Samuel Wright, who voiced Sebastian from The Little Mermaid, has passed away. Wright was 74 years of age according to TMZ. He died while sleeping in the comfort of his Walden home in New York, with no cause of death announced.
Early Life
Samuel E. Wright was born November 20, 1946, in Camden, South Carolina, but would eventually make his home in New York. In an interview he did with Madamenoire, Wright talks about painting Disney characters on a pane of a broken window and sending them to Disney. Always wanting to work with them and eventually getting the chance to.
Early Professional Career
Samuel Wright started his career on Broadway. He was nominated for a Tony Award for best actor in 1984 for his performance in The Tap Dance Kid; he would later get nominated again for his performance in the Broadway version of The Lion King where he played Mufasa. As far as television goes, Wright got his first big break on a little-known television show by the name of Ball Four; centered around a baseball team with the pilot having one of the ballplayers wanting to write articles about baseball life off the field. It lasted one season with only 7 episodes. Wright would jump from television movie to television series until he landed a role on The Cosby Show in 1986. Clint Eastwood directed a movie in 1989 by the name of Bird in which he cast Wright as Dizzy. Which led to…
Sebastian
His most notable role as Sebastian in the ever loved The Little Mermaid. In that same Madamenoire interview he mentioned how Disney was looking for a Sammy Davis kinda character. From the same interview, you could tell that he enjoyed being recognized as Sebastian. He will be, from now until forever.
