Patrick Warburton
Patrick Warburton is an American actor and voice artist. On television, he has played David Puddy on Seinfeld, the titular role on The Tick, Jeb Denton on Less Than Perfect, Jeff Bingham on Rules of Engagement, Lemony Snicket on A Series of Unfortunate Events, and General Dabney Stramm on Space Force. His voice acting roles include Joe Swanson on Family Guy, Kronk in The Emperor's New Groove, Brock Samson on The Venture Bros., the title character in Buzz Lightyear of Star Command, Lok in the Tak and the Power of Juju video games, Ken in Bee Movie, Flynn in Skylanders, and Hugo Vasquez in Tales from the Borderlands. In advertising, he plays a "control enthusiast" in commercials for National Car Rental.
Early life
Warburton was born in Paterson, New Jersey, the son of orthopedic surgeon John Charles Warburton Jr. and Barbara Jeanne Gratz. He and his three sisters, Mary, Lara, and Megan, were raised in a "very religious" and "conservative" Catholic family in Huntington Beach, California, where he attended Saints Simon and Jude Catholic School. Warburton later attended Servite High School, and later transferred to Newport Harbor High School. He studied marine biology at Orange Coast College in Costa Mesa, California, but dropped out to pursue modeling and acting.Career
Warburton's acting roles often rely on his distinctive deep, booming voice and large physique. In the 1990s, he was known for his recurring role as David Puddy on Seinfeld, the on-again, off-again boyfriend of Elaine Benes. He played Eric in the sitcom "Dave's World". He had a small role in the 2002 film Men in Black II as J's new partner, T.Warburton starred in FOX's short-lived series The Tick, in which he held the title role. He has repeatedly criticized FOX's mismanagement of the series after its cancellation, stating that the network "apparently didn't have a clue."
He played Nick Sharp in 8 Simple Rules and joined the cast of Less Than Perfect in 2003, as anchorman Jeb Denton. He also played Jeff Bingham in Rules of Engagement, and Rip Riley in the FX series Archer.
Warburton has put his voice to use for several animated films and TV programs, including a lead character in Game Over, Buzz Lightyear and the Little Green Men in Buzz Lightyear of Star Command, and Kronk in The Emperor's New Groove, with David Spade, Eartha Kitt, and John Goodman; Spade and Warburton would reunite for the CBS sitcom Rules of Engagement, which aired from 2007 to 2013, and in 2015. Warburton reprised his role as Kronk for the direct-to-video sequel, Kronk's New Groove, and the subsequent TV series The Emperor's New School. He voiced Steve Barkin in the Disney Channel show Kim Possible.
Warburton was also cast in The Venture Bros., in which he voices Brock Samson. He voices Joe Swanson on Fox’s Family Guy and Detective Cash in The Batman. He lent his voice talent to the computer-animated feature films Hoodwinked, Chicken Little, Bee Movie, Open Season, and Tak,Tak and the Power of Juju. He was also the voice of Commander Blaine H. Tate on the Comedy Central animated series Moonbeam City in October 2015.
Warburton appeared on GSN’s Poker Royale Celebrities vs. the Pros tournament in 2005, winning the tournament and the $50,000 grand prize. On November 8, 2009, Warburton appeared as the wild west character Cal Johnson on Seth & Alex’s Comedy Show, hosted by Seth MacFarlane and Alex Borstein, on Fox. He was also cast as Sheriff Bronson Stone in the Cartoon Network series Scooby-Doo! Mystery Incorporated. He appeared as Bowser in a video by CollegeHumor entitled "The Roast of Mario".
He appeared on the American version of Top Gear on February 21, 2012. He set the "Big Star, Small Car" lap record, beating previous record-holder Arlene Tur.
Warburton starred in the 2016 NBC sitcom Crowded, in which he played alongside Carrie Preston as parents who are about to enjoy their empty nest years only to find their daughters and his parents are all moving back in to live with them. The show ran for one season of 13 episodes.
He is featured as the flight attendant, Patrick, in the "preboarding" video shown to guests at Soarin' Around the World in Disney California Adventure in Anaheim, California and Epcot at the Walt Disney World Resort, in Orlando, Florida where he explains the ride's requirements, reprising his role from the preboarding video to the predecessor ride Soarin' Over California. He lent his voice to the droid G2-4T in the queue of at Disney's Hollywood Studios in Orlando, Florida and Disneyland in Anaheim, California.
He starred as Lemony Snicket in the Netflix comedy drama series A Series of Unfortunate Events.
Despite being a lifelong fan of the Los Angeles Kings hockey team, Warburton has appeared at multiple New Jersey Devils games with his face painted similar to that of his Devils crazed role in an episode of "Seinfeld", exhorting the crowd in a manner alike to that of his "Puddy" character. His real-life relationship with the Devils began when the team invited him to drop the ceremonial first puck of the 1995 season, and he showed up with his face painted. After dropping the puck, he slipped and fell, but rescued the moment by regaining his balance and ripping off his shirt to reveal his chest was painted with the letter "D". This came to be regarded as an iconic moment in Devils history. The Devils gave out a Puddy bobblehead doll to fans at a 2019 game.
Commercial voice-over
In the commercial and advertising world, Warburton is the voice in the Carrier Corporation commercials for their air-conditioning and HVAC units, and was the voice of Superman in The Adventures of Seinfeld and Superman for American Express. He is the voice of "Lewis" in the "Clark & Lewis Expedition" radio commercials for Horizon Air. In August 2009, Warburton played a high-end PC in a "Get a Mac" ad for Apple Inc. Warburton became the spokesman for Japanese automaker Honda's "Good Reasons" advertising campaign in September 2011. He is the voice in NAPA's "Can of Know How" commercial. In 2015, Warburton became the star of National Car Rental commercials "Be the Boss of You". And he became the voice in the current "Discover Fresh" radio ad campaign by Souplantation, a California-based buffet-style restaurant chain.Warburton is also the voice of Ranger, a forest ranger, in a series of radio spots for the national Smokey Bear campaign sponsored by the U.S. Forest Service and the Ad Council.