Ned Luke (born October 4, 1958) is an American actor. He is known for playing

Michael De Santa ''Grand Theft Auto V'' is a 2013 action-adventure game developed by Rockstar North and published by Rockstar Games. It is the seventh main entry in the Grand Theft Auto, ''Grand Theft Auto'' series, following 2008's ''Grand Theft Auto IV'', and ...

in the 2013 video game ''

Grand Theft Auto V ''Grand Theft Auto V'' is a 2013 action-adventure game developed by Rockstar North and published by Rockstar Games. It is the seventh main entry in the Grand Theft Auto, ''Grand Theft Auto'' series, following 2008's ''Grand Theft Auto IV'', and ...

''. Luke also voiced Raffles in the animated movie ''

Rover Dangerfield ''Rover Dangerfield'' is a 1991 American animated musical comedy film starring the voice talent of comedian Rodney Dangerfield, who also wrote and co-produced the film. It is about a street dog named Rover, who is owned by a Las Vegas showgirl. Ro ...

''. He has appeared in 29 movies and television shows as well as over 100 commercials.

Early life

Ned Luke was born on October 4, 1958 in

Danville, Illinois Danville is a city in and the county seat of Vermilion County, Illinois. As of the 2010 census, its population was 33,027. As of 2019, the population was an estimated 30,479. History The area that is now Danville was once home to the Miami, K ...

, to Cindy (née Smith) and Fred Luke. His maternal grandfather was actor Paul Birch. He graduated from Danville High School in 1977 where he was a bi-sport athlete and honor student. He later attended the

University of Illinois The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (U of I, Illinois, University of Illinois, or UIUC) is a public land-grant research university in Illinois in the twin cities of Champaign and Urbana. It is the flagship institution of the University ...

Champaign, Illinois Champaign ( ) is a city in Champaign County, Illinois, United States. The population was 88,302 at the 2020 census. It is the tenth-most populous municipality in Illinois and the fourth most populous city in Illinois outside the Chicago metropo ...

. He has four siblings.

Career

Luke's first major voice role was in ''

'', where he played a sheepdog named Raffles opposite

Rodney Dangerfield Rodney Dangerfield (born Jacob Rodney Cohen; November 22, 1921 – October 5, 2004) was an American stand-up comedian, actor, screenwriter, and producer. He was known for his self-deprecating one-liner humor, his catchphrase "I don't get no resp ...

. He was cast as a guest star in several TV shows throughout the 1990s and early 2000s, and has appeared in about 100 television commercials featuring products such as

Budweiser Budweiser () is an American-style pale lager, part of AB InBev. Introduced in 1876 by Carl Conrad & Co. of St. Louis, Missouri, Budweiser has become a large selling beer company in the United States. ''Budweiser'' may also refer to an unrelat ...

and

Burger King Burger King (BK) is an American-based multinational chain store, chain of hamburger fast food restaurants. Headquartered in Miami-Dade County, Florida, the company was founded in 1953 as Insta-Burger King, a Jacksonville, Florida–based res ...

. In 2007, having grown disenchanted with show business and desiring that his son experience where he grew up, Luke decided to take a break from acting and moved his family from

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

to his hometown of Danville, where he opened a restaurant with his brother. After two years, he decided to return to acting and he and his family moved to

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

. His agent suggested he audition for the role of

, one of the three protagonists of

Rockstar Games Rockstar Games, Inc. is an American video game publisher based in New York City. The company was established in December 1998 as a subsidiary of Take-Two Interactive, using the assets Take-Two had previously acquired from BMG Interactive. Foun ...

' ''

''. Luke initially scoffed at the idea of being in a video game, but after reading the script he decided to proceed with the audition. Luke was eventually cast as one of the game's three playable protagonists, Michael De Santa. ''Grand Theft Auto V'' went on to set several sales records and has become the 2nd highest grossing video game in history.

Filmography

Film

Television

Video games

Accolades

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Luke, Ned 1958 births Living people American male video game actors American male film actors American male television actors American male voice actors Male motion capture actors People from Danville, Illinois 20th-century American male actors 21st-century American male actors Male actors from Illinois People from Westchester County, New York University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign alumni