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Michael-Leon Wooley
Michael-Leon Wooley (2008).jpg
Wooley in 2008
Born (1971-03-29) March 29, 1971 (age 53)
Other names Michael Leon Wooley
Occupation Actor
Years active 1992–present

Michael-Leon Wooley (born March 29, 1971) is an American actor. He was the voice of Louis the Alligator in Disney's Oscar-nominated animated feature film, The Princess and the Frog and played Judge Grady on the radio station WKTT in Rockstar's Grand Theft Auto IV.

Early life

Wooley was born in Fairfax, Virginia, to George and Winnie Wooley. He has a twin brother, Marcus-Leon, and a younger brother, George Jr. He grew up in Bowie, Maryland. Wooley began playing the piano at age five and initially wanted to be a classical concert pianist. However, after participating in a high-school production of Oklahoma! he became interested in theatre.

At sixteen, he was given the opportunity to study piano at the Duke Ellington School of the Arts in Washington, D.C. but turned it down to instead focus on acting and singing. At age eighteen Wooley was awarded a full scholarship to the American Musical and Dramatic Academy (AMDA) in New York City, one of 21 scholarships granted in a nationwide competition. He studied at AMDA for a year before embarking on his own to pursue an acting career.

Wooley performed in the national tour of Purlie, after which, worked as a singing waiter on the Spirit of New York, a dinner cruise ship that circles Manhattan.

Career

Theatre

In 1992, Wooley made his Broadway debut as an understudy (Big Moe) in the Clarke Peters' musical, Five Guys Named Moe. After Five Guys Named Moe he embarked on national tours with The Pointer Sisters in Ain't Misbehavin' and The Wiz with Stephanie Mills. He returned to Broadway in 2000 as Olin Britt in the Broadway revival of The Music Man, directed and choreographed by Susan Stroman.

He was also the voice of the man-eating plant, Audrey II, in the 2003 Broadway revival of the musical Little Shop of Horrors at the Virginia Theatre (renamed the August Wilson Theatre in 2005). Ben Brantley of the New York Times wrote Wooley had a "soulful bass voice" and Clive Barnes of the New York Post said Wooley as the "doom-struck voice of Audrey II" rounded out "one of the best casts on Broadway."

With conductor, Skitch Henderson, Wooley made his Carnegie Hall debut with the New York Pops as one of the "New Faces of 2004," along with other Broadway notables such as John Tartaglia and Stephanie D'Abruzzo, the stars of the Broadway's Avenue Q. The event was hosted by New York Post gossip columnist Liz Smith.

Partial list
Show Role Notes
American Buffalo (Broadway) Donnie Dubrow Understudy for Cedric the Entertainer
A Soldier's Play (National tour) C.J. Memphis
Ain't Misbehavin' (National tour) Ken Featuring The Pointer Sisters
At Least It's Pink (Off-Broadway) Simon Michael Patrick King, director
Five Guys Named Moe (Broadway) Big Moe Understudy
Floyd Collins (Regional) Ed Bishop
Little Shop of Horrors (Broadway) Voice of Audrey II, the plant
New Faces of 2004 Featured Artist Carnegie Hall debut
Purlie (National tour) Chorus
The Music Man (Broadway) Olin Britt Susan Stroman, director and choreographer
The Wiz (National tour) Uncle Henry Starring Stephanie Mills
Up in the Air (The Kennedy Center) Bull Frog

Film

Wooley was the voice of Louis the jazz trumpet-playing alligator, in Disney's The Princess and the Frog; and Tiny Joe Dixon in the 2006 motion picture, Dreamgirls, singing "Takin' The Long Way Home" on the film's soundtrack. He also played Cocoa Butter in the Netflix Original series AJ and the Queen.

Voice work

Wooley's voice has been heard in many television ad campaigns for Reebok, General Motors, McDonald's, Dairy Queen, K-Mart, Oxygen Network and others. He was the voice of the demon boss, Twayne Boneraper, on Comedy Central's Ugly Americans. He made numerous guest appearances on Cosby, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, The Knights of Prosperity, Now & Again, Rescue Me and The Rosie O'Donnell Show. He was a guest singer on The Penguins of Madagascar in "The Falcon and the Snow Job" and voiced the DC Comics villains Darkseid and Kalibak on the animated series, Batman: The Brave and the Bold.

From 2013 to 2014, Wooley voiced Tobias Whale in Beware the Batman. In 2014, he voiced Chill Bill from Sanjay and Craig as well as Master Lun in Kung Fu Panda: Legends of Awesomeness and Pumpers in Breadwinners. In 2015 and 2017, he was a guest voice on Penn Zero: Part-Time Hero and Acorn and Achaka in the 2015–16 video game series King's Quest. He voices Judge Grady on radio station WKTT, in the video game Grand Theft Auto IV and Dexter DeShawn in the video game Cyberpunk 2077.

Personal life

Jon-Marc McDonald, a close friend and sometimes-publicist for Wooley, confirmed on his website that Wooley performed We Have To Change at a fundraiser for Barack Obama in New York City on August 11, 2008. The song was specifically written for the fundraiser by Bill Russell and Henry Krieger.

Filmography

Film

Year Title Role Notes
2006 Dreamgirls Tiny Joe Dixon Singing "Takin' the Long Way Home"
2008 Ghost Town Medical Attorney
2009 A Secret Promise Booth Attendant
The Princess and the Frog Louis the Alligator (voice)
2012 Premium Rush NYPD Tow Truck Driver
2013 Superman Unbound Ron Troupe (voice) Direct-to-video
2015 Hotel Transylvania 2 Additional Voices
2016 Savva: Heart of the Warrior Morton
2018 Hotel Transylvania 3: Summer Vacation Additional Voices
2022 Hotel Transylvania: Transformania
2023 Urkel Saves Santa: The Movie Dream Santa, Plastic Reindeer (voice) Direct-to-video
2023 Once Upon a Studio Louis (voice)

Television

Year Title Role Notes
1999–2000 Cosby George 2 episodes
2010 The Penguins of Madagascar Singer (voice) Episode: "The Falcon and the Snow Job"
2010 Batman: The Brave and the Bold Kalibak, Darkseid (voice) 2 episodes
2010–2012 Ugly Americans Twayne Boneraper (voice) Main role
2013–2014 Beware the Batman Tobias Whale, Matatoa (voice) 5 episodes
2014 Sanjay and Craig Chill Bill (voice) Episode: "Chill Bill"
2014 Kung Fu Panda: Legends of Awesomeness Master Lun (voice) Episode: "Eternal Chord"
2014–2015 Breadwinners Mr. Pumpers (voice) Main role
2014–2017 Penn Zero: Part-Time Hero General, Additional Voices (voice) Recurring role
2015 Be Cool, Scooby-Doo! Chazz (voice) Episode: "Kitchen Frightmare"
2015–2016 Sofia the First King Oberlyn (voice) 2 episodes
2015–2016 Harvey Beaks Officer Fredd, Lobster Guy, Skeleton Statue (voice) Recurring role
2015–2016 The Adventures of Puss in Boots Taranis (voice) 2 episodes
2016 Avengers Assemble Galen-Kor (voice) Episode: "Captain Marvel"
2016 The Mr. Peabody & Sherman Show Ziryab, George Crum (voice) 2 episodes
2017–2019 OK K.O.! Let's Be Heroes Cool Sun, Bell Beefer, Galgarion, Big Bull Demon, RPG Narrator Recurring role
2019 Young Justice Darkseid (voice) Episode: "Evolution"
2019 Grace and Frankie Will 2 episodes
2019 Where's Waldo? Tinsel (voice) Episode: "A Wanderer Christmas"
2020 Kipo and the Age of Wonderbeasts Tad Mulholland (voice) 3 episodes
2020 AJ and the Queen Louis Bell, Cocoa Butter 10 episodes
2020–2022 Trolls: TrollsTopia Lownote Jones (voice) Main role
2021–2022 Madagascar: A Little Wild Oggie (voice) 2 episodes
2022–2023 Hamster & Gretel Roman Carter, The Nightmarionette (voice) 7 episodes
2023 Record of Ragnarok Papiyas (voice) 2 episodes
2023 The Tiny Chef Show Spoon (voice) 3 episodes
2023 Akuma-kun Satan (voice)

Video games

Year Title Role
2008 Grand Theft Auto IV Judge Grady from Just or Unjust
2009 The Princess and the Frog Louis the Alligator
2011 Ugly Americans: Apocalypsegeddon Twayne Boneraper
2012 Sorcerers of the Magic Kingdom Louis
2013 Grand Theft Auto V The Local Population
2015 King's Quest Acorn, Achaka, Goblin Man, Mordon
2017 Injustice 2 Darkseid
2020 Cyberpunk 2077 Dexter "Dex" Deshawn
2022 World of Warcraft: Dragonflight Echo of Neltharion
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