Daran Morrison Nordland (born November 1, 1964),
known professionally as Daran Norris, is an American actor. He has appeared or voiced characters in more than 400 films, video games, and television programs, including: Gordy in ''
Ned's Declassified School Survival Guide'';
Cliff McCormack in ''
Veronica Mars
''Veronica Mars'' is an American teen neo-noir Mystery fiction, mystery Drama (film and television), drama television series created by screenwriter Rob Thomas (writer), Rob Thomas. The series is set in the fictional city, fictional town of Ne ...
''; the voices of
Cosmo,
Mr. Turner,
Jorgen Von Strangle, and
Anti-Cosmo in ''
The Fairly OddParents'' franchise; Buddha Bob in ''
Big Time Rush''; Spottswoode in ''
Team America: World Police'',
Knock Out
A knockout (abbreviated to KO or K.O.) is a fight-ending, winning criterion in several Contact sports, full-contact combat sports, such as boxing, kickboxing, Muay Thai, mixed martial arts, karate, some forms of World Taekwondo Federation#Sparri ...
in ''
Transformers: Prime'' and Jack Smith on
''American'' ''Dad''!. In anime, he is best known for his roles as Tasuki and Mercurymon in the English dubs of ''
Fushigi Yûgi'' and ''
Digimon Frontier
is the fourth anime television series in the ''Digimon'' franchise, produced by Toei Animation. Unlike the previous series, the main characters can merge with ancient spirits known as the "Legendary Warriors" to become Digimon themselves.
T ...
'' respectively.
Career
Norris has been an actor since 1988, beginning such work in television commercials for
Pop-Tarts
Pop-Tarts (stylized as pop•tarts) is an American brand of toaster pastries (not tarts) produced and distributed by Kellanova (formerly Kellogg's) since 1964. The pastry consists of a sweet filling sealed inside two layers of thin, rectang ...
, and moving into film, television, and voice work in the 1990s.
Live action
His first film was ''
Hobgoblins
A hobgoblin is a household spirit, appearing in English folklore, once considered helpful, but which since the spread of Christianity has often been considered mischievous. Shakespeare identifies the character of Puck in his ''A Midsummer Night' ...
'' in 1988. Afterwards, he moved to television. He is known for playing
Gordy in 44 episodes of ''
Ned's Declassified School Survival Guide''.
Gordy is the "school's lazy, wacky janitor" who always goads
Ned into rash actions
while acting as Ned's go-to guy for advice.
Norris recurred as
Buddha Bob in the 2009 series ''
Big Time Rush''.
He portrayed
Cliff McCormack, a
public defender
A public defender is a lawyer appointed to represent people who otherwise cannot reasonably afford to hire a lawyer to defend themselves in a trial. Several countries provide people with public defenders, including the UK, Belgium, Hungary and Si ...
and family friend in the television drama ''
Veronica Mars
''Veronica Mars'' is an American teen neo-noir Mystery fiction, mystery Drama (film and television), drama television series created by screenwriter Rob Thomas (writer), Rob Thomas. The series is set in the fictional city, fictional town of Ne ...
''.
The character of McCormack served as an ally to
Keith and
Veronica Mars
''Veronica Mars'' is an American teen neo-noir Mystery fiction, mystery Drama (film and television), drama television series created by screenwriter Rob Thomas (writer), Rob Thomas. The series is set in the fictional city, fictional town of Ne ...
and a client of Mars Investigations. He reprised the role in the movie, released in 2014, and the fourth season, which debuted on
Hulu
Hulu (, ) is an American Subscription business model, subscription streaming media service owned by Disney Streaming, a subsidiary of the Disney Entertainment segment of the Walt Disney Company. It was launched on October 29, 2007, initially as ...
in 2019. He recurred on Rob Thomas's subsequent series, ''
iZombie'' as weatherman turned anchorman Johnny Frost, from 2015 to 2019.
In 2015, it was announced that Norris would star as
Phil Hartman in a film about him, directed by
Jason Priestley
Jason Bradford Priestley (born August 28, 1969) is a Canadian-American actor and television director. Priestly starred as virtuous Brandon Walsh on the television series ''Beverly Hills, 90210'' (1990–1998, 2000). His other television roles in ...
. As of 2022, the film has yet to begin development.
Voice acting
Among his voice projects, Norris voiced Count Spankulot and various others in 22 episodes of ''
Codename: Kids Next Door'' from 2002 through 2007, and 18 episodes of ''
The Marvelous Misadventures of Flapjack'' from 2008 through 2009. He is noted for voicing the lead
Dick Daring in 71 episodes of ''
The Replacements'' from 2006 through 2009, and for voicing
Mr. Turner,
Cosmo, and
Jorgen Von Strangle, for ''
The Fairly OddParents'' franchise from 2001 to present,
including
126 episodes of the television series, six
specials, and seven TV movies, and reprised the roles for the related
Jimmy Timmy Power Hour trilogy: ''
The Jimmy Timmy Power Hour'', ''
The Jimmy Timmy Power Hour 2: When Nerds Collide'', and ''
The Jimmy Timmy Power Hour 3: The Jerkinators''.
In October 2010, Norris voiced the
Decepticon
The Decepticons are a fictional faction of sentient robots in the ''Transformers'' multimedia franchise. Serving as the main antagonists in the franchise, their goals include conquering their fictional homeworld planet Cybertron, defeating ...
'Knock Out' in
The Hub TV network original series, ''
Transformers: Prime''. Norris recurs as the voice of
The Chief and The Chameleon in the 2010 series ''
T.U.F.F. Puppy''. He also played Mr. Turner in the special live-action television film ''
A Fairly Odd Movie: Grow Up, Timmy Turner!''.
He also is the voice of Jack Smith (Stan Smith's estranged father) on ''
American Dad!
''American Dad!'' is an American animated sitcom created by Seth MacFarlane, Mike Barker (producer), Mike Barker and Matt Weitzman for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series premiered on February 6, 2005, following Super Bowl XXXIX, with the r ...
''.
In
anime
is a Traditional animation, hand-drawn and computer animation, computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, , in Japan and in Ja ...
, he has voice acted in the English dub for the series ''
Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex''.
In video games, he voiced
Venom
Venom or zootoxin is a type of toxin produced by an animal that is actively delivered through a wound by means of a bite, sting, or similar action. The toxin is delivered through a specially evolved ''venom apparatus'', such as fangs or a sti ...
and various characters in the 2000 video game ''
Spider-Man
Spider-Man is a superhero in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer-editor Stan Lee and artist Steve Ditko, he first appearance, first appeared in the anthology comic book ''Amazing Fantasy'' #15 (August 1962) in ...
''.
Norris has also done voice work for
Burger King
Burger King Corporation (BK, stylized in all caps) is an American 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 Jacks ...
commercials.
Personal life
Born in 1964 in
Ferndale, Washington,
Norris graduated from
Ferndale High School in 1983, and married voice actress
Mary Elizabeth McGlynn in 1988. They divorced in 2012.
Norris operates a performing arts school in
Texas
Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...
with his husband, Ray Garcia, who is also an actor whom he wed in 2021. They live in
Bay City, where he is a board member and director of the Community Actors of South Texas.
Filmography
Live action roles
Film
Television
Voice roles
Animation
Anime
Film
Video games
References
External links
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Norris, Daran
1964 births
20th-century American LGBTQ people
20th-century American male actors
21st-century American LGBTQ people
21st-century American male actors
American male film actors
American male television actors
American male video game actors
American male voice actors
category:American bisexual male actors
LGBTQ people from Washington (state)
Living people
Male actors from Los Angeles
Male actors from Washington (state)
Nickelodeon people