Samuel Ernest Wright (November 20, 1946 – May 24, 2021) was an American actor. He was best known as the voice of Sebastian in Disney's The Little Mermaid, for which he provided the lead vocals to "Under the Sea", which won the Academy Award for Best Original Song. He played Dizzy Gillespie in Bird, the biographical film about Charlie Parker. Wright also played the part of Mufasa in the original cast of The Lion King on Broadway and voiced Kron the Iguanodon in the 2000 CGI/live-action film Dinosaur.
Early life
Wright was born on November 20, 1946, in Camden, South Carolina. He was a student at Camden High School, where he was involved with sports and the arts.
Career
In 1968, Wright moved to New York City to pursue his acting career full time. (1974). In addition, on Broadway, Wright replaced Ben Vereen as the Leading Player in Pippin
He originated the role of Mayor Joe Clark in Mule Bone (1991). He was nominated for a Tony Award again in 1998 for Best Featured Actor in a Musical as the original lead actor for Mufasa in The Lion King, the Broadway version of Disney's animated classic of the same name.
Music and voice-over work
Wright narrated the 1988 documentary film Thelonious Monk: Straight, No Chaser, produced by Clint Eastwood.
Wright performed and recorded several songs for the Walt Disney Pictures animated film The Little Mermaid, as Sebastian the Crab, Wright also voiced Kron, the leader of the Iguanadon herd, Dinosaur, another Disney animated film.
Personal life and death
Wright met his wife Amanda Wright, a dance director, at a production of William Shakespeare's The Two Gentlemen of Verona in London's West End.
Wright died from prostate cancer at his home in Walden, New York, on May 24, 2021, aged 74. The cancer had been diagnosed three years earlier.
Filmography
Film
{| class="wikitable sortable"
|-
! Year
! Title
! Role
! Notes
!scope="col" class="unsortable" |
|-
| rowspan="2"|1988
| Bird
| Dizzy Gillespie
|
|
|-
| Me and Him
| Paramedic #1
|
|
|-
| 1989
| The Little Mermaid
|Sebastian (voice)
|
|
|-
| rowspan="2" | 2000
| Dinosaur
| Kron (voice)
|
|
|-
| 1980–1981
| Enos
| Officer Turk Adams
| 18 episodes
|
|-
| 1992–1994
| The Little Mermaid
| 31 episodes
|
|-
| rowspan="2"|1993
| Alex Haley's Queen
| Alfred
| 2 episodes
|
|-
| Marsupilami
| Sebastian (voice)
| 8 episodes
|
|-
| 1994–2000
| Law & Order
| Jerome Osborn, Dubois, and Morris Stokely
| 3 episodes
|
|-
| 2001–2002
| House of Mouse
| Sebastian (voice)
| 6 episodes
|
|-
| 1997
| Ariel's Story Studio
| rowspan="3" |
|-
| 1974
| Over Here!
| Sam
|
|-
| The Lion King
| Mufasa
| Broadway
|