Samba Dirk-Jan Schutte (born 1 February 1983) is a Dutch-Mauritanian actor, comedian, and writer.

Biography

Schutte was born in

Mauritania Mauritania, officially the Islamic Republic of Mauritania, is a sovereign country in Maghreb, Northwest Africa. It is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the west, Western Sahara to Mauritania–Western Sahara border, the north and northwest, ...

in 1983, the son of a Muslim mother and Christian Dutch national. At the age of two, he moved to Ethiopia, as his father worked for a non-governmental organization. Schutte attended Sandford International School in

Addis Ababa Addis Ababa (; ,) is the capital city of Ethiopia, as well as the regional state of Oromia. With an estimated population of 2,739,551 inhabitants as of the 2007 census, it is the largest city in the country and the List of cities in Africa b ...

. When he was 12, his father purchased the video game '' Steven Spielberg's Director's Chair'', and it was at this moment that Schutte decided to become an actor. In 2001, he moved to the Netherlands to study theater at the

Utrecht School of the Arts The Utrecht School for the Arts () is a performing arts and visual arts educational institution in City of Utrecht, Province of Utrecht, Netherlands. The school opened for student enrollment in September 1987. Overview The institution has 6 ...

. He visited Ethiopia for the last time in 2002. Schutte began performing at comedy clubs and joined the Comedy Explosion, a comedy collective, in 2004. In 2006, Schutte won the Jury and Audience Award at the Leids Cabaret Festival. He toured the country doing comedy shows for several years. Schutte was a writer and presenter for the Dutch version of ''

The Daily Show ''The Daily Show'' is an American late-night talk show, late-night talk and news satire television program. It airs each Monday through Thursday on Comedy Central in the United States, with extended episodes released shortly after on Paramount+ ...

'' known as ''De nieuwste show''. Schutte moved to Los Angeles in 2011 to pursue comedy and acting, receiving the visa for Aliens of Extraordinary Abilities. Several months after arriving in the United States, he won a competition at

The Comedy Store The Comedy Store is an American comedy club opened in April 1972. It is located in West Hollywood, California, at 8433 Sunset Boulevard on the Sunset Strip. An associated club is located in La Jolla, San Diego, California. History The Comedy ...

and became a regular performer. Schutte met his wife in Los Angeles, as she was the producer for a film he was auditioning for. Schutte has performed in several films, TV series, and video games, and has voice-over work for audiobooks. Schutte had a role in the 2016 film ''

The Tiger Hunter ''The Tiger Hunter'' is a 2016 American comedy film directed by Lena Khan, written by Khan and Sameer Gardezi, and starring Danny Pudi, Jon Heder, Rizwan Manji, Karen David, Iqbal Theba, Samuel Page, Parvesh Cheena, Michael McMillian, and Kev ...

''. In 2019, Schutte was cast as Hakim in the TV series '' Sunnyside''. His character is an Ethiopian heart surgeon who works as a taxi driver in New York until he gets a better opportunity. It was the first time an Ethiopian character was portrayed on an American sitcom. Schutte related to the role, as he was also an immigrant gaining a foothold in a new country. Schutte speaks four languages: English, French, Dutch and

Amharic Amharic is an Ethio-Semitic language, which is a subgrouping within the Semitic branch of the Afroasiatic languages. It is spoken as a first language by the Amhara people, and also serves as a lingua franca for all other metropolitan populati ...

. He suffers from the pigmentation disease

vitiligo Vitiligo (, ) is a chronic autoimmune disorder that causes patches of skin to lose pigment or color. The cause of vitiligo is unknown, but it may be related to immune system changes, genetic factors, stress, or sun exposure, and susceptibili ...

, but has managed to keep it under control after fearing it would be the end of his comedy career.

Partial filmography

Film

Television

Video games

Accolades

References

External links

Samba Schutte
at the

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Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Schutte, Samba 1983 births Living people Mauritanian male actors 21st-century Mauritanian actors Mauritanian male writers Mauritanian expatriates in Ethiopia Mauritanian expatriates in the Netherlands Mauritanian expatriates in the United States People from Nouakchott