# Samuel E. Wright

Samuel Ernest Wright (November 20, 1946 – May 24, 2021) was an American actor. He was best known as the voice of Sebastian in Disney's The Little Mermaid, for which he provided the lead vocals to "Under the Sea", which won the Academy Award for Best Original Song. He played Dizzy Gillespie in Bird, the biographical film about Charlie Parker. Wright also played the part of Mufasa in the original cast of The Lion King on Broadway and voiced Kron the Iguanodon in the 2000 CGI/live-action film Dinosaur.

## Early life

Wright was born on November 20, 1946, in Camden, South Carolina. He was a student at Camden High School, where he was involved with sports and the arts.

## Career

In 1968, Wright moved to New York City to pursue his acting career full time. Wright originated the part of "Sam" in Over Here! on Broadway (1974). In addition, on Broadway, Wright replaced Ben Vereen as the Leading Player in Pippin (1972).
Wright played Enos' partner Officer Turk Adams in the TV series Enos, the Dukes of Hazzard spin-off in 1980–81. Wright was nominated for a Tony Award in 1984 for Best Featured Actor in a Musical for his performance in The Tap Dance Kid. He portrayed jazz trumpeter and composer Dizzy Gillespie in the 1988 Clint Eastwood film Bird.
He originated the role of Mayor Joe Clark in Mule Bone (1991). He was nominated for a Tony Award again in 1998 for Best Featured Actor in a Musical as the original lead actor for Mufasa in The Lion King, the Broadway version of Disney's animated classic of the same name.
He also played the part of Jericho on the short-lived Fox television program Jonny Zero in 2005.

### Music and voice-over work

Wright narrated the 1988 documentary film Thelonious Monk: Straight, No Chaser, produced by Clint Eastwood.
Wright performed and recorded several songs for the Walt Disney Pictures animated film The Little Mermaid, as Sebastian the Crab, and is widely known for the songs "Under the Sea", and "Kiss the Girl". He voiced Sebastian in The Little Mermaid's sequels and spin-offs, including The Little Mermaid 2: Return to the Sea and The Little Mermaid: Ariel's Beginning (the latter being his final voice role), and recorded several albums in reggae style, among them Sebastian from The Little Mermaid and Sebastian: Party Gras!. Wright also voiced Kron, the leader of the Iguanadon herd, Dinosaur, another Disney animated film.
He released a soul music single in 1973, "There's Something Funny Going On" backed with "Three Hundred Pounds of Hungry" on the Paramount Records label.

## Personal life and death

Wright met his wife Amanda Wright, a dance director, at a production of William Shakespeare's The Two Gentlemen of Verona in London's West End. They married on June 14, 1974. Together they had three children: Keely, Dee, and Sam Jr.
Wright died from prostate cancer at his home in Walden, New York on May 24, 2021, aged 74. The cancer had been diagnosed three years earlier.

## Filmography
### Film

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 1988 | Bird | Dizzy Gillespie | |
| 1988 | Me and Him | Paramedic #1 | |
| 1989 | The Little Mermaid | Sebastian (voice) | |
| 1993 | Strapped | Dave | |
| 2000 | Dinosaur | Kron (voice) | |
| 2000 | The Little Mermaid II: Return to the Sea | Sebastian (voice) | Direct-to-video |
| 2008 | The Little Mermaid: Ariel's Beginning | Sebastian (voice) | Direct-to-video; Final role |

### Television

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 1976 | Ball Four | C. B. Travis | 5 episodes |
| 1979 | Hollow Image | Scotty | Television film |
| 1980–1981 | Enos | Officer Turk Adams | 18 episodes |
| 1982 | The Neighborhood | Moving Man | Television film |
| 1985 | Brass | Captain Michael Shore | Television film |
| 1986 | The Gift of Amazing Grace | Morris | Episode: "The Gift of Amazing Grace" |
| 1986 | The Cosby Show | Dr. Dan Morgan | Episode: "Close to Home" |
| 1991 | Separate but Equal | Artis Patterson | TV mini-series |
| 1991 | Sebastian's Caribbean Jamboree | Sebastian (voice) | Television special |
| 1991 | Sebastian's Party Gras! | Sebastian (voice) | Television special |
| 1992–1994 | The Little Mermaid | Sebastian (voice) | 31 episodes |
| 1992 | Raw Toonage | Sebastian (voice) | Episode: "Draining Cats and Dogs/Mars vs. Man" |
| 1993 | Alex Haley's Queen | Alfred | 2 episodes |
| 1993 | Marsupilami | Sebastian (voice) | 8 episodes |
| 1994–2000 | Law & Order | Jerome Osborn, Dubois, and Morris Stokely | 3 episodes |
| 1997 | New York Undercover | Gil Jefferson | Episode: "Fade Out" |
| 2001–2002 | House of Mouse | Sebastian (voice) | 6 episodes |
| 2003 | Mickeypalooza | Sebastian (voice) | Television special |

### Video games

| Year | Title | Role |
| 1992 | Ariel the Little Mermaid | Sebastian |
| 1997 | Ariel's Story Studio | Sebastian |
| 1999 | Disney's Arcade Frenzy | Sebastian |
| 2000 | The Little Mermaid II: The Video Game | Sebastian |

## Theatre

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 1971 | Jesus Christ Superstar | Reporter, Leper, Apostle | Broadway |
| 1971, 1973 | Two Gentlemen of Verona | Valentine, Performer | Broadway, West End |
| 1972 | Pippin | Leading player | Broadway |
| 1974 | Over Here! | Sam | Broadway |
| 1983 | The Tap Dance Kid | William Sheridan | Broadway |
| 1989 | Welcome to the Club | Bruce Aiken | Broadway |
| 1991 | Mule Bone | Mayor Joe Clark | Broadway |
| 1997 | Promises, Promises | Mr. Kirkeby | Off-Broadway |
| 1997 | The Lion King | Mufasa | Broadway |

## Discography

* Sebastian from The Little Mermaid (1990)
* Sebastian: Party Gras! (1991)
* The Little Mermaid: Songs from the Sea (1992)