American actor and comedian (b. 1957)
John Kassir
Born (1957-10-24 ) October 24, 1957 (age 68) Alma mater Towson State University Occupations Years active 1983–present Spouse
John Kassir (born October 24, 1957)[ 1] the Cryptkeeper inHBO 'sTales from the Crypt [ 2] off-Broadway showReefer Madness its 2005 film adaptation . He is also the first voice actor to take overDisney comics characterScrooge McDuck following the death ofAlan Young .
Early life and education [ edit ] John Kassir was born on October 24, 1957, inBaltimore ,Maryland ,[ 1] Iraqi father fromMosul and aSyrian mother fromMardin , present-dayTurkey .[ 3] Assyrian descent.[ 4]
As a child, he often did impressions in school and was described as a "class clown". His mother would often buy props for him and he would entertain customers who were shopping outside ofEudowood Plaza . He graduated fromLoch Raven High School and attendedTowson State University inTowson, Maryland , where he studied theatre.[ 5] [ 6]
Kassir originally began his career instand-up comedy , he first became known in 1985, when he defeatedSinbad for best stand-up comic onStar Search [ 7]
As a stand-up comic, he has opened for the likes ofLou Rawls ,Tom Jones ,The Temptations andFour Tops on their TNT Tour,Bobby Vinton ,Richard Belzer ,U2 , andHarry Blackstone Jr. among others. John has also appeared on stage performing improvisation withRobin Williams .[ 8]
Film and television [ edit ] His film credits include,And Then There Was Eve Flora & Ulysses Hellblazers Jack the Giant Slayer Monster Mash Igor ,Monster Mutt Reefer Madness: The Movie Musical Uncle Sam ,Smothered Spy Hard
In television, he played the Bulgarian kicker, Zagreb Shkenusky, for 7 years in theHBO comedy series1st & Ten The Amanda Show Shemp Howard in the 2000 TV biopicThe Three Stooges Mel Gibson , and Ralph inReefer Madness: The Movie Musical . He was also able to get his ownPee-wee Herman style show in 1997 calledJohnnytime , which aired for two seasons on theUSA Network . He also appeared asThe Atom in theJustice League of America
Kassir has specialized in voice-over work for animation, video games, and other productions, most notably as the voice of Crypt Keeper inTales from the Crypt Rocket Power Deadpool in the video gamesX-Men Legends II: Rise of Apocalypse Marvel: Ultimate Alliance Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2 Sauron andPyro , two other well-known characters. He was also featured in the very first commercial for theNintendo cornerstone video game seriesThe Legend of Zelda [ 9]
Kassir provided the vocal effects of the mischievousraccoon Meeko in Disney's 1995 animated featurePocahontas Pocahontas II: Journey to a New World Buster Bunny in fourTiny Toon Adventures Charlie Adler 's departure from the role). He played the villainous Scuttlebutt inAn American Tail: The Treasure of Manhattan Island Ben 10 Last Laugh ) as Zombozo. He voiced the character Adam MacIntyre and provided additional voice over work in the video gameDead Rising [ 10] Shadows of the Damned Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance Tak and the Power of Juju Pete Puma inThe Looney Tunes Show Samurai Jack CatDog
In 2011, he voiced Crazy Smurf in the live-action/animated filmThe Smurfs The Amazing World of Gumball Bryan Singer 'sJack the Giant Slayer Bill Nighy , as Fallon, the two-headed leader of the giants; Nighy played the big head while Kassir played the small head.[ 11] Pete's Dragon
Kassir also voiced Rizzo in theSpyro Skylanders: Spyro's Adventure Skylanders: Giants Skylanders: Trap Team Skylanders: Imaginators the first season ofThe Amanda Show Ice King in the originalAdventure Time pilotTom Kenny for the series. He also provided additional voice over work forEek! The Cat The Brothers Flub Sonic the Hedgehog Casper's Scare School Spider-Man 3 Curious George 2: Follow That Monkey! The Princess and the Frog Diablo III Diablo III: Reaper of Souls Monsters University The Prophet Minions Halo 5: Guardians The Secret Life of Pets Despicable Me 3 My Life as a Teenage Robot The Grinch The Secret Life of Pets 2
A few of his many theater credits include: originating the role of Kenny inThree Guys Naked From The Waist Down (also starringScott Bakula ), for which he was nominated for both a Drama Desk and anOuter Critics Circle award. John also originated the role of Ralph in the musicalReefer Madness
He married actressJulie Benz on May 30, 1998, the marriage lasted for nine years until Benz filed for divorce in December 2007.[ 12] [ 13]
Aaahh!!! Real Monsters Adventure Time Afro Samurai [ 14] As Told by Ginger [ 14] Avatar: The Last Airbender [ 14] Back at the Barnyard [ 14] Ben 10 [ 14] Bonkers Breadwinners [ 17] [ 18] Bunnicula [ 14] Buzz Lightyear of Star Command [ 14] CatDog Danger Rangers [ 14] DC Super Friends - Joker's PlayhouseJoker [ 14] Dexter's Laboratory Dota: Dragon's Blood Duckman Duck the Halls: A Mickey Mouse Christmas Special – Scrooge McDuckEarthworm Jim [ 14] Eek! The Cat Hercules Johnny Bravo Kim Possible Kung Fu Panda: Legends of Awesomeness [ 14] Mickey Mouse (Holiday special) –Scrooge McDuck (replacingAlan Young )Mighty Ducks My Life as a Teenage Robot New Looney Tunes Pete Puma Oh Yeah! Cartoons Problem Child Random! Cartoons [ 14] Rick and Morty Rocket Power Samurai Jack [ 14] Scooby-Doo! in Arabian Nights [ 14] Solar Opposites Super Robot Monkey Team Hyperforce Go! Tales from the Cryptkeeper The Crypt Keeper Teamo Supremo Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles [ 19] The Adventures of Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius The Brothers Flub The Cartoon Cartoon Show The Flintstones: On the Rocks The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy [ 14] The Little Mermaid The Looney Tunes Show [ 14] The Mummy: Secrets of the Medjai The Plucky Duck Show The Simpsons The Weekenders [ 14] The Wild Thornberrys [ 14] Time Squad Alfred Nobel ,Rasputin ,Thomas Jefferson [ 20] Timon & Pumbaa Tiny Toon Adventures Charlie Adler )Totally Spies! What-a-Mess Afro Samurai Arknights – Friston-3[ 21] Batman: Arkham Origins [ 22] Bayonetta 2 [ 14] Bayonetta 3 [ 14] Bouncers – Additional voicesDead Rising Diablo III Diablo III: Reaper of Souls EverQuest II Final Fantasy XV Freelancer Halo 2 Halo 5: Guardians [ 23] Halo: The Master Chief Collection Icewind Dale Lego Jurassic World Madagascar Marvel: Ultimate Alliance Deadpool [ 14] Marvel: Ultimate Alliance 2 [ 14] Master of Orion: Conquer the Stars Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance [ 14] MySims Kingdom Ninety-Nine Nights II PlayStation Move Heroes République Rocket Power: Team Rocket Rescue – Ray "Raymundo" RocketRocket Power: Beach Bandits [ 14] Sacrifice Shadows of the Damned Shrek SuperSlam [ 14] Sorcerers of the Magic Kingdom Skylanders: Giants Skylanders: Imaginators Skylanders: Spyro's Adventure Skylanders: SuperChargers [ 24] Skylanders: Swap Force Skylanders: Trap Team [ 25] [ 26] Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions Scorpion 2099 ,[ 14] Spider-Man 3 Syphon Filter: The Omega Strain T'ai Fu: Wrath of the Tiger Tak: The Great Juju Challenge [ 14] Tak 2: The Staff of Dreams [ 14] Tak and the Power of Juju [ 14] The Punisher Tiny Toon Adventures: Buster and the Beanstalk Ultimate Spider-Man Universe at War: Earth Assault X-Men Legends II: Rise of Apocalypse Pyro ,Sauron [ 14] ^a b "IBDB:John Kassir" .www.ibdb.com . RetrievedDecember 26, 2021 .^ John Kassir + More join the TRINITY OF TERRORS! ^ "Obituary for Albert Kassir" . Archived fromthe original on August 19, 2019. RetrievedAugust 19, 2019 .^ @JohnKassir (May 17, 2013)."@BrettAnthony92 Thx for asking! A very old civilization,The Assyrian Race. My ancestors were of the first Christians from the Aramaic Tribes" (Tweet ) – viaTwitter . ^ "Towson graduate uses talents to make it to the big time" . December 4, 1992.^ "Crypt Keeper says the darnedest things thanks to native son" . February 17, 1995.^ "John Kassir" . Archived fromthe original on August 1, 2017. RetrievedDecember 13, 2016 .^ "John Kassir | SMOTHERED & TALES FROM THE CRYPT" .^ "John Kassir in the Legend of Zelda commercial" . YouTube.com. May 18, 2006.Archived from the original on December 21, 2021. RetrievedJanuary 26, 2015 .^ John Kassir: Demo reel at voicebank.net Archived December 18, 2008, at theWayback Machine ^ Kit, Borys (February 9, 2011)."Stanley Tucci Set for Villain in 'Jack the Giant Killer' .The Hollywood Reporter the original on March 16, 2011. RetrievedMarch 2, 2011 . ^ "Angel – Interviews – Julie Benz and John Kassir" .BBC Online .^ "Julie Benz engaged to Rich Orosco" .KABC-TV . Archived fromthe original on November 12, 2014. RetrievedNovember 12, 2014 .She obtained Bamboo when he was a puppy just after she and actor John Kassir split four years ago. He and Benz were married between 1998 and 2007. The two have no children... ^a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z aa ab ac ad ae af ag ah ai aj ak al am an ao ap "John Kassir (visual voices guide)" (A green check mark indicates that a role has been confirmed using a screenshot (or collage of screenshots) of a title's list of voice actors and their respective characters found in its credits or other reliable sources of information). RetrievedMarch 21, 2015 .^ Ehrlich, David (July 27, 2016)."Pete's Dragon Review: An Old Disney Movie Becomes A New Disney Classic – IndieWire" . RetrievedDecember 13, 2016 . ^ @GKIDSfilms (October 30, 2024)."Say meow and ribbit to the English cast of GHOST CAT ANZU! 🐱🐸Meet the whole village in theatres starting November 15. Get tickets now: http://brnw.ch/21wO0zG" (Tweet ) – viaTwitter . ^ "Viking Ducks/Birthday Bread".Breadwinners . Season 2. Episode 5. May 24, 2015. Nickelodeon. ^ "Trash Bandit/Eat at Pumpers".Breadwinners . Season 2. Episode 8. November 15, 2015. Nickelodeon. ^ "In Dreams".Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles . Season 3. Episode 5. November 14, 2014. Nickelodeon. ^ "Time Squad (2001, Animated Series) Voice Cast" . Archived fromthe original on December 17, 2006. RetrievedDecember 13, 2016 .^ @ArknightsEN (December 1, 2023)."Friston 3 is an S-C Model four-wheeled Operation Platform, the first product of the Rhodes Island Smart Operation platform R&D Team's efforts" (Tweet ) – viaTwitter . ^ "Batman: Arkham Origins (2013, Video Game) Voice Cast" . Archived fromthe original on March 12, 2016. RetrievedDecember 13, 2016 .^ 343 Industries.Halo 5: Guardians ^ Vicarious Visions .Skylanders: SuperChargers Activision . Scene: Closing credits, 7:13 in, Voice Actors.^ Toys for Bob .Skylanders: Trap Team Activision . Scene: Closing credits, 8:40 in, Voice Actors.^ "Skylanders: Trap Team (2014, Video Game) Voice Cast" . Archived fromthe original on January 5, 2016. RetrievedDecember 13, 2016 .^a b c d e f g h i j "John Kassir theatre profile" .
International National Artists Other
