A classically-trained actor, Kevin Michael Richardson (born October 25, 1964 in The Bronx, New York) first gained recognition as one of only eight U.S. high school students selected for the National Foundation for the Arts' "Arts '82" program, winning him a spot on a PBS special directed by the esteemed late John Houseman and a scholarship to Syracuse University. He is very grateful for the opportunities that have been presented to him since.
Kevin has been more widely heard than seen through the hundreds of animated, commercial and video game characters he has created over the past years, due largely to his deep, distinctive voice. He was heard in theaters as the voice of Thaddeus in Animatrix: Final Flight of the Osiris in addition to being featured in The Matrix Revolutions, as the character Deus ex Machina. Kevin was also seen in The WB's family comedy Like Family as the patriarch of an extended family that includes his wife's best friend and her teenage son. He was featured in the hit animated movie Lilo & Stitch and continued in the animated series of the same name as Captain Gantu. Other animated feature films include The Country Bears, Rugrats in Paris: The Movie, Recess: School's Out, Whispers: An Elephant's Tale, All Dogs Go to Heaven 2 and The Wild Thornberrys Movie, in which he voiced the mystic Shaman Mnyambo, a role he also portrays in the television series.
Among the numerous animated television series roles he can be heard in: Uncle Oswidge in Dave the Barbarian, Glorft Commander and other characters in Megas XLR, Dr. Pain in The Proud Family and Robert Hawkins in the Kids' WB! show Static Shock. Other memorable characters Richardson voiced include The Boogeyman in The Powerpuff Girls, Barney Rubble in The Flintstones: On The Rocks and Plato in the PBS series Adventures from the Book of Virtues. Richardson's primetime characters include Mr. Hudson and Rasta Man in The WB's The PJs. Other animated series include SpongeBob SquarePants, Justice League, Buzz Lightyear of Star Command, Lobo (Webseries), Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2012) and Samurai Jack, just to name a few. In the realm of video games, Kevin has voiced characters for many PC and Playstation games including Enter the Matrix, Indiana Jones and the Emperor's Tomb, Star Wars, Crash Bandicoot and Baldur's Gate. Mostly, Richardson is known for playing African-American men who are either goofy or threatening, but, as the role list below demonstrates, Richardson has a broader range than that, often playing white men and sometimes characters that aren't even human (but, in some cases, can be coded as such, as seen with Exile Mikhailovich Zanhusky from Road Rovers, who sounds like a Russian man, but is a Siberian husky).
Kevin has also lent his voice to countless film and television promos, including the voice of the smiley-face price-buster for Wal-Mart, spokesman for Southwest Airlines, the announcer for the 2000 Emmy Awards and the voice of numerous Kids' WB! promos.
In front of the camera, Richardson has appeared in films, television and commercials. He is especially proud of the three-episode arc on ER in which he portrayed Patrick, a mentally-challenged young man. He was featured in the pilot for The Next Big Thing starring Sara Gilbertnote and previously essayed the role of Vashti in the series Homeboys in Outer Space. His feature film appearances include Bound (1996) with Joe Pantoliano and Jennifer Tilly, BASEketball by South Park creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone, and the Carl Reiner film Fatal Instinct.
Kevin currently lives in Los Angeles, California.
Filmography:
- The Animatrix - Thadeus
- Cardcaptor Sakura - Clown Card Announcer
- Batman and Harley Quinn - Floronic Man
- Batman: Gotham Knight - Lucius Fox
- Batman: Mystery of the Batwoman - Carlton Duquesne
- Dead Space: Downfall - Samuel Irons, Pendleton, Miner
- Felix the Cat: The Movie - Drink the Ink
- The Flintstones On the Rocks - Barney Rubble
- Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius - Captain Spoor (deleted scenes)
- LEGO Scooby-Doo! Blowout Beach Bash - Sheriff, Captain Bash
- Lilo & Stitch - Gantu
- The Little Mermaid III: Ariel's Beginning - Ray-Ray and Cheeks
- Open Season 2 - Roger, Roberto
- The Powerpuff Girls Movie - Ojo Tango, Rocko Socko
- The Super Mario Bros. Movie: Kamek
- TMNT - General Aguila
- Trolls: World Tour - Growly Pete
- Clerks II - Police Officer
- I Know That Voice - Himself
- The Matrix Revolutions - Deus Ex Machina
- Mortal Kombat: The Movie - Goro (voice, role shared with Frank Welker)
- Spy Hard - "Michael Winslow" security guard (uncredited)
- Transformers: Revenge of The Fallen- 13 original Primes member #2, Rampage (credited as "Skipjack"), Hatching vocals (uncredited)
- Whispers: An Elephant's Tale - Adult Whispers (as narrator)
- The Cleaner (2008) - Darnell McDowell
- Homeboys in Outer Space - Vashti
- How I Met Your Mother - Stan
- The Knights Of Prosperity - Rockefeller Butts
- Like Family - Ed Ward
- Baldur's Gate - Sarevok, Koveras, Narrator
- Crash Bandicoot: The Wrath of Cortex - Crunch Bandicoot
- Crash Nitro Kart - Crunch Bandicoot
- Crash Team Racing Nitro-Fueled - Stew
- Disney Speedstorm – Captain Gantu
- Fallout 2 - Enclave communications officer
- Fallout: Brotherhood of Steel - Cyrus, Blake, Soldier, Ghoul High Priest, Mutant Grunt
- Halo 2 - Tartarus
- Kingdom Hearts
- Kings Quest (2015) - Chester Hobblepot
- Knights of the Old Republic - Jolee Bindo
- The Legend of Spyro - Terrador, Gaul, Conductor, Sniff, Chief Prowlus, and Hermit
- Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty - Scott Dolph
- Ratchet & Clank (2002) - Ultimate Supreme Executive Chairman Drek, Bodyguard
- Skylanders
- Skylanders: Spyro's Adventure - Stump Smash
- Skylanders: Giants - Tree Rex
- Skylanders: Trap Team - Grave Clobber
- Soulcalibur II - Spawn, Heihachi Mishima (credited as Victor Stone)
- Spawn: Armageddon - Spawn
- Superman: Shadow of Apokolips - Darkseid
- Viewtiful Joe - Hulk Davidson, Fire Leo
- World of Warcraft: Warlords of Draenor - Grommash "Grom" Hellscream
- The Adventures Of Jesus And His Brothers - Joseph
- DC Super Hero Girls - Trigon, King Shark, Mrs. Clayface
- Hard Drinkin' Lincoln - Narrator
- Lobo (Webseries) - Lobo, Slaz, Sniff, Mudboy, Fat Whutzat
- Navy Bear - Navy Bear
- The 7D - Happy
- Adventures from the Book of Virtues - Plato
- American Dad! - Principal Brian Lewis, Tank Bates, Nelson Mandela
- Avatar: The Last Airbender - Tyro, The Big Bad Hippo, Lion Turtle
- The Legend of Korra - Butakha, Lightning Bolt Zolt
- The Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes - Man-Ape
- The New Batman Adventures - Mutant Leader
- The Batman - The Joker (Incidentally, after a short cameo in one of the 2012 Teen Titans shorts and the DC Nation Riddler shorts, Kevin has become one of the few voice actors to have played both the Joker and Batman in separate productions.)
- Batman: The Brave and the Bold - Black Manta, B'Wana Beast, Despero, General Steppenwolf, Monsieur Mallah, Barack Obama (yes, really), Lex Luthor
- Ben 10: Alien Force - Highbreed Commander, Forever Knights, Ship (Giant Form)
- Big Guy and Rusty the Boy Robot - Garth
- Blaze and the Monster Machines - Crusher
- The Boondocks - Martin Luther King Jr., Jeremiah Wright
- Casper's Scare School - Kibosh (replacing James Earl Jones)
- Chowder - Schnitzel (in the pilot; was replaced with John DiMaggio)
- Class of 3000 - The Devil
- Clerks: The Animated Series - Announcer
- The Cleveland Show- Cleveland Jr., Lester Krinklesac
- Codename: Kids Next Door - Cheese Shogun Roguefort, Dr. Lincoln
- Curious George - Toots the germ
- Danger Rangers - Burble
- Danny Phantom - Dragon Ghost, Skulker (2nd voice)
- Dave the Barbarian - Uncle Oswidge, King Throktar
- DC Super Hero Girls 2019 - Dex-Starr
- The Emperor's New School - Kavo
- The Fairly OddParents! - AJ's Dad, Dark Lazer
- Family Guy - Jerome, Doug the Pimple
- F is for Family - Chauncey "Rosie" Roosevelt
- Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends - Uncle Pockets, Omnizot, Foul Larry
- Frog and Toad - Toad
- Futurama - URL, Barbados Slim (replacing John DiMaggio since season 8)
- G.I. Joe: Renegades - Roadblock
- Gravity Falls - Sheriff Blubs, Leaderaur, Lumberjack Ghost
- Green Lantern: The Animated Series - Kilowog
- The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy - The Taking Tree
- Guardians of the Galaxy (2015) - Groot
- Hercules: The Animated Series - Hephaestus
- Higglytown Heroes - Uncle Lemmo
- House of Mouse - Prince John, Crow
- Invincible (2021) - The Mauler Twins, Monster Girl (monster form)
- The Jimmy Timmy Power Hour 2: When Nerds Collide - Morgan Freeman (yes, really)
- Kung Fu Panda: Legends of Awesomeness - Temutai
- Lilo & Stitch: The Series - Gantu, Officer Kahiko
- The Lion Guard - Basi
- Loonatics Unleashed - Slam Tasmanian and Tech E. Coyote
- Love, Death & Robots - Zima Blue
- The Marvelous Misadventures of Flapjack - Cammie
- The Mask: The Animated Series - Mayor Mortimer, Tilton
- Max Steel - Dog
- Megas XLR - Glorft Commander, Tiny, Georgie
- The Mighty B! - Ronald the Postman
- Mortal Kombat: Defenders of the Realm - Kabal
- ¡Mucha Lucha! - Potato Patata, Jr.
- The Mummy: The Animated Series - The Minotaur
- My Life as a Teenage Robot - Armageddroid, Vladimir
- The Owl House - Tarak
- The Penguins of Madagascar - Maurice
- Phineas and Ferb - P. P. Otter
- The PJs - Mr. Hudson, Rasta Man, Mr. Litwack, other one-off characters
- Planet Hulk - Korg
- The Powerpuff Girls (1998) - The Boogie Man, Jerome
- The Proud Family - Omar, Dr. Payne
- Puppy Dog Pals - Beaver
- Randy Cunningham: Ninth Grade Ninja - Willem Viceroy III
- The Ripping Friends - Announcer
- Road Rovers - Exile the Siberian Husky
- Samurai Jack - One of the Three Blind Archers, Demongo, The Guardian
- Shorty McShorts' Shorts - Admiral Bozzlebags (of Bozzlebags' Zip)
- The Simpsons - Dr. Hibbert (replacing Harry Shearer since season 32), Louis Armstrong, Azzlan, Cthulhu
- The Spectacular Spider-Man - Tombstone
- SpongeBob SquarePants - Nurse Bazooka, Sir Urchin
- Star vs. the Forces of Evil - Rhombulus
- Star Wars: The Clone Wars - Jabba the Hutt
- Static Shock - Robert Hawkins, Kangor
- The Super Hero Squad Show - Nick Fury, Scorpio
- Super Robot Monkey Team Hyperforce Go! - Antauri, Morlath
- Teen Titans - Mammoth, See-More, Trigon
- Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2012) - Shredder, in both mainline and 1987 versions
- ThunderCats (2011) - Panthro
- Time Squad - Lance 9,000,000,000,000
- Transformers: Animated - Omega Supreme
- Transformers: Prime - Bulkhead
- Transformers: Robots in Disguise (2015) - Terrashock, Bulkhead
- Trolls: The Beat Goes On! - Smidge, Groth
- Trolls: TrollsTopia - Smidge
- Trolls Holiday - Mr. Dinkles
- Uncle Grandpa - Mr. Gus
- Voltron: The Third Dimension - Hunk, Zarkon
- The Wacky Adventures Of Ronald Mc Donald - Grimace
- What's New, Scooby-Doo? - Bruce Wilkenson, Henry Hunsecker
- The Wild Thornberrys - Shaman Mnyambo
- Wolverine and the X-Men (2009) - Shadow King and Bishop
- Xiaolin Showdown - Pandabubba
- Zevo-3 - Brett Ronson III
Tropes associated with Kevin Michael Richardson:
- Basso Profundo: He has a deep voice, as do a lot of the characters he voices.
- Full Circle Portraying: He shared three roles with Keith David: Justice League of America villain Despero (David voiced him in Justice League and Richardson voiced him in Batman: The Brave and the Bold), Spider-Man villain Tombstone (Richardson becoming The Other Darrin to David in The Spectacular Spider-Man when other commitments forced David to leave after the first episode), and the titular character of Spawn (David in the HBO show and later Mortal Kombat 11, Richardson in Soulcalibur II and Spawn: Armageddon).
- Large Ham: Many of his characters are this thanks to his loud, menacing voice, with Principal Brian Lewis from American Dad! as a prolific example.
- Man of a Thousand Voices: He has quite a tremendous vocal range. To keep this in perspective, he can make a perfect impersonation of Barney Rubble in The Flintstones on the Rocks.
- Pardon My Klingon: Lobo and Gantu are prone to this.
- Scary Black Man: Many of the characters that are villainous and/or menacing that he plays end up sounding as this. Played straight anytime the characters are human and are black.
- Stage Name: As noted above, he used Cyborg's real name of "Victor Stone" as one for SoulCalibur II.
