Paul Kevin Rugg is an American screenwriter, producer, voice actor, and puppeteer. He is best known for his starring roles in shows like '' Freakazoid!'', ''

Pig Goat Banana Cricket ''Pig Goat Banana Cricket'', also abbreviated as ''PGBC'', is an American animated television series created by Dave Cooper and Johnny Ryan for Nickelodeon. The show follows the interwoven adventures of the titular quartet. It premiered on Jul ...

'', and '' Earth to Ned''.

Biography

Rugg has worked extensively in the field of animation. His list of credits include writing for, producing, and voice acting in several cartoons, first as the

Jerry Lewis Jerry Lewis (born Joseph Levitch; March 16, 1926 – August 20, 2017) was an American comedian, actor, singer, filmmaker and humanitarian, with a career spanning seven decades in film, stage, television and radio. Famously nicknamed as "Th ...

-esque Mr. Director in ''

Animaniacs ''Animaniacs'' is an American Animated series, animated Comedy television, comedy Musical film, musical television series created by Tom Ruegger and produced by Warner Bros. Television Animation. It originally aired on Fox Broadcasting Company ...

''. Afterwards, he voiced the title character in '' Freakazoid!'' and

Nostradamus Michel de Nostredame (December 1503 – July 1566), usually Latinisation of names, Latinised as Nostradamus, was a French Astrology, astrologer, apothecary, physician, and reputed Oracle, seer, who is best known for his book ''Les Prophéti ...

in ''

Histeria! ''Histeria!'' is an American animated series created by Tom Ruegger and produced by Warner Bros. Television Animation. Unlike other animated series produced by Warner Bros. in the 1990s, ''Histeria!'' was an explicitly educational program c ...

'', as well as the main recurring villain, Dark Lord Chuckles the Silly Piggy in the Disney series '' Dave the Barbarian''. He also voiced Gweelok for

Cartoon Network Cartoon Network (CN) is an American cable television television channel, channel and the flagship property of the Cartoon Network, Inc., a sub-division of the Warner Bros. Discovery Networks division of Warner Bros. Discovery. It launched on ...

's '' Secret Mountain Fort Awesome''. Rugg also appeared live as the eccentric character Manny in the '' Manny the Uncanny'' short segments as part of

Disney's One Saturday Morning ABC Kids (originally known as Disney's One Saturday Morning until 2002) was an American Saturday morning children's programming block that aired on ABC from September 13, 1997 to August 27, 2011. It featured a mixture of animated and live-ac ...

for ABC. Rugg created and directed '' The Sam Plenty Cavalcade of Action Show Plus Singing!'' with

Mitch Schauer Mitchell Lee Schauer (pronounced "shower") (born December 18, 1955) is an American animation professional who has been involved television programs and feature films since 1978. He is perhaps best known as the creator of the Nickelodeon series '' ...

, on behalf of

The Jim Henson Company The Jim Henson Company, Inc., formerly known as Muppets, Inc., Henson Associates, Inc., and Jim Henson Productions, Inc. (commonly referred to as Henson), is an American entertainment company located in Los Angeles, California. The company is kn ...

. He also played the voice of Principal Rotwood in the

Disney Channel Disney Channel is an American pay television television channel, channel that serves as the flagship (broadcasting), flagship property of Disney Branded Television, a unit of the Disney Entertainment business segment of the Walt Disney Company ...

series '' American Dragon Jake Long''. Alongside

Adam Carolla Adam Carolla (born May 27, 1964) is an American radio personality, comedian, actor and podcaster. He hosts '' The Adam Carolla Show'', a talk show distributed as a podcast which set the record as the "most downloaded podcast" as judged by ''Guin ...

and John P. McCann, Rugg was an improvisational actor at the ACME Comedy Theatre in

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, ...

, where he created the character Manny the Uncanny. Rugg was recruited to the

Warner Bros. Animation Warner Bros. Animation Inc. (abbreviated as WBA) is an American animation studio which is part of the Warner Bros. Television Group, a division of Warner Bros., which is a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery and serves as the animation divis ...

team led by

Jean MacCurdy Jean H. MacCurdy is an American television executive, best known for her role as president of Warner Bros. Animation from 1989 to 2001. Career MacCurdy began her career as a secretary in the Children's Programming Department at the NBC Telev ...

and

Tom Ruegger Tom Ruegger () is an American animator and songwriter. Ruegger is known for his association with Disney Television Animation and Warner Bros. Animation. He also created ''Tiny Toon Adventures'', ''Animaniacs'', '' Pinky and the Brain'', and '' H ...

, and was a key contributor to their various series in the 1990s. In 2008, Rugg attended

San Diego Comic-Con San Diego Comic-Con is a comic book convention and multi-genre entertainment event held annually in San Diego, California, at the San Diego Convention Center. Founded in 1970, originally showcasing primarily comic books and science fiction/fant ...

alongside

Paul Dini Paul McClaran Dini (; born August 7, 1957) is an American writer, animator, and comic book artist. He has served as a producer and writer for several Warner Bros. Animation/DC Comics animated series, most notably ''Batman: The Animated Series' ...

, John P. McCann, and

Andrea Romano Andrea Romano may refer to: * Andrea Romano (voice director) Andrea Romano (born December 3, 1955) is an American retired casting director, voice director, and voice actress whose work includes '' Batman: The Animated Series'', ''Animaniacs'', ' ...

. Rugg later worked with

Brian Henson Brian David Henson (born November 3, 1963) is an American puppeteer, filmmaker, and the chairman of The Jim Henson Company. He is the son of puppeteers Jim and Jane Henson. Early life Henson was born on November 3, 1963 in New York City, th ...

on ''

Puppet Up! ''Puppet Up! – Uncensored'' is a adult live puppet musical show produced by The Jim Henson Company combining puppetry and improvisational comedy created by Brian Henson and Groundlings performer Patrick Bristow. The show is advertised for " ...

'' and other projects of

under its "Henson Alternative" banner. He reunited with Henson as protagonist Ned in '' Earth to Ned''. Rugg has been nominated for several Emmy Awards, and has received three. He previously lived up the coast from Los Angeles with his wife Maria and daughter Jillian. In July 2023, Jillian got married, after which Rugg moved to Virginia to live closer to her family. Rugg has two dogs: Chihuahua Lucky (2006-2020), who was the subject of a viral video; and Marge.

Filmography

Television

Film

Video games

Web series

Crew work

References

External links

Paul Rugg's blog
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Rugg, Paul 1960 births Living people 20th-century American male actors 21st-century American male actors Male actors from California American film producers American male voice actors American television writers American puppeteers American male television writers