Paul Rugg
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Paul Rugg is an American screen writer, producer, and voice actor who has worked extensively in the field of animation. His list of credits include writing for, co-producing, and playing the voice of the title character in Steven Spielberg Presents Freakazoid! More recently, he played the character Dark Lord Chuckles The Silly Piggy in the Disney series Dave The Barbarian.
Rugg recently created and directed The Sam Plenty Cavalcade of Action Show Plus Singing! with Mitch Schauer, on behalf of The Jim Henson Company. He also played the voice of Principal Rotwood in the Disney Channel Original series American Dragon Jake Long.
Born in 1962, Rugg was part of a medium-large Roman Catholic family based in the American West, and spent some formative years in Las Vegas--where his father worked with Howard Hughes. When Rugg was in high school, every schoolkid's dream was to get seated in one of the local casinos, and actually gamble. (There's no indication that Rugg ever managed this.)
Prior to Rugg's writing/producing and voice acting careers, he dressed as a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle for children's birthday parties, and contributed speech samples for linguistics researchers--word by ponderous, boring, painful word. He also briefly acted as an assistant to Adam Carolla--not in TV or film, but when Carolla was still working construction jobs. During this era, he became quite proud of his ability to spackle in nail holes. Unlike his writing, it actually brought money into the household.
Rugg was once--along with Carolla and John McCann (his co-producer on Freakazoid!)--an improvisational actor at The Acme Comedy Theater in Los Angeles, where he created the character Manny the Uncanny; a role he was strong-armed into reprising at Tom Ruegger's summertime wedding in Calabasas.
Rugg's first known voice job--and the first character he's been documented playing--was at KXLU, his college radio station, where he appeared sporadically as Marvin E. Quaas Nicky.
He has been nominated for several Emmys, and has received three. His wife, Maria, is a pale-skinned beauty of Cuban descent who has a vaguely European look to her, and sometimes overhears local Latinas gossiping about her clothes--at which point she gently greets them in her native tongue--Spanish, of course. Paul has one daughter, and a vacation home up the coast from Los Angeles--where he enjoys kayaking and writing-avoidance.
