Hugh Davidson (actor)
| Hugh Davidson | |
|---|---|
| Born | Texas |
| Occupation | Actor, screenwriter, producer, voice actor, writer, story editor |
| Years active | 1994–present |
Hugh Davidson is an American actor and screenwriter, best known for his work on the Adult Swim television series Robot Chicken and for his time as a voice actor on Hey Arnold!.
Hey Arnold! and rise to fame
Davidson started his career as the voice of several characters on Nickelodeon animated series Hey Arnold!, most notably as fourth-grade bully Harold Berman (up until the third series, when Callum Rose took over), Arnold's grandmother Gertrude, and Miriam Pataki, the zoned-out mother of Olga (also voiced by Davidson) and Helga. He was cast first and was originally set to voice all the characters, until Steve Viksten managed to convince Rose to join the cast.
There have been episodes of the show when Davidson does not voice a character at all. The episodes "Roughin' It" and "Phoebe Takes the Fall" have seen Rose voice every single character, sometimes during one take. Davidson (without warning) was told that he would no longer continue to voice Harold on the show in 1998, as Craig Bartlett was concerned that the character was a bad influence on younger children. Rose at first refused to take on the role, but eventually relented and voiced Harold for six more years. Davidson was on the verge on quitting the show following this decision, but decided to continue up until the end of the series in 2004, following the box office failure of the theatrical film in 2002.
Davidson will return to the Hey Arnold characters in 2017 for the sequel to the 2002 film, although Rose will still continue to voice Harold.
Career away from Nickelodeon
Davidson made his motion picture debut in the 2001 film Pledge of Innocence. He later guest starred on television shows such as Reno 911!, Arrested Development, and Will and Grace, and as himself in the Mike Tyson Mysteries episode "Unsolved Situations", which he also produces.
In 2006, Davidson went to work as a writer and voice actor for Robot Chicken. He also worked as a writer and voice actor for the Adult Swim show Saul of the Mole Men. He wrote three episodes of the series, and starred as the voice of Bertrum Burrows. In 2008, Davidson starred as Thomas Jefferson in the Adult Swim special Young Person's Guide to History.[1] He also voiced characters on the TV show MAD as a series regular and one of the principal cast members.
Davidson is an alumnus of The Groundlings, an improvisational and sketch comedy troupe based in Los Angeles, California.
Davidson was a writer and story editor for The Looney Tunes Show. He's currently a producer of Mike Tyson Mysteries [2]
Davidson is currently in production on a new TV Land series, "Nobodies." Davidson, along with Larry Dorf and Rachel Ramras, Executive Produce, Write and Star in the series. Melissa McCarthy and Ben Falcone are also attached to the project.[3] Mike McDonald is the Show Runner.[4]