Whether it was a blessing or a curse depended on the nature of the role and the perspective of the performer, but actor Wayne Knight will likely be remembered as the quirky, contrarian and always conniving neighbor, Newman, from “Seinfeld.” But aside from his enormously popular turn as the nefarious foil to series star Jerry Seinfeld (“hello, NEWMAN”), Knight made a name for himself by appearing in a number of television series and films and by lending his distinctive voice to extensive voice over projects.
Born August 7, 1955 in Cartersville, GA, Knight studied acting at the University of Georgia. His first onscreen appearance was with an uncredited part as a gang member in the 1979 film, “The Wanderers.” He appeared in a handful of smaller movies, such as “For Lovers Only,” in 1982, where he played a video game fanatic. In 1987, he appeared in “Dirty Dancing,” which he followed with a bit part as a college partygoer in the sports film, “Everybody’s All-American” (1988). A year later, he snagged a small role in the Oliver Stone film, “Born on the Fourth of July,” later appearing in a much larger role in Stone’s “JFK” (1991) as an investigator on District Attorney Jim Garrison’s (Kevin Costner) assassination investigation team.
Knight’s popularity continued to grow, as he made throwaway supporting roles in more memorable films – notably with a string of movies in the early 1990s: “Dead Again” (1991), where he played “Piccolo” Pete Dugan, and especially “Basic Instinct” (1992), in which he portrayed a sweating and nervous police interrogator inside the famous Sharon Stone “legs uncrossing” scene. Rumor has it that the strong impression Knight made in that notorious scene, caught Steven Spielberg’s attention, who promptly cast him in the role of the duplicitous Nedry in the mammoth 1993 blockbuster, “Jurassic Park.” His evil dinosaur DNA thief met a memorable end by a screeching dinosaur that at first glance, appears harmless before suddenly turning deadly.
Around this time, Knight was cast as irascible postal carrier Newman on “Seinfeld” (NBC, 1990-98). The character had been mentioned but not seen early in the show’s run, and had, in fact, been voiced by series co-creator Larry David in the season two episode, “The Revenge.” Knight first appeared onscreen as Newman in the third season episode, “The Suicide.” He later redubbed David’s voice for syndicated airings. In later years, he appeared so regularly that he was almost a full-time cast member.
Remarkably, Knight was pulling double duty in the mid-1990s, with another prominent supporting role in the sitcom, “3rd Rock From the Sun” (NBC, 1996-2001), playing another uniformed character, Officer Don Orville.
Knight also enjoyed success by providing voice work in animated films, including Disney’s “Hercules,” in 1997, “Tarzan” in 1999, and, in that same year, Pixar’s “Toy Story 2,” where he played the villainous Al the Toy Collector, crafted to resemble the portly Knight in appearance..
He continued his voice work on television, in “Toonyslvania,” (Syndicated, 1998), the Disney animated show, “Buzz Lightyear of Star Command,” (2000) and “Justice League” (Cartoon Network, 2001- ), among others. He also provided the voice for regular character Dojo on the popular animated program, “Xiaolin Showdown” (WB, 2003- ). Back in live action programs, he appeared in bit parts on “Becker” (CBS, 1998-2004), “The Drew Carey Show” (ABC, 1995-2004) and “CSI: NY” (CBS, 2004). On the big screen, he appeared in the comedy “Rat Race” in 2001 and in an uncredited part as an electrician in “Cheaper by the Dozen” in 2003.
Knight was next slated to appear in the feature film, “Forfeit” in 2007, and to provide the voice for Max in the animated feature “Cat Tale,” set for release in 2008.