Samuel Brent Oscar Riegel, sometimes credited as Jack Lingo, is an American voice actor, director, and writer. He is a regular cast member of the web series ''

Critical Role ''Critical Role'' is an American web series in which a group of professional voice actors play ''Dungeons & Dragons''. The show started streaming partway through the cast's first campaign in March 2015. Campaign one ended in October 2017 after ...

'', in which he and other fellow voice actors play ''

Dungeons & Dragons ''Dungeons & Dragons'' (commonly abbreviated as ''D&D'' or ''DnD'') is a fantasy tabletop role-playing game (RPG) originally designed by Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson. The game was first published in 1974 by TSR (company)#Tactical Studies Rules ...

''. He is best known for voice roles as

Donatello Donato di Niccolò di Betto Bardi ( – 13 December 1466), better known as Donatello ( ), was a Republic of Florence, Florentine sculptor of the Renaissance period. Born in Republic of Florence, Florence, he studied classical sculpture and use ...

in the 2003 ''

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles ''Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles'' is an American media franchise created by the comic book artists Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird. It follows Leonardo (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles), Leonardo, Michelangelo (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles), Miche ...

'' series and

Phoenix Wright Phoenix "Nick" Wright, known as in the original Japanese language versions, is the fictional titular defense attorney and the main protagonist in ''Ace Attorney'', a visual novel adventure video game series created by Japanese company Capcom. Ph ...

in the ''

Ace Attorney ''Ace Attorney'' is a series of visual novel adventure video games developed by Capcom. With storytelling fashioned after legal dramas, the first entry in the series, ''Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney'', was released in 2001; since then, five f ...

'' games. For

Nickelodeon Nickelodeon (often shortened to Nick) is an American pay television television channel, channel which launched on April 1, 1979, as the first cable channel for children. It is run by Paramount Global through its List of assets owned by Param ...

, he was the voice director for ''

Fresh Beat Band of Spies ''Fresh Beat Band of Spies'' is an animated children's television series originally airing on Nickelodeon and the Nick Jr. Channel. It is a spin-off of Nickelodeon's live-action series ''The Fresh Beat Band''. The show was created by Nadine van ...

'' and ''

Sanjay and Craig ''Sanjay and Craig'' is an American animated sitcom created by Jim Dirschberger, Jay Howell, and Andreas Trolf for Nickelodeon. Produced by Will McRobb and Chris Viscardi, the series revolves around Sanjay, voiced by Maulik Pancholy, and his bes ...

'', as well as the voice of Riven in the revival of ''

Winx Club ''Winx Club'' is an animated series co-produced by Rainbow S.p.A., Rainbow SpA and later Nickelodeon. It was created by Italian animator Iginio Straffi. The show is set in a magical universe that is inhabited by fairies, witches, and other myth ...

''.

Career

He has worked for 4Kids Entertainment, Bang Zoom! Entertainment, TAJ Productions, NYAV Post, and Studiopolis. In 2018, he received the

Daytime Emmy Award The Daytime Emmy Awards, or Daytime Emmys, are part of the extensive range of Emmy Awards for artistic and technical merit for the American television industry. Bestowed by the New York–based National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences ...

for Outstanding Directing in an Animated Program for his work on ''

Danger & Eggs ''Danger & Eggs'' is an American animated series created by Mike Owens and Shadi Petosky that premiered on Amazon Video on June 30, 2017. The show focuses on the adventures of a "gender-free female lesbian child and her giant large-gamete friend," ...

''. He is also a cast member of the popular web series ''

'', in which he and other voice actors play ''

.'' ''Critical Role'' was both the Webby Winner and the People's Voice Winner in the "Games (Video Series & Channels)" category at the 2019

Webby Awards The Webby Awards are awards for excellence on the Internet presented annually by the International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences, a judging body composed of over two thousand industry experts and technology innovators. Categories include ...

; the show was also both a Finalist and the Audience Honor Winner at the 2019

Shorty Awards The Shorty Awards (also known as “The Shortys”) honors the most innovative work globally in digital and social media by brands, agencies, nonprofits and creators. The Shortys’ mission is to celebrate, inspire and push the boundaries of exce ...

. After becoming hugely successful, the ''Critical Role'' cast left the Geek & Sundry network in early 2019 and set up their own production company, Critical Role Productions.'''' Soon after, they aimed to raise $750,000 on

Kickstarter Kickstarter is an American public benefit corporation based in Brooklyn, New York, that maintains a global crowdfunding platform focused on creativity. The company's stated mission is to "help bring creative projects to life". As of July 2021, ...

to create an animated series of their first campaign, but ended up raising over $11 million.'''' In November 2019,

Amazon Prime Video Amazon Prime Video, also known simply as Prime Video, is an American Video on demand#Subscription models, subscription video on-demand Over-the-top media service, over-the-top Streaming media, streaming and Renting, rental service of Amazon (c ...

announced that they had acquired the streaming rights to this animated series, now titled ''

The Legend of Vox Machina ''The Legend of Vox Machina'' is an American adult animated fantasy television series produced by Critical Role Productions, Titmouse, Inc., and Amazon Studios, which premiered on Amazon Prime Video on January 28, 2022. It is based on camp ...

;'' Riegel reprises his role as Scanlan Shorthalt. He hosts the ''All Work No Play'' podcast and spinoff web series with his ''Critical Role'' co-star and best friend

Liam O'Brien Liam Christopher O'Brien (born May 28, 1976) is an American voice actor, writer, and director. He is a regular cast member of the ''Dungeons & Dragons'' actual play series ''Critical Role,'' playing Vax'ildan ("Vax"), Caleb Widogast, and Orym. ...

Personal life

Riegel is of

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

descent. His grandmother was a

Holocaust survivor Holocaust survivors are people who survived the Holocaust, defined as the persecution and attempted annihilation of the Jews by Nazi Germany and its allies before and during World War II in Europe and North Africa. There is no universally accep ...

. He is the brother of actress

Eden Riegel Eden Sonja Jane Riegel (born January 1, 1981) is an American actress. She portrayed Bianca Montgomery in the daytime drama ''All My Children'', and propelled the character into a gay icon, as well as a popular figure within the medium. Nominated ...

and the half-brother of filmmaker

Tatiana S. Riegel Tatiana S. Riegel A.C.E., is an United States, American film editor known for independent films such as ''Lars and the Real Girl'', ''The Way Way Back'' and ''I, Tonya''. She received an American Cinema Editors, ACE Eddie award for "Best Edited M ...

. His father, Kurt Riegel, is a radio astronomer, environmental executive, and sailor. His mother, Lenore, is married to author

Jerome Charyn Jerome Charyn (born May 13, 1937) is an American writer. With nearly 50 published works over a 50-year span, Charyn has a long-standing reputation as an inventive and prolific chronicler of real and imagined American life, writing in multiple ge ...

. Riegel lives in

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' ...

with his wife, cinematographer

Quyen Tran Quyen Tran is an American cinematographer based in Los Angeles. She has worked on multiple Sundance Film Festival, Sundance films such as ''The Little Hours'' and ''Deidra & Laney Rob a Train''. Filmography Photography Tran began her ...

. They have a daughter and son together. On September 11, 2001, Riegel and Tran witnessed the

9/11 attacks The September 11 attacks, commonly known as 9/11, were four coordinated Suicide attack, suicide List of terrorist incidents, terrorist attacks carried out by al-Qaeda against the United States on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. That morning, ...

. They were caught in the dust cloud formed by the collapse of the South Tower, but eventually escaped to

Battery Park The Battery, formerly known as Battery Park, is a public park located at the southern tip of Manhattan Island in New York City facing New York Harbor. It is bounded by Battery Place on the north, State Street on the east, New York Harbor to ...

, where they witnessed the collapse of the North Tower; Riegel captured video footage that has since been featured in several documentaries. Shortly after the events, they moved to

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

where Tran was accepted to

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California St ...

Filmography

Anime

Animation

Films

Video games

Documentary

Web shows and series

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Riegel, Sam Living people 20th-century American male actors 21st-century American male actors American male video game actors American male voice actors American television writers American male screenwriters American male television writers American voice directors Jewish American male actors Jewish American writers Male actors from Los Angeles Screenwriters from California Place of birth missing (living people) Year of birth missing (living people) 21st-century American Jews