burger King.

In 2007, having grown disenchanted with show business and desiring that his son experience where he grew up, Luke decided to take a break from acting and moved his family from Los Angeles to his hometown of Danville, where he opened a restaurant with his brother. After two years, he decided to return to acting and he and his family moved to Ossining, New York. His agent suggested he audition for the role of Michael De Santa, one of the three protagonists of Rockstar Games' 2013 video game Grand Theft Auto V . Luke initially scoffed at the idea of being in a video game, but after reading the script he decided to proceed with the audition and, alongside Shawn Fonteno and Steven Ogg, was eventually cast. ^[4] Grand Theft Auto V went on to set several sales records and has become the 2nd highest grossing video game in history. ^[5]

He continued to work with Rockstar Games after the release of Grand Theft Auto V, providing uncredited voice work on the 2018 game Red Dead Redemption 2 . Luke also guest starred on Boardwalk Empire . ^[6]

Personal life

Luke has been married to his wife Amy Sax, since 1997. ^[7] Together, they have a son. ^[1]

On November 23, 2023, Luke was swatted during a Thanksgiving livestream of Grand Theft Auto Online on his YouTube channel. While some fans accused Rockstar Games of failing to protect players' IP addresses, Luke refuted these claims and attributed the incident to his personal information being previously leaked online. ^{[8] [9]}

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1984	The Bear	Football Player
1991	Rover Dangerfield	Raffles	Voice only, supporting role
1996	The Nutty Professor	Construction Worker	Uncredited
1999	Citation of Merit	Sergeant Smith	Short film
2017	American Gothic	Bill

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1992	Angel Street	Officer	Episode: "The Blonde in the Pond"
1994	Guiding Light	Sheriff	2 episodes
1995	NYPD Blue	Lawyer	Episode: "Cold Heaters"
1996	Murder One	Conspiracy Guy	Episode: "Chapter Eleven"
1996	Renegade	Andy Warwick	Episode: "The Milk Carton Kid"
1997	On the Line	Officer Al	Television film
1997	The Burning Zone	2nd Officer	Episode: "Critical Mass"
1997	High Incident	Gary Butterworth	Episode: "Remote Control"
1999	General Hospital	Body Guard	2 episodes
1999	City Guys	Lonnie Collins	Episode: "Miracle on 134th Street and Lexington Avenue"
2000	The Pretender	David Arnold	Episode: "Junk"
2000	JAG	Senior Chief Petty Officer Bracken	Episode: "Drop Zone"
2000	The Huntress	Detective Ellard	Episode: "The Kid"
2000	Diagnosis Murder	Timmons	Episode: "The Patient Detective"
2002 2003 2013	Law & Order: Special Victims Unit	Mr. Wilmont Roger Swanson Mr. Thurber	Season 3: "Popular" Season 4: "Mercy" Season 15: "Surrender Benson"
2004	Third Watch	Ron Connelly	Episode: "Greatest Detectives in the World"
2005	As the World Turns	Detective Langstorm	2 episodes
2005	Jonny Zero	Officer Muncie	Episode: "To Serve and to Protect"
2002–2005	All My Children	Fire Chief / Private Investigator	3 episodes
2005	Law & Order	Ken Cosgrove	Episode: "New York Minute"
2009	Katana	Executive	Episode: "Pilot"
2013	Boardwalk Empire	Boorish Man	Episode: "All In"
2015	Unfiltered	Randolph Wiley	Lead role, unreleased

Video games

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2013	Grand Theft Auto V	Michael De Santa	Voice and motion capture
2018	Red Dead Redemption 2	Various strangers	Voice unreleased, motion capture

Commercials

Year	Title	Role	Notes	Ref.
2024	Asus	-	Republic of Gamers	[10]

Accolades

Year	Nominee/work	Award	Result
2014	Grand Theft Auto V	Behind the Voice Actors Award for Best Vocal Ensemble in a Video Game	Nominated

References

1. Gaudiosi, John. "Preview: 'GTA V' actor Ned Luke talks". Chicago Tribune. Archived from the original on October 18, 2014. Retrieved November 13, 2014.
2. Luke, Ned [@ned_luke] (October 18, 2013). "55 is the new 35 bitches" (Tweet). Archived from the original on April 2, 2021. Retrieved April 2, 2021– via Twitter.
3. Luke, Ned [@ned_luke] (October 5, 2020). "Thanks all y'all for the birthday wishes. Much appreciated" (Tweet). Archived from the original on April 2, 2021. Retrieved April 2, 2021– via Twitter.
4. Molina, Brett. "Interview: Crime pays for 'Grand Theft Auto V' actors". USA Today . Retrieved November 13, 2014.
5. Chalk, Andy (November 7, 2017). "Grand Theft Auto 5 is the best-selling videogame of all time in the US". PC Gamer .
6. Furn, Daniel (September 8, 2022). "GTA 5 voice actors: Full cast and where you know them from". Radio Times. Retrieved October 7, 2023.
7. Luke, Ned [@ned_luke] (November 12, 2022). "She's put up with me for 25 years now...Happy Anniversary to my much better half #Amy ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️" (Tweet). Retrieved September 7, 2024– via Twitter.
8. Phillips, Tom (November 24, 2023). "GTA 5 Michael actor Ned Luke swatted while playing on Thanksgiving stream". Eurogamer. Retrieved November 24, 2023.
9. Dinsdale, Ryan (November 24, 2023). "Actor Who Played Michael in GTA 5 Swatted While Streaming, Defends Rockstar Despite Fan Outcry". IGN. Retrieved November 24, 2023.
10. Prescott, Lane (August 16, 2024). "ROG teams up with iconic voice actors in cheeky new video". Asus (ROG). Archived from the original on September 6, 2024. Retrieved September 6, 2024.

External links

• Ned Luke on Facebook
• Ned Luke at IMDb