Abraham Benrubi
Abraham Rubin Hercules Benrubi (born October 4, 1969) is an American actor. He is known for his appearances as Jerry Markovic on the long-running medical television drama ER, for his first role as Larry Kubiac on the series Parker Lewis Can't Lose, Dennis in Without a Paddle, and for his voice acting on the Adult Swim claymation series Robot Chicken as well as numerous video games including many in the World of Warcraft series.
Abraham Benrubi | |
|---|---|
Benrubi at a NASA Social to preview the landing of the Curiosity rover in 2012 | |
| Born | Abraham Rubin Hercules Benrubi October 4, 1969 Indianapolis, Indiana, U.S. |
| Other names | Abraham Ben Rubi, Abe Benrubi |
| Occupation(s) | Actor, voice actor |
| Years active | 1990–present |
Early life and education
Benrubi was born on October 4, 1969, in Indianapolis, Indiana, the eldest son of Patricia and Asher Benrubi, who was a rock singer and is currently a radio personality[1] known as "Smash" to St. Louis radio audiences. His paternal grandfather was from a Greek-Jewish family. His paternal grandmother, who was born to a Greek Orthodox Christian family, helped shelter Jews in Greece during World War II and later converted to Judaism.[2][3]
Benrubi graduated from Broad Ripple High School in Indianapolis, the same high school alma mater of David Letterman, Indiana Hoosiers men's basketball head coach Mike Woodson and former New England Patriots star Rosevelt Colvin.
Career
Benrubi's first major role was on the show Wings, as Roy "R.J." Biggins, Jr., Roy's gay son. He would appear as R.J. twice: once during the show's first season, and again during the seventh season, shortly after he began working on NBC's ER.
Between the first and second seasons of Parker Lewis Can't Lose, Benrubi and co-star Taj Johnson worked as roadies for No Doubt's first tour.[dubious ]
Benrubi starred as one of the main characters in ABC's show Men in Trees, playing bartender/millionaire Ben Tomasson. This was a role where he got noticeably more main dialog and depth than with his previous longtime characters on ER and Parker Lewis Can't Lose, which primarily consisted of supporting dialog. Ben Tomasson was described as "the cuddliest TV character since Jorge Garcia's Hurley on Lost" by TV-critic David Bianculli.[4] Other previous work includes portraying Mose in the 2003 western Open Range, a role the actor won because he had been cut out of director Kevin Costner's previous film, The Postman. He frequently voices characters on Adult Swim's stop-motion animation show Robot Chicken (created by personal friend Seth Green), and has also contributed to a second show from Chicken's creators, Titan Maximum.
Following the cancellation of Men In Trees in early 2007, Benrubi returned to the cast of ER in late 2008 for the show's final season.
Benrubi portrayed a young Dan Conner, the character portrayed by John Goodman, in a flashback episode of Roseanne.
Benrubi starred in the short lived (April 2010 to June 2010) ABC show, Happy Town where he portrayed the part of Big Dave Duncan. Almost immediately after ABC announced the series' cancellation, he appeared in a new show Memphis Beat, where he portrayed the part of police Sgt. Jody "JC" Lightfoot, a desk sergeant that is 1/16 Chickasaw by a distant relative, but chooses to embrace Native American culture all the same.[5]
In May 2011, it was announced that he would star in Glutton, a "3D psychological thriller" directed by David Arquette. Benrubi will play Jethro, a 1,200-pound man, forced to save his sister's life.[6] Jethro's sister is portrayed by Patricia Arquette, while Kacey Barnfield also stars as his blind neighbor and only friend.
Benrubi is a member of Los Angeles' Sacred Fools Theater Company.[7]
Filmography
Film
| Film | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 1990 | Diving In | Rick | |
| 1992 | Crossing the Bridge | Rinny | |
| 1993 | The Program | Bud-Lite Kaminski | |
| 1994 | The Shadow | Marine Guard | |
| Wagons East | Abe Ferguson | Credited as Abe Benrubi | |
| 1995 | Magic Island | Duckbone | Direct-to-video |
| 1996 | Twister | Bubba | |
| 1997 | Talking Dessert | Short film | |
| 1997 | George of the Jungle | Thor | |
| U Turn | Biker #1 | ||
| Under Oath | Geoff Carmichael | ||
| 1998 | Border to Border | Geddy Paretti | |
| I Woke Up Early the Day I Died | Bouncer | ||
| The Rugrats Movie | Serge | Voice Credited as Abe Benrubi | |
| 1999 | Out in Fifty | Spike | |
| 2001 | War Story | Eric | Short film |
| The Man Who Wasn't There | The Man at the Dance | ||
| 2002 | Zig Zag | Hector | |
| 2004 | Open Range | Mose | |
| Without a Paddle | Dennis | ||
| 2005 | Miss Congeniality 2: Armed & Fabulous | Lou Steele | |
| 2006 | Wristcutters: A Love Story | Erik | |
| Charlotte's Web | Uncle | Voice | |
| National Lampoon's TV: The Movie | Max Gottlieb | ||
| 2009 | Calvin Marshall | Coach Dewey | |
| 2010 | Venus & Vegas | Bruno | |
| 2012 | Shoot'er | Punisher | Short film |
| Deep Dark Canyon | Michael Spencer | ||
| Ambush at Dark Canyon | Garrett Kain | ||
| 2013 | Bounty Killer | Jimbo | |
| A Country Christmas | Santa Claus | ||
| A Night in Old Mexico | Big Roscoe Hammil | ||
| Chance at Romance | Jackson | ||
| My Mother Is Not a Fish | Walter | Short film | |
| String Theory | Patsy Glen | Short film | |
| Noël | Tim | Short film | |
| 2014 | Ghost Light | Harvey | |
| #Stuck | Bartender | ||
| Big Hero 6 | General | Voice | |
| Ava & Lala | Mr. Bear | Voice | |
| The Blackout | Billy | ||
| 2015 | Little Boy | Teacup | |
| 2016 | The Finest Hours | George "Tiny" Myers | |
| Jessica Darling's It List | Mr. Pudel | ||
| The Belko Experiment | Chet Valincourt | ||
| 2017 | Heart, Baby | Tree | |
| Olaf's Frozen Adventure | Additional Voices | Voice Short film | |
| Like.Share.Follow. | Detective Yarden | ||
| Aileron | Trevor | Short film | |
| 2019 | Bliss | Abe | |
| 2020 | The Call of the Wild | Skookum Bench King | |
| 2022 | Christmas Bloody Christmas | Santa Claus | |
| Strange World | Lonnie Redshirt | Voice | |
| 2023 | The Old Way | Big Mike | |
Television
| Television | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 1990 | Growing Pains | Really Big Kid | Season 5 episode 19: "Mike, the Teacher" |
| 1990-1996 | Wings | Roy "R.J." Biggins Jr. | Season 1 episode: "There's Always Room for Cello" and season 7 episode 13: "Sons and Lovers" |
| 1990-1993 | Parker Lewis Can't Lose | Larry Kubiac | 66 episodes |
| 1991-1993 | Married... with Children | Jimmy/Baby | Season 6 episode 1: "She's Having My Baby: Part 1 (uncredited) and season 7 episode 25: "The Wedding Repercussions" |
| 1992 | Blossom | Francis | Season 2 episode 22: "Whines and Misdemeanors" |
| Angel Street | Pilot episode | ||
| Roseanne | Teenage Dan | Season 5 episode 7: "Halloween IV" | |
| 1993 | Grace Under Fire | Mark | Season 1 episode 3: "Grace Undergraduate" |
| 1994-2009 | ER | Jerry Markovic | 137 episodes |
| 1995 | Out There | Roy | TV movie |
| 1998 | Sleepwalkers | Vincent Konefke | Main role |
| Cold Feet | Man on the Bus | TV movie | |
| Tempting Fate | John Bolladine | TV movie | |
| 1999 | The X-Files | Big Mike Raskin | Season 6 Episode 15: "Arcadia" |
| A Touch of Hope | Dr. Neil Bachman | TV movie | |
| 2000 | Dark Angel | Break | Season 1 episode 4: "Flushed" |
| 2001-2002 | Buffy the Vampire Slayer | Olaf | Season 5 episode 11: "Triangle" and season 7 episode 5: "Selfless" |
| 2002 | Going to California | Harvey | Episode 17: "Mixed Doubles" Benrubi was also cast in the unaired pilot shopped around to The WB, but was not cast when the show was green-lighted by Showtime. |
| 2005 | Unscripted | Himself | Episode 1 pilot |
| Criminal Minds | Frank Fielding | Season 1 episode 7: "The Fox" | |
| 2005-2017 | American Dad! | Todd and Employee | Voice Season 1 episode 6: "Homeland Insecurity" and season 12 episode 18: "The Long Bomb" |
| 2005-2018 | Robot Chicken | Darth Vader, Optimus Prime, Great Pumpkin, Ving Rhames, Fidel Castro, Dominic Toretto, Cyborg, Bowser, and other various characters | 27 episodes Sometimes credited as Abe Benrubi One episode uncredited |
| 2006 | Pizza Time | Bruno | TV movie |
| Dr. Vegas | Star Wars Thug | Episode 8: "Heal Thyself | |
| 2006-2008 | Men in Trees | Ben Thomasson | Main role |
| 2007 | Robot Chicken: Star Wars | Darth Vader | Voice |
| 2008 | Robot Chicken: Star Wars Episode II | Darth Vader and Owen Lars | Voice |
| 1% | Citizen Dave | Unaired pilot for an HBO series | |
| 2009 | Titan Maximum | Drill Instructor | Episode 6: "Dirty Lansbury" |
| 2010 | Happy Town | Big Dave Duncan | 6 episodes |
| Memphis Beat | Sgt. JC Lightfoot/Jody | 10 episodes (season 1) | |
| Robot Chicken: Star Wars Episode III | Darth Vader and Owen Lars | Voice | |
| 2011 | Team Unicorn | The Professor | Season 1 episode 4: "Alien Beach Crashers" |
| 2012 | Community | Orderly | Season 3 episode 9: "Curriculum Unavailable" |
| Robot Chicken DC Comics Special | Cyborg, Kilowog, Appa Ali Apsa, and Solomon Grundy | Voice | |
| Bones | Willis McCullum | Season 8 episode 5: "The Method in the Madness" | |
| Pair of Kings | Silver Fox | Season 3 episode 18: "Yeti, Set, Snow" | |
| Star Wars Detours | Additional Voices | Voice Series unaired, hiatus | |
| 2013 | Once Upon a Time | Arlo | Season 2 episode 13: "Tiny" |
| The Garcias Have Landed | Admiral Lomax | TV movie | |
| Chance at Romance | Jackson | TV movie | |
| 2014-2015 | Bosch | Rodney Belk | 4 episodes (seasons 1,7) |
| 2014 | Beware the Batman | Street Thug | Voice Season 13: "Fall" |
| The Bridge | DEA Agent Joe McKenzie | 10 episodes | |
| 2016 | TripTank | Chief | Voice Season 2 episode 11: "Crime Steve Investigation" |
| Outcast | Caleb | 3 episodes | |
| 2017 | APB | Pete McCann | 11 episodes |
| Still the King | Leslie | Season 2 episode 13: "Who's Your Daddy?" | |
| 2019 | Chicago Fire | Russ LaPointe | Season 7 episode 21: "The White Whale" |
| 2020-22 | It's Pony | George Bramley | Secondary voice |
Video games
| Video games | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 2001 | Mystery Island II | Voice | |
| Myth III: The Wolf Age | Voice | ||
| 2004 | World of Warcraft | Additional Voices | Voice |
| 2005 | ER | Jerry Markovic | Voice |
| 2012 | Skylanders: Giants | Additional Voices | Voice |
| 2013 | Skylanders: Swap Force | Additional Voices | Voice |
| 2014 | Diablo III: Reaper of Souls | Urzael the Harbinger of Death | Voice |
| Diablo III: Ultimate Evil Edition | Urzael the Harbinger of Death | Voice | |
| World of Warcraft: Warlords of Draenor | Additional Voices and Monster Vocal Effects | Voice | |
| 2015 | Heroes of the Storm | Diablo | Voice |
| StarCraft II: Legacy of the Void | Additional Voices | Voice | |
| 2016 | World of Warcraft: Legion | Additional Voices | Voice |
| 2018 | World of Warcraft: Battle for Azeroth | Additional Voices | Voice |
| 2022 | World of Warcraft: Dragonflight | Voice Credited as Abe Benrubi | |
References
- ^ "Abraham Benrubi Biography (1969–)". FilmReference.com. Retrieved July 21, 2019.
- ^ Cohn, Robert A. (August 3, 2011). "Rachel Benrubi, 86; family hid Jews in Greece during WWII". St. Louis Jewish Light. Retrieved January 5, 2021.
- ^ Kelly, Robert. (April 20, 2009). Those who aided Jews honored Many put their lives at stake to conceal Jews from Nazis during Holocaust. COMMMERATION. St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Retrieved May 5, 2012.
- ^ . New York Daily News. September 12, 2006. Archived from the original on September 30, 2007.
- ^ Lloyd, Robert (June 22, 2010). "Television Review: 'Memphis Beat'". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved January 5, 2021.
- ^ Snyder, Jeff (May 16, 2011). "Benrubi set to play 'Glutton'". Variety. Retrieved January 5, 2021.
- ^ "Associate Members". Sacred Fools Theater Company. Retrieved January 5, 2021.