Danny Wells

Jack Westelman (April 7, 1941 – November 28, 2013), known as Danny Wells, was a Canadian actor, voice actor and composer. He is best known for his role as Charlie the bartender on The Jeffersons as well as his role as Luigi in the live-action/animated series The Super Mario Bros. Super Show!. In 1975 Wells made his film debut in The Strongest Man in the World. He then went on to appear in a string of successful movies including Private Benjamin (1980) starring Goldie Hawn and Eileen Brennan, The Woman in Red (1984) starring Gene Wilder, Magnolia (1999), and The Last Kiss (2006) where he played the Uncle of Michael Weston's character Izzy.
Over his prolific career,[3] Wells did most of his work in television, starring or making guest appearances in more than 80 television shows and movies, including Sanford and Son, CHiPs, The A-Team, and The Fall Guy. In 1975, he starred in the most notable role[4] of his career: "Charlie the Bartender", on the hit television show The Jeffersons. Wells played Charlie as a recurring role[5] throughout the entire 11 season run until the show was cancelled in 1985.
Cult fans of 1970s television ads will remember him for his portrayal as the store manager for Kmart department stores.[citation needed]
Wells began doing voice work in 1982 when he voiced the character of Stomper #1 in the Ralph Bakshi film Hey Good Looking. From there he went on to voice numerous characters for film, television and video games, including "Descent 3" and "Wizardy 8". His first television series was Heathcliff and The Catillac Cats (1984), which lead to the film Heathcliff: The Movie in 1986. He voiced several other animated series such as "Batman: The Animated Series", Grossology and Johnny Bravo, but it was in 1989 that Wells starred in and voiced the animated character that he is perhaps best remembered for with TV viewers of a certain age: Luigi from "The Super Mario Bros. Super Show!".[6][7]
In an interview with "Slam" magazine, Wells recalled the popularity of the show: "We went on the air, three o'clock in the afternoon, with no publicity or P.R. at all. There was no pre-build-up to this show, nothing ... they just threw us out there. In three weeks, we became number one. We beat Disney, we beat everybody, without any publicity, without any help from anybody, this show went to the number one daytime cartoon show. They put us up against Mickey Mouse, it didn't matter, we beat them. It was amazing."[8]
In 2002, Wells starred as film executive Jack L. Warner in the made-for-television movie "Gleason" starring Brad Garrett as Jackie Gleason.
As composer, Wells wrote the music for the 1979 CBS TV movie Never Say Never starring George Kennedy and Anne Schedeen.[9]
Category:Voice Actors