Other names Will Vanders Years active 1971–present | Name William Vanderpuye Role Actor | |
Occupation Actor, voice-over artist, commentator, martial artist Movies and TV shows Rastamouse, The Firm, Oktober | ||
William Wallace Bruce-Vanderpuye (born 3 December 1963), also known as William Vanderpuye, Will Vanderpuye or Will Vanders, is an award-winning British actor broadcaster, writer voice-over artist and producer. Vanderpuye is the self proclaimed Fred Astaire of Essex, a title which has often landed him in trouble with the Astaire estate.
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In 2005, during a stage produced adaptation of the 1935 RKO film Roberta, the majority of the ensemble fell ill with a serious case of food poisoning. Vanderpuye, a stage hand at the time, was approached by theatre director Marcus Rodgriguez-Malor and asked if he could step in and take over the ensemble routine. Vanderpuye who always carried a pair of tap shoes in case of such situations was happy to comply and it was here he made his west-end debut.
Vanderpuye's performance, a 55 mins tap routine, which incorporated elements of mixed martial arts and a rendition of Bob Marley and the Wailers "Three Little Birds" was met with surprise and confusion, several audience members applauded, most left; however it was the beginning of a long and prosperous dancing career for Vanderpuye which came to an abrupt halt in 2013 after a scandalous alleged affair with acclaimed theatre director Melly Still. Vanderpuye never danced again, yet he still retains his original pair of tap shoes from the 2005 performance. He will often hire them out to tap historians for a small fee.
He is the grandson of Jacob Sylvanus Bruce-Vanderpuye Barrister at Law, Djastse and Ga Manche (Paramount Chief) of The Otubluhun Stool, Jamestown, Accra, Ghana, formerly the British colony of the Gold Coast. The titles are hereditary, although not used by Vanderpuye or his father William Wallace Bruce-Vanderpuye Snr. The Bruce "Clan" (Nanka Bruce) are an aristocratic Ghanaian family with a pedigree tracing back to King Robert the Bruce of Scotland. The Vanderpuyes are Kings of Elmina dating back to Jacobus Vanderpuye (1780), nobleman and Dutch Governor General of the region at St Georges Castle Elmina.
Vanderpuye has had a long career consisting of many leading theatrical roles and supporting characters in British films and television programmes. He is also a sportscaster, covering combat sports such as kickboxing and mixed martial arts.
Acting career
Vanderpuye studied at the Corona Theatre Academy with Nicholas Lyndhurst and Ray Winstone and took exams at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art. In 1971, he had his first role at the age of eight in the film Melody, written by Alan Parker and produced by David Putnam. He went on to work extensively with iconic British director Alan Clark during the late 70s.
Film roles include Aitch in the multi-award-winning The Firm with Gary Oldman, and thriller action film Down. He voiced the Hutu radio DJ in the multi-Oscar-nominated Hotel Rwanda and characterised Phillip the dog in the BAFTA- and Oscar-winning film Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit.
He has also appeared in London's Burning, Jonathan Creek, The Brokers Man, Minder (Gunfight at the O.K. Laundrette), One Foot in the Grave, Scum, Touching Evil, The Last Detective, Casualty, and Holby City more recently as Tom Hilton in "Death in Paradise" on British television. Animations as a voice over include Budgie the Little Helicopter The Greedysaurus Gang A Monkeys Tale and the BBC's "Fun with Phonics, He can currently be heard playing Zoomer and a cast of thousands in the award winning hit BBC animation series Rastamouse.
Vanderpuye's theatre performances include Reggae Britannia at the Royal Court Theatre, The Great White Hope (Time Out award winner), Tramway Road with Freddie Jones and Richard E. Grant, and an appearance with Lily Savage in the highly acclaimed Elegies for Angels, Punks and Raging Queens the off-Broadway production about AIDS.
Voice acting
Will Vanderpuye is a voice-over actor and can be heard regularly on TV and radio. As a video game voice actor, he is probably best known to players of the notoriously difficult Demon's Souls and Dark Souls as Patches the Hyena/Trusty Patches. He also voices Knight Lautrec of Carim in the latter. The character Patches makes another appearance in Bloodborne as Patches the Spider, and a further appearance in Dark Souls III as Unbreakable Patches. Vanderpuye also voiced the Grand Theft Auto series. He played the Head Honcho in Heart of Darkness and more recently the WW1 game Tungaska, yet to be released. As a voice actor he has also played characters in the Hobbit "The Desolation of Smaug" and the yet to be released 2nd part of the Hobbit series.
He appeared in the films The Curse of the Were-Rabbit and Minions.
He is the voice to certain promos for the Nickelodeon UK Channels (common with Nick Jr), The Africa Channel, Comedy Central and the Fox International Channels.
Martial arts
Inspired by the Akira Kurosawa film Seven Samurai, Vanderpuye began studying Shotokan Karate at the age of 13 earning a brown belt in the discipline. He later switched to Kyokushin in which he currently holds a 3rd Dan black belt. In addition to karate, he has also studied/trained boxing, jujutsu and judo.
In 2002, he began commentating for K-1 and Fight Club on Eurosport under the name Will Vanders or Sensei Will Vanders. He has been at the vanguard of modern fight sport with his work at Eurosport Television, introducing K-1, Pancrase and Shooto, the basis of modern MMA, to viewing audiences in over fifty countries. He is known for his spirited coverage of K-1 events, and his catchphrases "it's a knockdooooooown!" and "bye bye Pepsi-Cola, hello holy wine" ( a line from the song "The Last Train" by the 1970s rock band The Movies, off their album "Bullets through the Barrier".)
His TV production company produces Fight-Sport programmes for Eurosport and other major TV channels. He has worked as a broadcaster for the BBC, Sky TV, BT Sport, Fox TV, Abu Dhabi TV and Channel 4. Presenting for television K-1, Superkombat, Glory, King of Kings, Legends and the prestigious live events World Freefight Challenge, KSW and Abu Dhabi Warriors. He is an official AIBA (IOC) and World Series of Boxing commentator.