Patrick Pinney

Background

He attended college at the University of the Pacific in Stockton, California, where he had many friends including assistant director Michele Panelli Venetis and San Francisco Bay area costumer Alison Barnwell Morris, with whom he costarred in "The Deputy" at the UOP Rotunda Theatre.

He studied theatre along with producer / director Dennis Jones at University of the Pacific in Stockton where the two of them were room mates. As well as performing in theaters in the United States, he had also done theaters in Europe. He came to Los Angeles. Some time later, he played three characters in a play. Afterwards he was approached by a producer who offered him work in animation. It was a role in a Hanna-Barbera animation. From there he made the transition from a serious stage actor to voice.

He has also done work on Harry & the Hendersons.

Voice over career

In the late 1980s, he worked on a number of projects. One was providing the voice for Mainframe in G.I. Joe: The Movie in 1987. A couple of years later, he was involved in another project. It was on the X-Men in 1989. He provided the voice for Wolverine in Pryde of the X-Men which was the pilot episode for the cartoon series. Interestingly, he had given the character an Australian sounding accent instead of the Canadian one that would be expected. An article by Simone Pozzoli for the Italian language OverNewsMagazine Italian stated, molti oggi la vedono come “una profezia” which meant that Pinney's Australian accent imterperatation of the character would be seen as prophetic as Hugh Jackman has played the part. He is the first voice actor to provide the voice for the Wolverine character in animation. He has worked in the Phil Nibbelink and Simon Wells directed animation An American Tail: Fievel Goes West. From 1997 to 2001, he worked on Men in Black: The Series in episodes which include The Long Goodbye Syndrome in 1997, The Buzzard Syndrome, also in 1997 and The Big Bad Bug Syndrome in 1998.

Film and television

Even though Pinney's on screen / physical acting roles are secondary to his voice over career, he has appeared in a few television and film roles. In 1979, he played the part of the Captain of the guards in the Ken Annakin directed feature film The Fifth Musketeer which starred Beau Bridges, Sylvia Kristel and Ursula Andress. In 1983, he played a heckler in the God Child/Curtain Call episode of Fantasy Island. The episode which was directed by Ted Lange also featured Cassandra Peterson. He appeared in The Terminator in 1984. In 2014, he played the part of Eugene Dugan in Atwill Web Series which was directed by Charles Dennis.

Stage

In June 2015, Pinney appeared at the Sierra Repertory Theatre in the play Unnecessary Farce. The play also starred Daniel Hines, Kristin Howell, Ty Smith and Nick Ferruci. The story which was set in a small town motel with an embezzling mayor with undercover police trying to catch him. Pinney played the part of a 6.4 Scottish assassin. The reviewer for the Sierra Lodestar magazine said that audiences might recognize Pinney from his part as Painty the Pirate. Pinney and director Dennis Jones have a history that goes back to 1972 when they worked together at the theatre company for Fallon House.