Ned Armstrong Luke (born October 4, 1958) is an American actor. He is known for portraying Michael De Santa 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 ...

''. Throughout his acting career, he has appeared in 29 films and television shows, in addition to performing in over 100 commercials.

Early life

Ned Luke was born on October 4, 1958 in Danville, Illinois, to Cindy (née Smith) and Fred Luke.

Career

Luke's first major voice role was in '' Rover Dangerfield'', where he played a sheepdog named Raffles opposite Rodney Dangerfield. 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, a brand of Belgian company 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 is a filte ...

and

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 ...

. 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, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

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 Ossining, New York. His agent suggested he audition for the role of Michael De Santa, one of the three protagonists of Rockstar Games' 2013

video game A video game or computer game is an electronic game that involves interaction with a user interface or input device (such as a joystick, game controller, controller, computer keyboard, keyboard, or motion sensing device) to generate visual fe ...

''. Luke initially scoffed at the idea of being in a video game, but after reading the script he decided to proceed with the audition and, alongside Shawn Fonteno and Steven Ogg, was eventually cast. ''Grand Theft Auto V'' went on to set several sales records and has become the 2nd highest grossing video game in history. Luke continued his working relationship with Rockstar Games after the release of ''Grand Theft Auto V''. Upon learning that ''

Red Dead Redemption 2 ''Red Dead Redemption 2'' is a 2018 action-adventure game developed and published by Rockstar Games. The game is the third entry in the ''Red Dead'' series and a prequel to the 2010 game ''Red Dead Redemption''. The story is set in a fictiona ...

'' was in development, he expressed interest in joining the Western-themed project. Thanks to his positive rapport with the company, Rockstar allowed him to portray a non-playable character using both voice and motion capture. However, Luke later revealed that his voice had been dubbed over by another actor. He attributed this change to "creative differences" and speculated that Rockstar may have wanted to avoid drawing player attention to his character. Luke also guest starred on '' Boardwalk Empire''. and served as host of the Future Games Show at Gamescom 2024.

Personal life

Luke has been married to his wife Amy Sax, since 1997. Together, they have a son. On November 23, 2023, Luke was swatted during a

Thanksgiving Thanksgiving is a national holiday celebrated on various dates in October and November in the United States, Canada, Saint Lucia, Liberia, and unofficially in countries like Brazil and Germany. It is also observed in the Australian territory ...

livestream of '' Grand Theft Auto Online'' on his

YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...

channel. While some fans accused Rockstar Games of failing to protect players' IP addresses, Luke refuted these claims and attributed the incident to his personal information being previously leaked online.

Filmography

Film

Television

Video games

Commercials

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 Actors from Vermilion County, Illinois 20th-century American male actors 21st-century American male actors Male actors from Illinois Actors from Westchester County, New York University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign alumni