Phillip "Phil" LaMarr (born January 24, 1967 in Los Angeles, California) is an American actor, voice actor, and comedian who provided the English voice for Vamp and Kevin Washington in the Metal Gear series. Other games that he has voiced in are: inFamous 1 and 2 (as John White/The Beast), Jak II and Jak 3 (as Sig) of the Jak and Daxter series, Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic (as Gadon Thek), Mercenaries, Final Fantasy XII.
LaMarr has had guest appearances in a number of TV shows and movies. He is perhaps best known for being a regular cast member through five seasons of MADtv and for his small role as Marvin in Pulp Fiction. In one MADtv skit parodying Pulp Fiction, LaMarr reprised his role as Marvin. He was also a contestant on the British Whose Line Is It Anyway? season that was filmed in Hollywood.
LaMarr is also a prominent voice actor in several animated series. These include: Justice League and Justice League Unlimited (as the Green Lantern), The Life and Times of Juniper Lee (as Marcus), Futurama (as Hermes Conrad), Samurai Jack, The Weekenders (as Carver), Invader Zim (as Poop Dogg, The Letter "M"), Family Guy, Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends (as the basketball-obsessed imaginary friend named Wilt), Star Wars: The Clone Wars (as Bail Organa, amongst others), and Static Shock (as Static). In addition, he was on an episode of Cold Case about a murdered New Haven D.A. (as Kiki).
Biography[]
LaMarr was born in Los Angeles, California. He is a graduate of Harvard-Westlake School in North Hollywood and Yale University, where he helped found the improv comedy group Purple Crayon. One of his biggest roles at Yale was the title character in the British comedy Trevor. After graduating in 1989, LaMarr became a member of the award-winning sketch and improv comedy group The Groundlings. He also studied improv at Second City and at the ImprovOlympic in Chicago with Del Close. He has also improvised with Cold Tofu and Off the Wall. Perhaps his greatest early role was one of the many hosts on the Ontario, Canada children's series Polka Dot Door.
His early film jobs arose from connections from his improv and college years. For example, LaMarr appeared in the film It's Pat (1994), written by friends from the Groundlings, and he appeared in Bio-Dome because the director was a friend from college. However, his big break came in a small but memorable role in Pulp Fiction as Marvin. (He would later reprise the role in a MAD TV sketch parodying the film.)
LaMarr gave voice to the title character in the Cartoon Network animated series Samurai Jack, which started in 2001 and was canceled in 2004. However, it was set for a miniseries in 2017 on Adult Swim. The show was about a time-displaced samurai living in a dystopian future.
LaMarr's television credits include a starring role on Justice League as Green Lantern, a major role as Hermes Conrad and various other characters on Futurama, Evil Con Carne, the title roles on Static Shock, and guest starring roles on Cold Case, Eve, Reno 911!, the British version of Whose Line is it Anyway?, Without A Trace, Invader Zim, The Bernie Mac Show, NYPD Blue, Living Single, The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, Murphy Brown, and Family Guy. In season three of Mind of Mencia, he played the ghost of Johnnie Cochran. LaMarr reprises his role as Hermes Conrad in the Futurama movies Bender's Big Score, The Beast with a Billion Backs, Bender's Game, and Into the Wild Green Yonder.
He also voices Jackie Khones, a recurring character in Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends, Carver Descartes on The Weekenders, and several characters in the critically acclaimed Afro Samurai. He additionally voices Jazz, Omega Supreme, Oil Slick, and Jetstorm on Transformers: Animated. LaMarr's newest role will be voicing Gambit and Trask in the new animated TV show, Wolverine and the X-Men. Recently LaMarr provided the voice for Nautolan Jedi Master Kit Fisto in Star Wars: The Clone Wars on Cartoon Network; he also played Amit Noloff, a one time character, and a Tactical Droid. He also had a major role in Class of 3000 as Philly Phil.