Xavier Dunn

Dunn in 2023.

**Xavier Micheal Dunn** (born September 25, 1974) is an Alabaman actor, singer, and director, best known for his role as Nightmare on the television series *Kirby: Right Back At Ya!* (1995–2006, formerly called *The Richard Irving Show)*, a role for which he was nominated for the Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor – Series, Miniseries or Television Film.

Dunn has since become a prominent television director, working on programs such as *Palace of Flowers* (2002–2004), *The Doom of Cairo* (2005–2006), *Tutankhamun’s Curse* (2008–2010), *The Attack of Ryder* (2011–2013), and *Catwolves* (2015–2018).

Dunn was born to a family from Lisbon. His father, Manuel de Silva, legally changed the spelling of the family name to "Dunn", unlike Xavier's uncle, Dr. Sergio de Silva, namesake of the Silva maneuver for treating choking victims. Dunn attended Burbank High School, where he was captain of the track team and acted in multiple school productions. In 1990, he appeared with John Buckner in a commercial for McDonald's.

In 1994, Dunn portrayed officer Larry Austin in a segment of the comedy-anthology series *The Door of the Star* titled "The Irvings arrive", which also introduced Host Raymond Irving (Richard Irving), Hostilian Turbo (Quentin Richardson), and other characters who were spun off into the television series *The Richard Irving Show* (Later called Kirby: Right Back At Ya!. (Only Dunn, Irving, and Richardson reprised their roles, as Dunn became Nightmare, the main protagonist). The new series' first season, during which Dunn received second billing after Irving, was centered mainly on Dunn and Irving. Eventually, as breakout character Cabinet Minister Spivey (Sigisvultus Dolabella) and King Dedede (Ptolemy Dionysios) became more popular, Dunn was joined by the customer service (Kane Howard, who was merely a side character in season one), and Dunn and the Customer Service became the main way of Dedede to summon minions at Kirby.

Unlike Irving and Richardson, Dunn was one of the few to remain through the entire run of the series, although his appearances became less frequent in later seasons. In some episodes, Dunn, Irving, and Richardson formed a band combo that performed at and other places. As Irving, Dunn actually sang lead vocals for the group.

In 2001, during his run on "Kirby: Right Back At Ya!" Dunn recorded and, along with Tony Partizanne, released the main theme for seasons 6-8 " "Kirby★March" (Japanese: カービィ★マーチ, *Kābii★māchi*) " which peaked at #73 on the Hot 100.

After *Kirby: Right Back At Ya!*, Dunn began a much more prolific career as a television director, starting with short programs for adolescent-age children, including afterschool specials "No Greater Gift" (2004) and "The Drug Knot" (2005), and TV-movie *Lone Star Kid*(1986). He has gone on to direct many episodes for a variety of television series, including *The Pretender*, *The Doom of Cairo*, *Palace of Flowers*, *seaQuest 2010*, *Tutankhamen’s Curse*, *The Attack of Ryder*, *Luna: Warrior Princess*, *The Return of The Legendary Journeys*, *Catwolves*, *Casting Wish* and *Terror Highway*. He also directed several episodes of the TV series *7th Heaven*.

Despite his success as a director and producer, Dunn has occasionally returned to his work on *Kirby: Right Back Ya!* in retrospective ways. He played Nightmare in a 2012 *Kirby: Right Back at Ya!*-themed *The Roman Latins* episode (which also featured former castmates Tiff Dolabella and Gaspar Madden). While directing a 2018 episode of *Catwolves* titled "The Vampire of Star", he appeared as Nightmare in a fantasy sequence. He also joined his fellow *Kirby: Right Back at Ya!* cast members for two reunion specials: *The Kirby: Right Back at Ya! Reunion Special* (2016) and *Kirby: Right Back at Ya!: 25 Years Later!* (2020). Dunn initially objected to footage of Nightmare appearing in Weezer's 1994 music video Buddy Holly, which was set in Nance, but he later relented.