Harvey Atkin
Harvey Atkin (born
January 1,
1942 in
Toronto, Ontario,
Canada) is a
Canadian actor who has worked in feature films and
television. He has also done
voice-overs, and has voiced
animations.
From an early age he was exposed to many things that would shape his view of life. His grandfather, an immigrant from
Russia, steeped his young grandson in the old country's ways, which included the
Yiddish language. Atkin claims that to this day, his late grandfather is still a major influence on him. He and his parents lived with him for several years before finally getting their own house – around the corner from his grandfather's.
Atkin's father, for his part, played an equally important role in his son's upbringing. It was he who taught Atkin about the
business world. However, at this time, it seemed that Atkin's "job description" was "class clown".
Owing to Atkin's continual clowning in school, he was encouraged to join the school's drama club. This, and his winning a best actor award at a local drama festival, drove him into a career in acting. A stint at a summer camp for the
performing arts also helped in his choice of career.
Harvey was also best known for playing Sam in
Sam & Max, and also played
Mario's and
Luigi's arch enemy
Bowser on the
DiC Entertainment version of
Nintendo's flagship franchise (notably, he is the first English voice actor for the character). Harvey also did the voice of Mr. Mushnik on Little Shop, loosely based on the movie Little Shop Of Horrors.
Harvey Atkin has appeared in more than 75 films, and has appeared hundreds of times in episodic television shows. He has done voice-over work in literally thousands of television and radio commercials, for which he has won three
Clio awards.
He is perhaps best known as the desk sergeant in the television series
Cagney & Lacey, and as the hapless, heavily sleeping camp director and
practical joke victim Morty in the
1979 film
Meatballs, for which performance he earned a
Genie nomination.
Harvey Atkin is currently a regular on the television drama
Law & Order, and is the voice-over in
Leon's commercials in Canada.
*
Biographical information*
Harvey Atkin's own page; includes good picture*
Harvey Atkin's IMDb entry
