- John Kassir
Infobox actor
caption = Kassir holding a picture of theCrypt Keeper ,November 11 ,2006
birthdate = Birth date and age|1957|10|24|mf=y
birthplace =Baltimore, Maryland Johnny Kassir (born
October 24 1957 ) is an Americanactor ,voice actor , andcomedian who is perhaps best known for voicing theCrypt Keeper on the hitHBO show "Tales from the Crypt".Biography
Career
Kassir played the Bulgarian kicker,
Zagreb Shkenusky , for six years in theHBO comedy series "1st & Ten (TV Series) ", about a fictional football team. His other live action credits include sketch-acting on "The Amanda Show " and a portrayal ofShemp Howard in a biopic aboutThe Three Stooges , produced byMel Gibson , and Ralph in "Reefer Madness: The Movie Musical". He was also able to get his own Pee Wee Herman style show in1997 called "Johnnytime", which aired for two seasons on the USA network. He also appeared as The Atom in the "Justice League of America" pilot episode, which, despite not being picked up, was released as a film in some markets. John has appeared in over a dozen feature films, starred in eight TV pilots (six of which went to series and two of which lasted on air for over six years each) and guest starred in dozens of TV series in both comic and dramatic roles.As a standup comic, he has opened for the likes of
Lou Rawls , Tom Jones,The Temptations andFour Tops on theirTNT tour ,Bobby Vinton ,Richard Belzer , andHarry Blackstone , Jr. among others. John has also appeared on stage performing improvisation withRobin Williams , though Williams did not realize this was happening.More recently, John has specialized in voice-over work for animation,
video games , and other productions. Notable in this regard has been his acting the roles of Ray "Raymundo" Rocket on "Rocket Power ". He also provides the voice in the video games ' and ' for fan favorite superhero/villain Deadpool. Fans of his work asCrypt Keeper will recognize his voice as 'Scissorsmith' onSamurai Jack . He was also featured in the very first commercial for theNintendo cornerstone video game seriesThe Legend of Zelda in the United States in1986 .A few of his many theater credits include: originating the role of Kenny in "
Three Guys Naked From The Waist Down " (also starringScott Bakula ), for which he was nominated for both aDrama Desk and anOuter Critics Circle award. John also originated the role of Ralph in the musical "Reefer Madness ", on stage and in the film version.He provided the voice of the mischievous
raccoon Meeko in Disney's 1995 animated feature "Pocahontas". Also, along withCharlie Adler , he provided the voice ofBuster Bunny inTiny Toon Adventures cartoons (followingCharles Adler 's departure from the role). He played the villainous Scuttlebutt in . He also made one voice appearance on "Ben 10 " as Zombozo in the episode, "Last Laugh." Recently, he voiced the character Adam MacIntyre and others in the video game "Dead Rising ".Personal life
Kassir, who is of Syrian descent, was born in
Baltimore, Maryland . He was previously married to actressJulie Benz from May 1998 to December 2007. They have both done voice overs in theXbox gameHalo 2 .During
Ed McMahon 's original "Star Search " Kassir had beatenRosie O'Donnell and Sinbad in the talent competition, winning the $100,000.00 Grand Prize.External links
* [http://vbfile1.voicebank.net/sandboxes/11/Animation/Actors/John%20Kassir.mp3 John Kassir: Demo reel at voicebank.net]
*imdb name|id=0440885|name=John Kassir
* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HoXb7PIJYmA John Kassir in the Legend of Zelda commercial]
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