Wayne Elliot Knight (born August 7, 1955) is an American actor. After several smaller film parts, including in box office successes like Dirty Dancing and Basic Instinct, Knight's breakthrough role was portraying Dennis Nedry in the film adaptation of Jurassic Park (1993), which earned him a Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actor nomination. His other two most prominent roles followed on television, where he played Newman on the NBC sitcom Seinfeld (1992–1998) and Officer Don Orville on the NBC sitcom 3rd Rock from the Sun (1996–2001), which earned him a Q Award nomination for Best Recurring Player and a Screen Actors Guild Award nomination for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series, respectively.
Knight would go on to appear in films such as Space Jam (1996), For Richer or Poorer (1997), Rat Race (2001), Punisher: War Zone (2008), and Five Nights at Freddy's 2 (2025). He has also worked extensively as a voice actor, playing the roles of Tantor in Tarzan (1999), Al McWhiggin in Toy Story 2 (1999), and Frank in Goat (2026). Knight has also voiced Igor in Toonsylvania (1998–1999), Dojo Kanojo Cho in Xiaolin Showdown (2003–2006), Mr. Blik in Catscratch (2005–2007), Baron Von Sheldgoose in Legend of the Three Caballeros (2018), and Lime in Among Us (2026).
Early life Wayne Elliot Knight was born on August 7, 1955, in New York City to Grace () and William Knight. He was raised Catholic. The family moved to Cartersville, Georgia, where his father worked in the textile industry. Knight attended local schools and was a lineman on his high school's football team.
Knight attended the University of Georgia before beginning his acting career and later returned to complete his degree in 2008.
Career
Early career Knight received an internship at the Barter Theatre in Abingdon, Virginia, which produced repertory works. After completing his internship, he joined the company and gained standing as an Equity actor. Knight subsequently moved back to his birthplace, New York City. After two years, he landed his first role on Broadway. After his time on Broadway, he also worked as a private investigator for five years.
Film work Knight appeared in various films in the late 1980s and early 1990s, including Dirty Dancing (1987), Born on the Fourth of July (1989), Dead Again (1991), JFK (1991) and Basic Instinct (1992). He was the first actor cast in Jurassic Park (1993) after director Steven Spielberg saw his performance in Basic Instinct. Knight was cast as InGen Corporation's chief programmer for the park and secret spy for Biosyn, Dennis Nedry. He also appeared in To Die For (1995), Space Jam (1996), For Richer or Poorer (1997), and Rat Race (2001). He played the Punisher's techno sidekick Microchip in Punisher: War Zone (2008). In April 2012, Knight was featured in the romantic comedy, She Wants Me.
Television work In the 1990s, Knight played supporting roles on two television series on NBC. He played the mailman Newman, Jerry's neighbor and nemesis, in Seinfeld, and Officer Don Orville, Sally's love interest, in 3rd Rock from the Sun. He had earlier appeared in Against the Grain. He also appeared as a regular on two sketch comedy series, The Edge for Fox and Assaulted Nuts for Cinemax and Channel 4 in the United Kingdom.
Knight appeared on the pilot episode of the American version of Thank God You're Here. He made a second appearance, on the last episode of the first season of the television series. He won the Thank God You're Here blue door award.
In November 2009, Knight reprised his role as the Seinfeld character Newman, for the seventh season of Curb Your Enthusiasm. He also guest starred on CSI: Crime Scene Investigation Season 10 in the episode "Working Stiffs".
Knight guest starred on a 2010 episode of Fox's drama series Bones, in the first season of the TV Land comedy series Hot in Cleveland (2010), where he became a recurring character for season two, and on an episode of The Whole Truth in the fall of 2010. He played an Internet-fixated couch potato in the TV Land sitcom, The Exes. In the summer of 2011, he appeared in the BBC/Starz series Torchwood: Miracle Day as Brian Friedkin.
In February 2014, Knight reprised the character Newman, during one commercial during the Super Bowl, alongside Jerry Seinfeld and Jason Alexander. In December 2017, Knight was featured in an advertisement for KFC depicting Colonel Sanders.
Voice work Knight has done voice work for numerous animations, including the black cat Mr. Blik in Catscratch, Igor in Toonsylvania, the dragon Dojo Kanojo Cho in the Kids' WB! animated series Xiaolin Showdown, Emperor Zurg on Buzz Lightyear of Star Command on Toon Disney and Disney Channel; Demetrius the shopkeeper in Hercules (1997); Al McWhiggin, the toy store manager of Al's Toy Barn in Toy Story 2 (1999); Tantor the elephant in Tarzan (1999), and the bug Juju on Tak and the Power of Juju (2003). He made guest appearances on Billy & Mandy's Jacked-Up Halloween as Jack O'Lantern, Dilbert as the Security Guard, and Brandy & Mr. Whiskers as Mr. Cantarious the snail. Knight guest starred in The Penguins of Madagascar as Max the Cat, in the episodes "Launchtime" and "Cat's Cradle". He played The Elf Elder in Tom and Jerry: The Lost Dragon (2014).
Theatre work Knight also appeared on Broadway in productions of Gemini, Mastergate, 'Art' and Sweet Charity with Christina Applegate. Knight appeared as Santa in Elf: The Musical in November 2012. He previously appeared on Broadway in Art in 1999.
Personal life Knight married makeup artist Paula Sutor on May 26, 1996, in a ceremony held in the home of fellow Seinfeld cast member Michael Richards. They had divorced by December 2003. He married his second wife, Clare de Chenu, on October 15, 2006; together they have a son, Liam. The family lives in Toluca Lake, Los Angeles, an area where Knight has resided for many years.
Knight attended the 2012 Democratic National Convention. Ahead of the 2020 United States presidential election, Knight appeared in an advertisement that examined "ethical breaches" of mail workers in the U.S. and the lack of support they received from the government. The advertisement was in support of the Democratic Party and anti-Donald Trump.
Filmography Film Year Title Role Notes 1979 The Wanderers Waiter Uncredited 1987 Dirty Dancing Stan 1988 Everybody's All-American Fraternity Pisser 1989 Born on the Fourth of July Official #2 – Democratic Convention 1991 V.I. Warshawski Earl 'Bonehead' Smeissen 1991 Dead Again Pete 'Piccolo' Dugan 1991 JFK Numa Bertel 1992 Basic Instinct John Correli 1993 Jurassic Park Dennis Nedry Nominated—Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actor 1995 To Die For Ed Grant 1995 Chameleon Stuart Langston 1996 Space Jam Stan Podolak 1997 Hercules Demetrius Voice A green check mark indicates that a role has been confirmed using a screenshot (or collage of screenshots) of a title's list of voice actors and their respective characters found in its credits or other reliable sources of information. 1997 For Richer or Poorer Bob Lachmen 1998 The Brave Little Toaster Goes to Mars Microwave Voice, direct-to-video 1998 Soundman Tim Voice 1999 My Favorite Martian Zoot The Suit Voice, Uncredited 1999 Pros & Cons Wayne 1999 Tarzan TantorVoice 1999 Toy Story 2 Al McWhigginVoice 2000 Buzz Lightyear of Star Command: The Adventure Begins Evil Emperor Zurg Voice, direct-to-video 2001 Rat Race Zach Mallozzi 2003 Cheaper by the Dozen Electrician Uncredited cameo 2004 Black Cloud Mr. Tipping 2005 Dinotopia: Quest for the Ruby Sunstone Thudd Voice, direct-to-video 2007 Forfeit Bob 2008 Kung Fu Panda Gang Boss Voice 2008 Scooby-Doo! and the Goblin King The Amazing Krudsky Voice, direct-to-video 2008 Punisher: War Zone Linus Lieberman / Microchip 2012 She Wants Me Walter Baum 2012 Excuse Me for Living Albert 2014 Tom and Jerry: The Lost Dragon Elf Elder Voice, direct-to-video 2016 Kung Fu Panda 3 Big Fun, Hom-Lee Voice 2016 Hail, Caesar! Lurking Extra #1 2018 Blindspotting Patrick 2020 The Very Excellent Mr. Dundee Wayne 2021 12 Mighty Orphans Frank Wynn 2021 Back to the Outback Phil Voice 2022 Darby and the Dead Mel 2023 Urkel Saves Santa: The Movie Mr. Hodges Voice; direct-to-video 2024 The Day the Earth Blew Up: A Looney Tunes Movie Mayor Voice 2025 Five Nights at Freddy's 2 Mr. Berg 2026 Goat Frank Voice
Television