Samantha Newark (born 27 June 1967) is an English-born American musician, singer and actress. She is best known for her voice-over work as the speaking voice of Jem and Jerrica in the animated cartoon series '' Jem''. As a teenager, Newark became a voice-over talent in mainstream television. Her work on "Jem" produced a serious cult following that persists to this day. She lent her voice to many radio and TV projects while writing and performing her original music as a solo recording artist in Los Angeles CA, Nashville TN and Dallas, Texas. In 2015 Newark appeared in the live action feature film adaptation on ''

Jem and the Holograms ''Jem'', also known as ''Jem and the Holograms'', is an American animated musical television series that ran from 1985 to 1988. The series is about record company owner Jerrica Benton, her singer alter-ego Jem, and the adventures of Jem and her ...

'' directed by Jon Chu.

Early years

Samantha Newark was born in

Wimbledon, London Wimbledon () is a district and town of Southwest London, England, southwest of the centre of London at Charing Cross; it is the main commercial centre of the London Borough of Merton. Wimbledon had a population of 68,187 in 2011 which includes ...

. Although she was born in England, her family then moved to Africa and later to the US. She attended several different schools and began her music career in Africa after seeing

Lena Zavaroni Lena Hilda Zavaroni (4 November 1963 – 1 October 1999) was a Scottish singer and a television show host. At ten years of age, with her album ''Ma! (He's Making Eyes at Me)'', she was the youngest person in history to have an album in the top ...

perform. She continued working as an actress and singer and came to prominence when she landed the role of Jem in 1985.

Acting career

Newark is best known for her voice-over work on the animated 1980s cartoon series '' Jem'' as the speaking voice of Jerrica/Jem (

Britta Phillips Britta Phillips (born June 11, 1963) is an American singer-songwriter, musician, record producer, and actress. Phillips' music career spans more than 30 years. She came to prominence in the mid-1980s as the singing voice of the title character ...

was the singing voice). "Jem" remains her most well known role and Newark receives invitations to meet the Jem fans at Pop Culture conventions all over the world. Newark made a cameo appearance in the

live action film adaptation. Newark was nominated for a "Young Artist award" twice for "Exceptional young actress in animation, series, specials, or film features" also nominated for her performance in "Best animated series". Other voice-over credits include guest-starring on the original ''Transformers'' cartoon as "Ariel" in the classic ''Transformers'' episode "War Dawn" and in other episodes playing Elise Presser. Newark was also cast as the voice of a young Peter Pan's mother in

Steven Spielberg Steven Allan Spielberg (; born December 18, 1946) is an American director, writer, and producer. A major figure of the New Hollywood era and pioneer of the modern blockbuster, he is the most commercially successful director of all time. Spie ...

feature film ''Hook'' as well as doing countless on camera and voice-over TV and radio commercials. She also played the role of Debbie in the 1987 thriller film ''

Summer Camp Nightmare ''Summer Camp Nightmare'' is an American 1987 thriller film directed by Bert L. Dragin and starring Chuck Connors and Charlie Stratton. The film is based on the novel '' The Butterfly Revolution'' by William Butler. Plot Donald Poultry is a you ...

''. In 2012 she was invited to contribute two characters to the Festival favorite animated short ''Pound Dogs'', created by Mike Salva. This project won the MTV "Voice and Vision animation award for writing and animation and garnered two development deals with MTV. Newark also works in video games, providing voices for games including '' Twisted Metal: Black'' and ''

Britney's Dance Beat ''Britney's Dance Beat'' is a rhythm game based around the music and videos of American singer Britney Spears. The game was developed by Metro Creative Graphics, Hyperspace Cowgirls, and Art Co., Ltd–published by THQ. The game was releas ...

'', where she played the roles of the Choreographer and the Asian dancer.

Music career

Newark began her professional music career at the age of seven. Signed to Nitty Gritty records she recorded her first record while living in Africa and then toured to support her single "Jimmy Jimbo" produced by Allan Goldswain and Mike Adams. At age 10 she and her family immigrated to America and Samantha was promptly signed to

International Creative Management ICM Partners is a talent and literary agency with offices in Los Angeles, New York City, Washington D.C. and London. ICM (International Creative Management) Partners represents clients in the fields of motion pictures, television, music, publi ...

where she was thrust onto the State fair circuit opening for

Eddie Rabbitt Edward Thomas Rabbitt (November 27, 1941 – May 7, 1998) was an American country music singer and songwriter. His career began as a songwriter in the late 1960s, springboarding to a recording career after composing hits such as "Kentucky Rain" ...

Pat Boone Patrick Charles Eugene Boone (born June 1, 1934) is an American singer and actor. He was a successful pop singer in the United States during the 1950s and early 1960s. He sold more than 45 million records, had 38 Top 40 hits, and appeared in mo ...

Debby Boone Deborah Anne Boone (born September 22, 1956) is an American singer, author, and actress. She is best known for her 1977 hit, "You Light Up My Life (song), You Light Up My Life", which spent ten weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100, ''Billboar ...

and

Mac Davis Morris Mac Davis (January 21, 1942 – September 29, 2020) was an American country music singer, songwriter, and actor. A native of Lubbock, Texas, he enjoyed success as a crossover artist, and during his early career he wrote for Elvis Presley, ...

. She was cast in the title role in the United States Navy band production of the musical ''

Annie Annie may refer to: People and fictional characters * Annie (given name), a given name and a list of people and fictional characters with the name * Annie (actress) (born 1975), Indian actress * Annie (singer) (born 1977), Norwegian singer The ...

'' in Washington DC. and eventually moved with her family to Burbank California where she played Rosie in a production of ''

Sweet Charity ''Sweet Charity'' is a musical with music by Cy Coleman, lyrics by Dorothy Fields and book by Neil Simon. It was directed and choreographed for Broadway by Bob Fosse starring his wife and muse Gwen Verdon alongside John McMartin. It is based on ...

'' and Dorothy in a Los Angeles production of '' The Wizard of Oz'' She was a frequent performer of The L.A. Kids cabaret and performed often with the

Ray Anthony Raymond Antonini (born January 20, 1922), known as Ray Anthony, is an American bandleader, trumpeter, songwriter, and actor. He is the last surviving member of the Glenn Miller Orchestra. Biography Anthony was born to an Italian family in Ben ...

orchestra at the famous Shrine Auditorium and on many telethons. She also was a featured guest vocalist at age 14 with the 65 piece Los Angeles Pops orchestra. She won the Los Angeles vocal competition at the age of 17 and then through the late 1990s started to write and record her own original music with many different incarnations of original bands. Newark sang the theme song for the anime classic film ''

Project A-ko is a 1986 Japanese action comedy science fiction anime film that had several sequels and a spin-off. This film focuses on a happy-go-lucky 16-year-old red-haired, sailor-suited teenage schoolgirl, A-ko Magami, who goes on her magical adventure ...

'' and worked with

Richie Zito Richie Zito (born August 21, 1952) is an American songwriter, composer and record producer from Los Angeles. In a career spanning more than 50 years, Zito has experienced success as a prolific session musician, being featured on a wide array of ...

and

Joey Carbone Joey Carbone is a composer, music producer, arranger, keyboardist, vocalist, advisor and educator. He was born and raised in Brooklyn, New York. Early life When he was 16, Carbone was signed as a singer in a band to Atlantic Records by one of A ...

and was hired to sing multiple songs on the soundtrack for the movie ''Crazy Six'' starring

Rob Lowe Robert Hepler Lowe (born March 17, 1964) is an American actor, filmmaker, and podcast host. He made his acting debut at the age of 15 with ABC's short-lived sitcom ''A New Kind of Family'' (1979–1980). Following numerous television roles in ...

Burt Reynolds Burton Leon Reynolds Jr. (February 11, 1936 – September 6, 2018) was an American actor, considered a sex symbol and icon of 1970s American popular culture. Reynolds first rose to prominence when he starred in television series such as ' ...

Mario Van Peebles Mario Van Peebles (born January 15, 1957) is an American film director and actor best known for directing and starring in ''New Jack City'' in 1991 and '' USS Indianapolis: Men of Courage'' in 2016. He is the son of actor and filmmaker Melvin Va ...

. She was one of the 20 finalists out of 10,000 submissions for the

Lilith Fair Lilith Fair was a concert tour and travelling music festival, founded by Canadian musician Sarah McLachlan, Nettwerk Music Group's Dan Fraser and Terry McBride, and New York talent agent Marty Diamond. It took place during the summers of 1997 ...

talent contest sponsored by Star 98.7 radio and Universal contests in 1999. And was one of 15 budding songwriters accepted into the coveted

Lester Sill Lester Sill (January 13, 1918 – October 31, 1994) was an American record label executive, best remembered as Phil Spector's partner in Philles Records (the name came from the first parts of their names, Phil and Les), and also as the head of both ...

Ascap songwriting workshop where she met writer producer and long time collaborator composer

Mike Reagan Michael Reagan is an American composer, songwriter and music producer for film, television, and video games. His TV work includes ''The Powerpuff Girls'', '' Chico Bon Bon: Monkey with a Tool Belt'', and Bob Boyle's ''Wow! Wow! Wubbzy!''. His ...

She and Mike worked together through the late 1990s writing original music performing live and contributing vocals for various PlayStation games. She sang vocals on the movie soundtrack ''

Some Girl ''Some Girl'' is a 1998 American romantic comedy drama film directed by Rory Kelly and written by actress Marissa Ribisi, who also appeared in the film. Premise Claire (Ribisi) resents the fact that she has never been in love. She soon falls for ...

'' starring

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and also sang vocals in the movie ''

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''. While living in Los Angeles she worked as a session singer for writer, producer Michele Vice Maslin. She has worked in the EDM world co-writing a song called "Deeper" for the German group

Fragma Fragma are a German vocal trance music group, originally comprising three producers. The group was successful in the early 2000s when they released several singles that charted successfully across Europe, especially the United Kingdom and Irel ...

. The version with her vocals was remixed by EDM producer Nick Terranova. In late 2006 she auditioned for

Julian Coryell Julian Coryell (born 1973) is an American guitarist, singer, songwriter, and producer. Biography Coryell was born in Pennsylvania in 1973 to famed jazz guitarist Larry CoryellAnderman, Joan (February 20, 2004). "Look how they've grown: Two childr ...

to be a backup singer for

Leonard Cohen Leonard Norman Cohen (September 21, 1934November 7, 2016) was a Canadian singer-songwriter, poet and novelist. His work explored religion, politics, isolation, depression, sexuality, loss, death, and romantic relationships. He was inducted in ...

. The project was set to do a world tour and after two months of rehearsals the tour was cancelled and put on hold for two years where it started up again with a new MD and new team. Newark made her move to Music city Nashville in Tennessee in October 2007. She released her self-titled debut album in 2008. Songs from the album have been featured in numerous television programs including ''

Smallville ''Smallville'' is an American superhero television series developed by writer-producers Alfred Gough and Miles Millar, based on the DC Comics character Superman created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster. The series was produced by Millar Gough ...

'', '' Reba'', ''

Life is Wild ''Life Is Wild'' is an American serial drama television series adapted by Michael Rauch, George Faber and Charlie Pattinson from the British drama '' Wild at Heart''. The show is about a New York veterinarian who moves his second wife and their ...

'', and ''

Gossip Girl ''Gossip Girl'' is an American teen drama television series based on the novel series of the same name written by Cecily von Ziegesar. The series, developed for television by Josh Schwartz and Stephanie Savage, ran on The CW network for six sea ...

'', ''

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'', as well as MTV's ''

Laguna Beach Laguna Beach (; ''Laguna'', Spanish for "Lagoon") is a seaside resort city located in southern Orange County, California, in the United States. It is known for its mild year-round climate, scenic coves, environmental preservation efforts, and a ...

'', ''

Punk'd ''Punk'd'' is an American hidden camera–practical joke reality television series that first aired on MTV in 2003. It was created by Ashton Kutcher and Jason Goldberg, with Kutcher serving as producer and host. It bears a resemblance to both the ...

'', and ''

My Super Sweet 16 ''My Super Sweet 16'' is an American reality television series documenting the lives of teenagers, usually in the United States, Canada and United Kingdom, generally with wealthy parents who throw lavish, excessive and expensive coming-of-age ce ...

''. In 2008, Newark was invited to be a part of the documentary film "Saravia" written and directed by Joaquin Montalvan about the spiritual journey into the life of painter, writer and composer Mauricio Saravia. Newark and Saravia met in Los Angeles and worked closely together on the soundtrack for the film. Newark composed the melodies for Saravia's poetry that was featured throughout the film and she performed one of the songs live in the movie. Newark released her second album ''Somethin' Good'' in late October 2011, with songs written and performed by Newark and produced by Dave Polich, Michael Jackson's keyboard programmer on the "This Is It" concerts. Her third album, ''Hologram'' described as a "love letter" to her many fans, was scheduled for release in November 2016 and final debut in 2017. A dance music version of this album, ''Hologram 2.0'', was released in late 2021 and included remixes by musical artists

Hyperbubble Hyperbubble is an international visual and performing arts electropop/synth-pop duo from San Antonio, Texas, formed by Jeff DeCuir and Jess Barnett DeCuir. The music of this American group is variously described as "early Eurythmics meets Josie and ...

and

Jipsta John Patrick Masterson (born October 13, 1974), known professionally as Jipsta, is an American rapper, songwriter, and music producer. Jipsta has released six studio albums: ''Bandoozle'' (2011), '' Turnt Up'' (2013), '' Ban2oozle'' (2017), "Swa ...

.Samantha Newark – Hologram 2.0
Discogs. Retrieved on November 9, 2022.

Filmography

Film

Television

Video games

References

External links

Official Samantha Newark Homepage
* * *
Official YouTube channel
{{DEFAULTSORT:Newark, Samantha 1967 births Living people English expatriates in the United States English women pop singers English rock singers English video game actresses English voice actresses Glam rock musicians Musicians from Burbank, California Musicians from Dallas Musicians from Nashville, Tennessee People from Wimbledon, London 20th-century English actresses 21st-century English actresses 20th-century English women singers 20th-century English singers 21st-century English women singers 21st-century English singers