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David Kaye

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Not to be confused with David A. Kaye.


David V. Hope (born October 14, 1964), better known by his stage name David Kaye, is a Canadian-American voice actor and actor, best known for his roles in animation, including Megatron in five of the Transformers series (Beast Wars, Beast Machines, Armada, Energon and Cybertron), Optimus Prime in Transformers: Animated, Professor X and Apocalypse in X-Men Evolution, Cronus in Class of the Titans, Khyber and Shocksquatch in Ben 10: Omniverse, Vision and J.A.R.V.I.S. in Avengers Assemble as well as Reginald and others in Regular Show. He is also well known for his work on English versions of anime, his most notable being Sesshomaru in InuYasha and Treize Khushrenada in Mobile Suit Gundam Wing. He voices Clank in the Ratchet & Clank series and the feature film. He also voices Gibeon from Pokémon Horizons: The Series and Duckworth from Ducktales (2017) replacing Chuck McCann after his death. His voice is featured as the announcer for Last Week Tonight with John Oliver on HBO.

Career[]

During the 1980s, he moved to Vancouver to work in radio. He also did theater, starring in plays such as Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf, where he played George and Harvey, where he played Elwood P. Dowd.[1]

David Kaye's voice-over career began in 1989 with General Hawk in the DiC animated series G.I. Joe. Working as an on-air talent for radio station CKLG (LG73), he quickly became less interested as both on camera and behind the mic roles started taking up more time. Over the next decade and a half, David's on camera burgeoned along with his voice career. On camera opportunities came in the form of guest roles on numerous TV series and movies such as The X-Files, Battlestar Galactica, and Happy Gilmore with Adam Sandler.

Also during this time Kaye was being cast in some of the first of hundreds of animation shows and video games. So many, in fact, this now became the main focus of his career. David’s biggest moment was when he was cast as Megatron in 1994 in the immensely popular series Transformers. As a new animation art form was taking off bolstered by Mainframe Entertainment, who in 1994, created the world's first entirely computer animated TV series ReBoot, Beast Wars was born (Beasties in Canada) and would run for three seasons of "…the most fun you could ever have!" says David. Thus began an almost a twenty-year relationship with the Transformers franchise. In 2007, David crossed over to become the first actor in the history of the franchise to play the lead villain and the lead hero when he was cast as Optimus Prime for Cartoon Network's Transformers: Animated. He lent his voice to Hammerstrike in Transformers: Robots in Disguise, making it the eighth Transformers cartoon he's worked on, more than any other actor in the franchise. Once again, David finds himself returning to a franchise he first engaged in years before, this time going back to the beginning with G.I. Joe: not only can he be heard as Scarlett's father, but also introducing every episode as the expo voice during the opening titles.

For anime fans, Kaye has been the voice behind Sesshomaru in the English dubbed InuYasha series, Treize Khushrenada in Mobile Suit Gundam Wing, Recoome in Dragon Ball Z, and as the high strung father Soun Tendo in Ranma ½. His anime work still brings fans to conventions to meet him.

As the work keeps coming in, David's voice can be heard in Insomniac Games' Ratchet & Clank video game series as the loveable robot Clank. He's also been featured as Mysterio in Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions, Captain America and Nick Fury in Marvel: Ultimate Alliance 2, Nathan Hale in Resistance, Logan Carter in Dead Island and many more. In 2009 Kaye landed a role as a newsreel announcer in Pixar's Oscar-winning movie Up.

David is now a full-time Los Angeles based voice artist. He has worked on Ben 10: Omniverse as the villain, Khyber, with J. G. Quintel on Regular Show as Reginald the giant baby, and Clay Bailey, F-Bot and Chase Young on Xiaolin Chronicles. He is voicing several characters on Avengers Assemble, Duckworth in DuckTales (2017) and Max Tennyson in the reboot of Ben 10.

With ongoing commitments now for movie trailers, network promo for ABC, Fox, CW, National Geographic, TLC, FX and a host of radio and television affiliates and a lot of commercial work, the days get a little tight from time to time. So much so, that he even has a unit that he can use to record from his car. "Don't worry, I actually have to pull over", he says.

David says "You won't ever hear me complain, though. I'm working with the coolest people on the planet and deeply love what I do… I've put a request in for a 28 hour day!"

Filmography[]

Live-Action Dubbing[]

Films[]

Animation Dubbing[]

Animated Series[]

Animated Shorts[]

  • Animated Classic Showcase (1993) - Cricket (ep. 1), Fairy Prince (ep. 1), Yellow Fish (ep. 1), Mushroom (ep. 3), Worm (ep. 3), Guard (ep. 5), Cook (ep. 7), Stable Boy (ep. 7), The Sun (ep. 9), Prince Ivan (ep. 11), Gossiping Vegetable #2 (ep. 14), Guard Captain (ep. 14), Lemon General (ep. 14), Forest Bandit (ep. 17), Guard (ep. 17), Beaver #1 (ep. 20), Rat (ep. 24), Stork (ep. 24), Parrot (ep. 25), King (ep. 27), Additional Voices

Animated Films[]

Anime Dubbing[]

Anime[]

  • Maison Ikkoku (1986-1988) - Soichiro Otonashi, Chachamaru Master, College Professor (ep. 6), Godai's Friend (ep. 6), Sake Club Member (ep. 15), Lover (ep. 17), Wine Salesman (ep. 35), Train Announcer (ep. 36), Boyfriend (ep. 38), College Student (ep. 45), Father (ep. 48), Conductor (ep. 52), Train Passenger (ep. 61), Business Worker (ep. 73), Hot Pot Owner (ep. 78), Kagero Industries Boss (ep. 78), Customer (ep. 95)
  • Ronin Warriors (1988-1989) - Narrator, The Ancient One, Yuli's Father (eps. 1 & 12), Newscaster (eps. 1, 24 & 33), Sun Devil (ep. 24), Nether Spirit (ep. 30), Kayura's Father (ep. 37)
  • Dragon Ball Z (1989-1996) - Recoome, Burt Yakamori (ep. 193) (Ocean Dub)
  • The New Adventures of Kimba The White Lion (1989-1990) - Shaka, Additional Voices
  • Ranma ½ (1989-1992) - Soun Tendo, Daisuke, Track Runner (ep. 3), Karate User (ep. 4), Suitor (ep. 5), Chem Club Member (ep. 8), Cropper (ep. 8), Soccer Player (ep. 8), Citizen (ep. 10), Commentator (eps. 20-21), Robespierre (ep. 20), Paramedic (ep. 21), Construction Worker (ep. 24), Cat Cafe Customer (ep. 25), Festival Man (ep. 25), Skier (ep. 27), Man in Film (ep. 28), P.E. Teacher (ep. 28), Festival Guest (ep. 30), Circus Announcer (eps. 31-32), Deliveryman (ep. 38), Director's Assistant (ep. 39), Furinkan Student (ep. 39), Person (ep. 50), Canceled Student (ep. 56), 1-F Teacher (ep. 65), Kendo Club Member (ep. 66), Police Officer (ep. 66), Teacher (ep. 66), Ghost Special Narrator (ep. 72), Wishbringer Monk (ep. 82), Gambling King (ep. 85), Ucchan's Customer (ep. 85), Foreigner in Movie (ep. 91), Neighbor (ep. 92), Tea Ceremony Disciple (ep. 97), Battle Shogi Player (ep. 103), Shikanme (ep. 104), Kanna's Father (ep. 129), Villager (ep. 129), Martial Artist (ep. 138), Doctor (ep. 144), Country Man (ep. 145), Bullet Proof Announcer (ep. 150)
  • Tico & Friends (1994) - Scott Simpson, Additional Voices
  • Mobile Suit Gundam Wing (1995-1996) - Treize Khushrenada, Circus Manager
  • Eat-Man '98 (1998) - Bolt Crank
  • Monster Rancher (1999-2001) - Celious, Monster Battle Host (ep. 1), Captain Clay (ep. 10), Slave (eps. 10-11), Monol (ep. 12)
  • InuYasha (2000-2004) - Sesshomaru, Mimisenri (eps. 127-128), Gakusanjin (ep. 165)
  • The Soultaker (2001) - Zabo (ep. 6), Additional Voices
  • MegaMan NT Warrior (2002-2003) - ProtoMan, Thunderman, PickMan, Volt
  • Tokyo Underground (2002) - Pairon
  • Transformers: Armada (2002-2003) - Megatron/Galvatron
  • MegaMan NT Warrior: Axess (2003-2004) - ProtoMan, Dark ProtoMan, Thunderman
  • Transformers: Energon (2004-2005) - Megatron/Galvatron
  • Transformers: Cybertron (2005-2006) - Megatron/Galvatron
  • Yashahime: Princess Half-Demon (2020-2022) - Sesshomaru
  • Pokémon Horizons: The Series (2023-present) - Gibeon

OVAs & Specials[]

Anime Films[]

Video Game Dubbing[]

Trivia[]

  • David Kaye has not appeared in any dubbing roles since moving to Los Angeles in 2007 due to the very low pay, instead focusing more on video games and original animation roles instead. His last known appearance in a dub was Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex 2nd GIG: Individual Eleven in 2007 prior to Yashahime: Princess Half-Demon in 2020. Kaye has also declined reprising roles in anime dubs due to him being uninterested in commuting back to Vancouver. He would, however, reprise his role as Sesshomaru in Yashahime: Princess Half-Demon in 2020, due to the series being largely dubbed at Bang Zoom! Entertainment in Los Angeles and three years later in 2023, he would participate in Pokémon Horizons: The Series as Gibeon. This is also due to the fact Yashahime: Princess Half-Demon and Pokémon Horizons are both union dubs, thus he is paid more for his roles in comparison to when he was in Vancouver.

References[]

  1. ↑ 069 – David Kaye on Talkin Toons with Rob Paulsen – Weekly Voice Acting and Voice Over Tips. techjives.net. December 7, 2012

External Links[]

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