Ned Luke is an American actor. He served as the voice and physical actor of Michael De Santa in the 2013 acclaimed video game Grand Theft Auto V and voiced Raffles in the animated movie Rover Dangerfield. Luke has appeared in 29 movies and television shows to date and has also appeared in over 100 commercials.
Biography[]
Ned Luke was born in Danville, Illinois, to Cindy (née Smith) and Fred Luke. His maternal grandfather was actor Paul Birch.
He graduated from Danville High Schoolin 1977 where he was a bi-sport athlete and honor student. He later attended the University of Illinois in Champaign, Illinois. He has four siblings.
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 and Burger King.
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 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 New York City. His agent suggested he audition for the role of Michael De Santa, one of the three protagonists of Rockstar Games' Grand Theft Auto V. Luke initially scoffed at the idea of being in a video game, but after reading the script decided to proceed with the audition. Luke was eventually cast as one of the game's three playable protagonists, Michael De Santa. Grand Theft Auto V went on to set several sales records and has become the highest grossing video game in history.
Luke married yoga instructor and part-time actress Amy Sax on November 12, 1997. They have a son, Max "Bubba" and live in Westchester County, New York. Luke is nearly deaf in his right ear.