Greg Baldwin
Greg Baldwin | |
|---|---|
 Baldwin in 2023 | |
| Occupation | Actor |
| Years active | 1982–present |
| Spouse |
Melissa Baldwin (m. 1984) |
| Children | 2 |
Greg Baldwin is an American voice actor. He is best known for his roles as Frank Fontaine in BioShock, Uncle Iroh on the third season of Avatar: The Last Airbender and Aku on the fifth season of Samurai Jack, with the latter two as a voice match for the late Mako Iwamatsu.
Career
[edit]Baldwin has worked in the theater extensively as Sidney Lipton in God's Favorite, Mushnik in Little Shop of Horrors, Dr. Zubritsky in Neil Simon's Fools, Count Otto Von Bruno in Bullshot Crummond, and the Baker in The Baker's Wife.[1][2]
Successor of Mako Iwamatsu
[edit]Contrary to internet rumors of being Mako Iwamatsu’s understudy in preparation for voicing Iroh in Avatar: The Last Airbender, Baldwin had actually earned the part by auditioning for it. He first began voicing the character for brief pieces of dialogue in the show’s second season due to Iwamatsu being unable to record for them before passing on, all of which were mixed in with the material Iwamatsu already completed. Baldwin would later voice the character full-time for the final season, various video games based on the franchise, and for the second and third seasons of The Legend of Korra.
Before The Last Airbender's final season aired, Baldwin also performed a substantial portion of Splinter's dialogue in the movie TMNT after Mako died during production. His recordings would once again be mixed in with Iwamatsu’s, thanks to their uncanny similarities.[3]
Nearly six months after The Last Airbender concluded, Baldwin would once again succeed Iwamatsu by voicing Aku in the 2009 video game Cartoon Network Universe: FusionFall. And nearly three years after Korra concluded production, and after Iroh’s final appearance in Season 3’s “The Ultimatum”, Baldwin reprised the role of Aku for the fifth season of Samurai Jack.[4] In 2020, he’d later play Aku once again in the Samurai Jack: Battle Through Time video game.
At the time the fifth season of Samurai Jack was being released, series creator Genndy Tartakovsky was asked about Baldwin's casting and made the following statement in an interview with The Verge:
"It was hard. For a while, I thought we should reimagine Aku with a different voice, perhaps even use a different character. But then I realized I love Aku too much, so we auditioned a few people, and Greg really did the best job. Honestly, nobody can replace Mako, he was that special, that unique, especially the performance he made for Aku. But Greg did really well. On the last episode, Mako’s daughter and grandson came by, and they watched him record, and they were crying. It was really amazing, because they heard the voice of their dad and grandfather."[5]
Other works
[edit]Aside from often serving as a voice double for Iwamatsu, Baldwin has also voiced original characters for both Samurai Jack and the Avatar franchise, as well as for various TV shows and video games outside of those two series. He provided the voices of multiple characters in Star Wars: The Clone Wars and Lego Star Wars: The Freemaker Adventures, and he made a guest appearance in SpongeBob SquarePants, Curious George, and The Marvelous Misadventures of Flapjack.
Baldwin was credited as the original actor for Atlas in BioShock; he was replaced by Karl Hanover in the final version of the game and the character's original Southern drawl was changed into an Irish accent.[6][7] His voice can also be heard in numerous other video games, including Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six: Lockdown, Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood, F.E.A.R. and Fallout 4.
On April 2, 2021, Baldwin announced that he was cast in an undisclosed original role for the Disney Television Animation program, The Ghost and Molly McGee.[8] Upon release, Baldwin’s role was later revealed to be one of the members of the Ghost Council, and the show’s second season revealed his character’s name to be Bartholomew. Baldwin would also go on to provide additional voices for the series.
In a rare live-action performance, he appeared as communist writer Dutch Zweistrong in Hail, Caesar!.[9]
Personal life
[edit]Baldwin currently resides in Albuquerque with his wife Melissa Baldwin.[10] Together they have two children, Sydney and Cooper.[11]
According to an interview with The Dot and Line, Baldwin was able to fill-in for Mako on his voice roles by listening to the cast album of Pacific Overtures, a musical that Mako starred in, which was a personal favorite album of Baldwin’s.[12]
In May of 2023, Baldwin posed the question on his Twitter account as to whether he should run for Governor of New Mexico in 2026.[13]
Filmography
[edit]Film
[edit]| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2007 | TMNT | Splinter | Grouped under "Additional Voices" |
Animation
[edit]| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2004 | Xiaolin Showdown | Daddy Bailey | Episode: "Big as Texas" |
| 2004–05 | Brandy & Mr. Whiskers | Boris, Talk Show Host, Monkey | 3 episodes |
| 2007–08 | Avatar: The Last Airbender | Uncle Iroh, Additional Voices | 10 episodes |
| 2007 | SpongeBob SquarePants | Jack M. Crazyfish | Episode: "Blackened Sponge" |
| 2009 | Curious George | Morty the Cab Driver | Episode: "Wheels on the Bus" |
| The Marvelous Misadventures of Flapjack | Sir Pattington, Constable | Episode: "Diamonds in the Stuff" | |
| 2010–12 | Star Wars: The Clone Wars | Tera Sinube, Casiss, Serapis, Gwarm, Doge Urus | 7 episodes |
| 2013–14 | The Legend of Korra | Uncle Iroh, Additional Voices | 4 episodes |
| 2016–17 | Lego Star Wars: The Freemaker Adventures | Furlac, Ranat, Additional Voices | 4 episodes |
| 2017 | Samurai Jack | Aku, Ringo, Orc Captain, Additional Voices | 7 episodes |
| 2021–24 | The Ghost and Molly McGee | Bartholomew, Julius Caesar, Additional Voices | 15 episodes |
Video games
[edit]Live-action
[edit]| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | Hail, Caesar! | Dutch Zweistrong | |
| 2016–18 | Adam Ruins Everything | Various | 4 episodes |
Theatre
[edit]- Bullshot Crummond – Count Otto Von Bruno
- God's Favorite – Sidney Lipton
- Little Shop of Horrors – Mushnik
- The Baker's Wife – The Baker
References
[edit]- ^ "God's Favorite". Retrieved 23 April 2024.
- ^ "The Baker's Wife – Stephen Schwartz". stephenschwartz.com. Retrieved 23 April 2024.
- ^ "Baldwin implicitly confirms his role as Splinter while answering fans' questions at an Avatar forum". Distanthorizons.proboards.com. 2007-10-18. Retrieved 2013-08-05.
- ^ Brock Wilbur (February 9, 2017). "Samurai Jack is back — with a darker take and a 'traumatized' samurai". Polygon. Retrieved February 9, 2017.
- ^ Tasha Robinson (March 10, 2017). "Genndy Tartakovsky on reviving Samurai Jack: 'I was out of shape for working this hard again'". The Verge. Retrieved July 27, 2023.
- ^ "Bioshock's Atlas Speaks. An Interview With Karl Hanover". thegamingliberty.com. November 6, 2010. Archived from the original on August 12, 2014. Retrieved May 15, 2022.
- ^ Parkin, Simon (April 17, 2014). "Rapture leaked: The true story behind the making of BioShock". Eurogamer. Archived from the original on April 21, 2014. Retrieved April 22, 2014.
- ^ Greg Baldwin (April 2, 2021). "Totally in this show!". Twitter. Retrieved July 26, 2021.
- ^ Kit, Borys (October 17, 2014). "Coen Brothers' 'Hail, Caesar!' Adds Four (Exclusive)". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved October 19, 2014.
- ^ Baldwin, Greg [@GregBaldwinIroh] (August 22, 2018). "I married Melissa.* #My3WordLegacy *34 years ago this Friday. Well wishes and cash gifts gladly accepted. https://t.co/LXgDMlGCx6" (Tweet). Retrieved June 14, 2021 – via Twitter.
- ^ Baldwin, Greg [@GregBaldwinIroh] (September 9, 2018). "Raise a glass to Cooper Baldwin...born 24 years ago this day. My beloved son in whom I am well pleased. "I have a son...who is my heart. A wonderful young man...daring and loving and strong and kind."" (Tweet). Retrieved October 17, 2023 – via Twitter.
- ^ Eric Vilas Boas (March 18, 2017). "Greg Baldwin Breaks Down His Aku Voice: "I'm Not Mako."". The Dot and Line. Retrieved January 11, 2019.
- ^ Baldwin, Greg. "This is a serious question. I'm legitimately pondering this". Twitter. Retrieved 20 June 2023.
- ^ "White Knight Chronicles (2010 video game)". Behind The Voice Actors. Retrieved 28 July 2021. 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.
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External links
[edit]- Greg Baldwin at IMDb