David Kaufman (actor)

David Kaufman (actor)
David Kaufman (born July 23, 1961) is an American actor. He is best known for his voice roles of Dexter Douglas in Freakazoid!, Jimmy Olsen in various DC projects beginning with Superman: The Animated Series, the titular protagonist in Danny Phantom, Aldrin in The Buzz on Maggie, Marty McFly in Back to the Future, and Stuart Little in the animated series of the same name. He often is a voice double for Michael J. Fox.
Early life
Kaufman was born and raised in St. Louis, Missouri. His father is Jewish, while his mother is Catholic. Kaufman began acting at a young age in his hometown when his kindergarten teacher handed him the plum lead role of Santa Claus in the class Christmas play.
At the age of 18, Kaufman moved from St. Louis to attend UCLA; he was a student in the Department of Theater Arts.
Career
Since his college years, Kaufman has studied and worked extensively as a professional actor in films and television.
He has worked with the Daly family of actors on several projects: He worked with Tim Daly on Superman: The Animated Series and its subsequent spin-offs, playing Jimmy Olsen. He also appeared with Daly in the series Wings in 1995 with his wife Lisa; the two portrayed a couple whose wedding Daly's character Joe and his fiancée Helen crash. He worked with Tim's sister, Tyne Daly on Kids Like These and will join Tim again in Justice League: Doom, reprising his role of Jimmy Olsen.
Kaufman has also worked as a commercial actor. One of his most prominent roles was as a dancing stockboy in a 1989 commercial for Hi-C Ecto Cooler.
Personal life
On June 30, 1990, Kaufman married actress Lisa Picotte; together, they have two children who are also actors, including Grace Kaufman and Henry Kaufman. He came out as bisexual on Celebrate Bisexuality Day in 2021.
Filmography
Television series
Down to Earth (TBS) - Duane Preston
Haunted Lives: True Ghost Stories (CBS) - Tim Clanton
Dweebs (CBS) - Morley
Presidio Med (CBS)
Kaufman has guest-starring roles on such series as:
Animaniacs - Steven Seagull
Boston Legal
The Closer
ER
Stargate SG-1 - Mark Gilmor
The West Wing
CSI: Crime Scene Investigation
Touched by an Angel
Citizen Baines
Hollywood Off-Ramp
Step by Step - Devon
Wings - Groom
Matlock - Danny Hayes / Mark Randall
Night Court - Spiros
Just the Ten of Us
Highway to Heaven
Rocket Power - Cameraman
Simon and Simon
Little House on the Prairie - Carl Sanderson-Edwards
Star Wars: The Clone Wars - Jaybo Hood
Hawaii Five-O
Animated series
Daniel "Danny" Fenton - Nickelodeon's hit animated series Danny Phantom
Aldrin Pesky - Disney Channel's The Buzz on Maggie.
Kaufman lent his voice to several well-known animated series, including Jimmy Olsen from Superman: The Animated Series/Superman: Brainiac Attacks, and Justice League, and Dexter Douglas from Freakazoid, as well as filling in for Michael J. Fox in both the roles of Marty McFly on Back to the Future and Stuart Little in HBO's Stuart Little. He voiced Human Torch in Ultimate Spider-Man, and reprised the role for both Marvel: Ultimate Alliance 2, and The Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes. Kaufman also provided the voice of Arik, a one-time character in the acclaimed Nickelodeon animated series The Legend of Korra.
Films
Your Mother Wears Combat Boots
Pearl Harbor
Enchanted
Prom Night - Businessman
Tom Sawyer
Green Lantern: Emerald Knights - Rubyn
Atlantis: Milo's Return - Milo James Thatch (sharing the role with James Arnold Taylor)
Role of a Lifetime
Red Riding Hood (experimental musical comedy, that was the brain-storm of Director Randal Kleiser)
From the Earth to the Moon (produced by Tom Hanks)
The Last Prostitute (starring with Sonia Braga)
Kids Like These (starring with Tyne Daly and Richard Crenna)
Justice League: Doom
Commercials
AT&T (starring with Ray Walston)
Pepsi (starring with Cindy Crawford)
Blockbuster (starring with Magic Johnson)
Kid Cuisine (the voice of K. C. Penguin)
as well as spots for Honda, Hi-C Ecto-Cooler, Maxwell House, Dentyne, Chili's, Midas, Wendy's, Twiglets and British Petroleum, among others.
Stage work
Kaufman has earned several Los Angeles area critics' awards and nominations.
He has been a member of the West Coast Ensemble in Los Angeles for over ten years, performing such varied roles as:
Skeets Miller in Floyd Collins
Prosecutor Gilmer in To Kill a Mockingbird
George Lewis in Kaufman and Hart's Once in a Lifetime
Orestes in Electra
Tyler in Sondheim and Furth's Merrily We Roll Along
Ronnie Shaughnessy in The House of Blue Leaves
Callimaco in Machiavelli's The Mandrake
Eugene Jerome in Neil Simon's Biloxi Blues
Paul Palmer in James Duff's A Quarrel of Sparrows at The Court Theatre in Los Angeles
Stewie in the premiere of Richard Greenberg's Night and Her Stars at South Coast Repertory.
Video games
Max Justice, Nitro Byrne in Hot Wheels Velocity X
Danny Phantom in: Nicktoons Unite, Nicktoons Winners Cup Racing, Nicktoons: Battle for Volcano Island, Nicktoons: Attack of the Toybots, Nicktoons: Globs of Doom, Nicktoons Nitro, Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl, Nickelodeon Extreme Tennis, Nickelodeon Kart Racers 3: Slime Speedway, and Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl 2
Johnny Storm / Human Torch: Ultimate Spider-Man
Marek in Broken Age
Additional Voices in The Frozen Wilds DLC of Horizon Zero Dawn
References
External links
1961 births
21st-century American Jews
American bisexual actors
American male film actors
American male stage actors
American male television actors
American male video game actors
American male voice actors
Bisexual Jews
Bisexual male actors
Jewish American male actors
LGBT people from Missouri
Living people
Male actors from St. Louis
UCLA Film School alumni