Danny Woodburn

Danny Woodburn
Born Daniel Charles Woodburn
(1964-07-26) July 26, 1964
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States
Occupation Actor, comedian, activist
Years active 1991—present
Spouse(s) Amy Buchwald (m. 1998)

Daniel Charles "Danny" Woodburn (born July 26, 1964) is an American actor and comedian, and activist for the disability rights movement.

He is well known for having played Mickey Abbott on the sitcom Seinfeld. He has more than 130 television and 28 film appearances to date.

Early life and education

Woodburn was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He is a graduate of Abington Senior High School in Abington Township, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania and Temple University School of Communications and Theater.[1] He received the school's Outstanding Alumni Achievement Award in 2001.[1]

Career

Stage

Woodburn appeared in numerous stage productions before moving to Los Angeles, such as The Indian Wants the Bronx (by Israel Horovitz); Scapino; David Mamet's Revenge of the Space Pandas; and a touring company production of Viet Rock. His debut in the New York theater world began with The Soda Jerk.

Stand-up comedy

A stand-up comedian for over 20 years, Woodburn has performed nationwide. He has headlined at comedy clubs which include "The Improv;" the "Comedy Store;" "The Ice House;" and the "Laugh Factory."

Television actor

Woodburn starred as "Professor Pixel" in Fox's 1992 Halloween special, Count DeClues' Mystery Castle, which was shot at The Magic Castle nightclub in Los Angeles.

Woodburn had starring roles in the 1997 series Conan the Adventurer (as Otli, Conan's sidekick); Special Unit 2; and Passions. With more than 120 TV appearances, he has had guest roles on shows such as Tracey Takes On...; Baywatch; Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman; The Pretender; Early Edition, Murder She Wrote; Charmed; Becker; and Bones. He has guest starred on such children's television shows as The Suite Life of Zack & Cody; iCarly and Cory in the House. He played a recurring character on Crash & Bernstein.

In "Pixtopia", an episode of Disney Channel's Star vs. the Forces of Evil starring Eden Sher, he guest-voiced the pixie task master.

Film roles

Woodburn has appeared in the films Jingle All the Way; Things You Can Tell Just by Looking at Her; The Flintstones in Viva Rock Vegas; Death to Smoochy; Employee of the Month; Watchmen; Mirror Mirror; and The Identical. He also appeared in the children's feature series Santa Buddies, The Search for Santa Paws, and Santa Paws 2: The Santa Pups. He played Splinter in the 2014 reboot, but didn't return for the sequel, presumably because he threatened Paramount with Legal Action due to the voice of Splinter being recast to Tony Shalhoub. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.[2]

Filmography

Film

Year Title Role Notes
2000 The Flintstones in Viva Rock Vegas Little Rocko
2002 Death to Smoochy Angelo Pike
2009 Watchmen Big Figure uncredited
2010 The Search for Santa Paws Eli
2012 Mirror Mirror Grimm
2012 Santa Paws 2: The Santa Pups Eli
2014 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Splinter motion-capture performance

TV Shows

Year Title Role Notes
1994-98 Seinfeld Mickey Abbott Recurring Role; 7 episodes
1995 Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Big Buster Williams Episode: Resurrection
1997-98 Conan the Adventurer Otli Main role
2002-03 Charmed Head Elf 3 episodes
2001-02 Special Unit 2 Carl Recurring Role; 19 episodes
2008 iCarly Mitch Episode: iChristmas
2012-14 Crash & Bernstein Martin Poulos Recurring Role
2015 Nicky, Ricky, Dicky & Dawn Gayle Episode: Go Hollywood
2016 Bizaardvark Pyro Steve Episode: Bernie's In Charge

Commercial work

Woodburn was featured in a series of ads for Burger King's BK Stacker sandwiches.

Advocacy

Woodburn is an advocate for disabled and little people issues. He serves on the Screen Actors Guild "Performers with Disabilities Committee." Throughout his career as both a comic and an actor he chose to avoid the stereotyping of little people as sight gags or props. Gaining the respect of his peers has allowed him to actively pursue change within his profession for all disabled performers. He has been recognized for the change of attitudes and societal perceptions of not only people with dwarfism but of all disabled persons. He was awarded the DREAM Award by the Disability Rights Legal Center in 2009[3] for those efforts in TV and Film as well as the 2010 Screen Actors Guild Harold Russell Award.[4] He was keynote speaker at 2010 RespectABILITY Conference and the Inclusion Network of Cincinnati, and has been active as both teacher and speaker for The Little People's Research Fund, Actors For Autism, Media Access, American Association of People with Disabilities (AAPD)[5] and the National ReelAbilities Film Festivals.[6] He discussed some of his experiences as a little person, both on- and offscreen, in an interview with ABILITY Magazine in 2015.[7]

Personal life

Woodburn is married to Amy Buchwald, an actress, writer, and comedian. She appeared in an episode of Conan the Adventurer as Woodburn's character's love interest.

References

  1. 1 2 "RTF alumnus earns award for advocacy of disabled performers". temple.edu.
  2. ↑ Mike Fleming Jr. "Michael Bay's 'Ninja Turtles' Casts Splinter - Deadline". Deadline.
  3. ↑ "DRLC DREAM Award 2009".
  4. ↑ "2010 SAG Harold Russell Award".
  5. ↑ "2014 AAPD Annual Leadership Awards Gala was a huge success". aapd.edu.
  6. ↑ "ReelAbilities Cincinnati". "ReelAbilities Cincinnati".
  7. ↑ "Danny Woodburn — A Happyish Guy". ABILITYMagazine.com. ABILITY Magazine. 1 June 2015. Retrieved 4 August 2015.

External links

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