Samuel E. Wright


Samuel E. Wright is an American actor and singer. He is best known as the voice of Sebastian in Disney's The Little Mermaid, for which he provided the lead vocals to "Under the Sea", which won the Academy Award for Best Original Song. Wright also played the part of Mufasa in the original cast of The Lion King on Broadway and voiced Kron the Iguanodon in Disney's 2000 CGI/live-action film Dinosaur.

Career

Wright was nominated for a Tony Award in 1984 for Best Featured Actor in a Musical for his performance in The Tap Dance Kid and 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. Wright was chosen to play the Scarecrow in the 1995 Apollo Theater Revival of The Wiz alongside Whitney Houston, Keith David and Cedric the Entertainer. Wright played Enos' partner Turk in the TV series Enos and originated the part of "Sam" in Over Here! on Broadway. He also played the part of Jericho on the short-lived Fox TV show Jonny Zero. In addition, on Broadway, Mr. Wright replaced Ben Vereen as the Leading Player in “Pippin”. He originated the role of Mayor Joe Clark in “Mule Bone”.

Music

Wright has performed and recorded several songs for the Walt Disney animated film The Little Mermaid, as Sebastian the Crab, and is most known for the songs "Under the Sea", and "Kiss the Girl". He released a soul music record in 1973, "There's Something Funny Going On" backed with "Three Hundred Pounds of Hungry" on the Paramount label.

Personal life

Wright is married to Amanda Wright, together they have three children: Keely, Dee and Sam.

Filmography

Film

Television

Video games

Theater

Discography