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
editBenrubi was born on October 4, 1969, in Indianapolis, Indiana, the eldest son of Patricia and Asher Benrubi, known professionally as Adam Smasher or "The Smash", who was the lead singer of Roadmaster and a radio personality in St. Louis.[1][2] 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.[3][4] Benrubi graduated from Broad Ripple High School in Indianapolis.
Career
editBenrubi's early appearances included roles in the shows Growing Pains, Married... with Children and Blossom. His 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 second season, and again during the seventh season, shortly after he began working on NBC's ER.
Benrubi portrayed a young Dan Conner, the character portrayed by John Goodman, in a flashback episode of Roseanne.[5]
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 – discuss]
Benrubi appeared on ER from its first season, playing desk clerk Jerry Markovic. He was a regular cast member from 1994 to 1999; again from 2002 to 2006; and again from 2008 to 2009.
Benrubi starred as one of the main characters in ABC's show Men in Trees (2006 to 2008), 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, where he played a more supporting role. Ben Tomasson was described as "the cuddliest TV character since Jorge Garcia's Hurley on Lost" by TV-critic David Bianculli.[6]
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 starred in the short-lived ABC show, Happy Town (April to June 2010) 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 who is 1/16 Chickasaw by a distant relative, but chooses to embrace Native American culture all the same.[7]
In May 2011, it was announced that he would star in Glutton, a "3D psychological thriller" directed by David Arquette. Benrubi would have played Jethro, a 1,200-pound man, forced to save his sister's life.[8] Jethro's sister would have been portrayed by Patricia Arquette, while Kacey Barnfield would have also starred as his blind neighbor and only friend.
Benrubi is a member of Los Angeles' Sacred Fools Theater Company.[9]
Other 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.
Filmography
editFilm
edit| 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[10] | |
| 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[10] | |
| 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[10] | |
| 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[10] | |
| 2023 | The Old Way | Big Mike | |
Television
edit| Television | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 1990 | Growing Pains | Really Big Kid | Episode: "Mike, the Teacher" |
| 1990-1996 | Wings | Roy "R.J." Biggins Jr. | 2 episodes |
| 1990-1993 | Parker Lewis Can't Lose | Larry Kubiac | 66 episodes |
| 1991-1993 | Married... with Children | Jimmy/Baby | 2 episodes |
| 1992 | Blossom | Francis | Episode: "Whines and Misdemeanors" |
| Angel Street | Pilot episode | ||
| Roseanne | Teenage Dan | Episode: "Halloween IV" | |
| 1993 | Grace Under Fire | Mark | Episode: "Grace Undergraduate" |
| 1994-2009 | ER | Jerry Markovic | 137 episodes |
| 1995 | Out There | Roy | Television film |
| 1998 | Sleepwalkers | Vincent Konefke | Main role |
| Cold Feet | Man on the Bus | Television film | |
| Tempting Fate | John Bolladine | Television film | |
| 1999 | The X-Files | Big Mike Raskin | Episode: "Arcadia" |
| A Touch of Hope | Dr. Neil Bachman | Television film | |
| 2000 | Dark Angel | Break | Episode: "Flushed" |
| 2001-2002 | Buffy the Vampire Slayer | Olaf | 2 episodes |
| 2002 | Going to California | Harvey | Episode: "Mixed Doubles" |
| 2005 | Unscripted | Himself | Episode 1 pilot |
| Criminal Minds | Frank Fielding | Episode: "The Fox" | |
| 2005-2017 | American Dad! | Todd and Employee | Voice, 2 episodes |
| 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 | Television film |
| 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 | |
| Robot Chicken: Star Wars Episode III | Darth Vader and Owen Lars | Voice | |
| 2011 | Team Unicorn | The Professor | Episode: "Alien Beach Crashers" |
| 2012 | Community | Orderly | Episode: "Curriculum Unavailable" |
| Robot Chicken DC Comics Special | Cyborg, Kilowog, Appa Ali Apsa, Solomon Grundy | Voice | |
| Bones | Willis McCullum | Episode: "The Method in the Madness" | |
| Pair of Kings | Silver Fox | Episode: "Yeti, Set, Snow" | |
| Star Wars Detours | Additional Voices | Voice Series unaired, hiatus | |
| 2012-2013 | Brickleberry | Mr. Cunaman, Meat-Hammer | Voice, 2 episodes |
| 2013 | Once Upon a Time | Arlo | Episode: "Tiny" |
| The Garcias Have Landed | Admiral Lomax | Television film | |
| Chance at Romance | Jackson | Television film | |
| 2014-2015 | Bosch | Rodney Belk | 4 episodes |
| 2014 | Beware the Batman | Street Thug | Voice, episode: "Fall"[10] |
| The Bridge | DEA Agent Joe McKenzie | 10 episodes | |
| 2016 | TripTank | Chief | Voice, episode: "Crime Steve Investigation"[10] |
| Outcast | Caleb | 3 episodes | |
| 2017 | APB | Pete McCann | 11 episodes |
| Still the King | Leslie | Episode: "Who's Your Daddy?" | |
| 2019 | Chicago Fire | Russ LaPointe | Episode: "The White Whale" |
| 2020-22 | It's Pony | George Bramley | Voice, recurring role[10] |
Video games
edit| 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 | Voice[10] |
| Diablo III: Ultimate Evil Edition | Urzael | 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
edit- ^ "Abraham Benrubi Biography (1969–)". FilmReference.com. Retrieved July 21, 2019.
- ^ "Radio Legend "The Smash" Returning to the Airwaves". RiverBender.com. April 9, 2020. Retrieved 2023-09-04.
- ^ 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.
- ^ Darus, Alex (2022-02-10). "Why Russ LaPointe From Chicago Fire Looks So Familiar". Looper. Retrieved 2023-09-04.
- ^ "'Trees': Heche Branches Out. Alas, she's left out on a limb". 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.
- ^ a b c d e f g h "Abraham Benrubi (visual voices guide)". Behind The Voice Actors. Retrieved October 22, 2023. A green check mark indicates that a role has been confirmed using a screenshot (or collage of screenshots) of a title's list of voice actors and their respective characters found in its credits or other reliable sources of information.