William Vanderpuye also known as Will Vanderpuye and Will Vanders, is an award-winning British actor

Actor

An actor is a person who acts in a dramatic production and who works in film, television, theatre, or radio in that capacity...

 and renowned voice-over artist. Vanderpuye has had a long career consisting of many leading theatrical roles and outstanding supporting characters in British films and television programmes. He is also a sports commentator

Sports commentator

In sports broadcasting, a commentator gives a running commentary of a game or event in real time, usually during a live broadcast. The comments are normally a voiceover, with the sounds of the action and spectators also heard in the background. In the case of television commentary, the commentator...

, covering combat sports such as kickboxing

Kickboxing

Kickboxing refers to a group of martial arts and stand-up combat sports based on kicking and punching, historically developed from karate, Muay Thai and western boxing....

 and mixed martial arts

Mixed martial arts

Mixed Martial Arts is a full contact combat sport that allows the use of both striking and grappling techniques, both standing and on the ground, including boxing, wrestling, Brazilian jiu-jitsu, muay Thai, kickboxing, karate, judo and other styles. The roots of modern mixed martial arts can be...

.

Acting career

Vanderpuye studied at the Corona Theatre Academy with Nicholas Lyndhurst

Nicholas Lyndhurst

Nicholas Simon Lyndhurst is an English actor. He is best known for his roles as Rodney Trotter in Only Fools and Horses, Gary Sparrow in Goodnight Sweetheart, and as Adam Parkinson in Carla Lane's series Butterflies...

 and Ray Winstone

Ray Winstone

Raymond Andrew "Ray" Winstone is an English film and television actor. He is mostly known for his "tough guy" roles, beginning with that of Carlin in the 1979 film Scum and as Will Scarlet in the cult television adventure series Robin of Sherwood. He has also become well known as a voice over...

 and took exams at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art

London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art

The London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art is a leading British drama school in west London. LAMDA's president is Timothy West and its new principal is Joanna Read, who recently succeeded Peter James...

. In 1971, he had his first role at the age of eight in the film Melody

Melody (1971 film)

Melody is a 1971 British film directed by Waris Hussein about "puppy love". It was released as S.W.A.L.K. in the United Kingdom . The film starred Jack Wild, Mark Lester and Tracy Hyde...

, written by Alan Parker

Alan Parker

Sir Alan William Parker, CBE is an English film director, producer, writer and actor. He has been active in both the British cinema and American cinema and was a founding member of the Directors Guild of Great Britain.-Life and career:...

 and produced by David Putnam

David Putnam

1LT David Endicott Putnam was an American flying Ace of World War I.A descendant of General Israel Putnam he was born at Jamaica Plains, Massachusetts and attended Harvard University before joining the Lafayette Flying Corps of the French Air Service in 1917. In June of the following year he...

.

Film roles include Aitch in the multi-award-winning The Firm with Gary Oldman

Gary Oldman

Gary Leonard Oldman is an English actor, voice actor, filmmaker and musician.A member of the 1980s Brit Pack, Oldman came to prominence via starring roles in British films Meantime , Sid and Nancy and Prick Up Your Ears , with his performance in the latter bringing him his first BAFTA Award...

, and thriller action movie Down

Down (film)

Down is a 2001 horror film about a killer elevator, starring James Marshall and Naomi Watts. The film is also known as The Shaft, which is the name used for the United States DVD release...

. He voiced the Hutu radio DJ in the multi-Oscar-nominated Hotel Rwanda

Hotel Rwanda

Hotel Rwanda is a 2004 American drama film directed by Terry George. It was adapted from a screenplay written by both George and Keir Pearson. Based on real life events which took place in Rwanda during the spring of 1994, the film stars Don Cheadle as hotelier Paul Rusesabagina, who attempts to...

and characterized Phillip the dog in the BAFTA- and Oscar-winning movie Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit

Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit

Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit is a 2005 British clay-mation animated comedy horror film, the first feature-length Wallace and Gromit film. It was produced by DreamWorks Animation and Aardman Animations, and released by DreamWorksPictures...

.

He has also appeared in London's Burning

London's Burning

London's Burning was a British television drama programme produced by London Weekend Television for the ITV network that focused on the lives of members of the London Fire Brigade, principally those of the Blue Watch at a fictional fire station called Blackwall.It was broadcast between 1986 and...

, Jonathan Creek

Jonathan Creek

Jonathan Creek is a British mystery series produced by the BBC and written by David Renwick. Primarily a crime drama, the show is also peppered with broadly comic touches...

, The Brokers Man, Minder

Minder (TV series)

Minder is a British comedy-drama about the London criminal underworld. Initially produced by Verity Lambert, it was made by Euston Films, a subsidiary of Thames Television and shown on ITV...

(Gunfight at the O.K. Laundrette), One Foot in the Grave

One Foot in the Grave

One Foot in the Grave is a BBC television sitcom series written by David Renwick. The show ran for six series, including seven Christmas specials, two Comic Relief specials, over an eleven year period, from early 1990 to late 2000...

, Scum, Touching Evil

Touching Evil

Touching Evil is a British television drama serial, which began airing in 1997. It was produced by United Productions for Anglia Television, and screened on the ITV network. The first series consisted of six fifty-minute episodes. It was created by Paul Abbott, and written by Abbott with Russell T...

, The Last Detective

The Last Detective

The Last Detective is an ITV drama starring Peter Davison as Dangerous Davies. The first series aired in 2003 with three more seasons succeeding this...

, Casualty

Casualty (TV series)

Casualty, stylised as Casual+y, is a British weekly television show broadcast on BBC One, and the longest-running emergency medical drama television series in the world. Created by Jeremy Brock and Paul Unwin, it was first broadcast on 6 September 1986, and transmitted in the UK on BBC One. The...

, and Holby City

Holby City

Holby City, stylised as Holby Ci+y, is a British medical drama television series that airs weekly on BBC One.The series was created by Tony McHale and Mal Young as a spin-off from the established BBC medical drama Casualty, and premiered on 12 January 1999...

on British television. Animations as a voice over includeBudgie the Little Helicopter

Budgie the Little Helicopter

Budgie the Little Helicopter is a series of children's books and animated television series relating to a fictional character 'Budgie' and his friends. The characters were based on the books by Sarah, Duchess of York , who was influenced by her flight training in the Royal Navy...

, Greedysaurus Gang, Rastamouse

Rastamouse

Rastamouse is a British animated stop motion entertainment series aimed at children under six years of age. It is animated by Dinamo Productions in Trefforest, near Cardiff, Wales. It features crime-fighting special agents Rastamouse, Scratchy and Zoomer, who solve mysteries and have adventures...

, Fun with Phonics, and That's So Darwin for the BBC

BBC

The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...

, performing with his son, Willy Vanderpuye.

Vanderpuye's theatre performances include Reggae Britannia at the Royal Court Theatre

Royal Court Theatre

The Royal Court Theatre is a non-commercial theatre on Sloane Square, in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. It is noted for its contributions to modern theatre...

, The Great White Hope

The Great White Hope

The Great White Hope is a 1967 play written by Howard Sackler, later adapted in 1970 for a film of the same name. The play was first produced by Arena Stage in Washington, D.C. and debuted on Broadway at the Alvin Theatre on October 3, 1968 for a run of 546 performances, directed by Edwin Sherin...

(Time Out award winner), Tramway Road with Freddie Jones

Freddie Jones

Frederick Charles "Freddie" Jones is an English character actor.Jones was born in the town of Longton, Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, the son of Ida Elizabeth and Charles Edward Jones. He became an actor after ten years of working as a laboratory assistant with a firm making ceramic products,...

 and Richard E. Grant

Richard E. Grant

Richard E. Grant is a Swaziland-born British actor, screenwriter and director. His most notable role came in the film Withnail and I. He holds dual British and Swazi citizenship.-Early life:...

, and an appearance with Lily Savage in the highly acclaimed Elegies for Angels, Punks and Raging Queens

Elegies for Angels, Punks and Raging Queens

Elegies For Angels, Punks and Raging Queens is a song cycle with music by Janet Hood and lyrics and additional text by Bill Russell. The work features songs and monologues inspired by the NAMES Project AIDS Memorial Quilt and Edgar Lee Masters' Spoon River Anthology...

the off-Broadway

Off-Broadway

Off-Broadway theater is a term for a professional venue in New York City with a seating capacity between 100 and 499, and for a specific production of a play, musical or revue that appears in such a venue, and which adheres to related trade union and other contracts...

 production about AIDS

AIDS

Acquired immune deficiency syndrome or acquired immunodeficiency syndrome is a disease of the human immune system caused by the human immunodeficiency virus...

.

Voice acting

Will Vanderpuye is a voice-over actor and can be heard regularly on TV and radio; he was the voice of Lilt

Lilt

Lilt is a brand of soft drink manufactured by The Coca Cola Company and sold in the Seychelles, United Kingdom, Gibraltar and Republic of Ireland only. During the 1980s, Lilt was promoted with the advertising slogan, "the totally tropical taste." In the late 1990s it was heavily promoted with...

 ("totally tropical taste") and Malibu

Malibu

Malibu may refer to:Places:* Malibu, Baja California, a beach in Rosarito Beach Municipality, Baja California* Malibu, British Columbia, a camp near the entrance of Princess Louisa Inlet...

 ("The sun always shines when it pours"). He has also voiced adverts for Seat, Citroen, Guinness, Vodafone, Lloyds TSB, TV licensing, Malibu, Telewest Broadband, Nestlé Cookie Crisp, Fairy Liquid, Pedigree Chum, COI Fostering, COI Reading and Literature, McDonald's, Coca-Cola, Tomy Toys, Bandai, BT, Nintendo, Lilt, Renault and Virgin Money.

He is currently the "station voice" for the Nickelodeon TV channel.

Martial arts

Inspired by the Akira Kurosawa

Akira Kurosawa

was a Japanese film director, producer, screenwriter and editor. Regarded as one of the most important and influential filmmakers in the history of cinema, Kurosawa directed 30 filmsIn 1946, Kurosawa co-directed, with Hideo Sekigawa and Kajiro Yamamoto, the feature Those Who Make Tomorrow ;...

 film Seven Samurai, Vanderpuye began studying Shotokan

Shotokan

is a style of karate, developed from various martial arts by Gichin Funakoshi and his son Gigo Funakoshi . Gichin was born in Okinawa and is widely credited with popularizing karate through a series of public demonstrations, and by promoting the development of university karate clubs, including...

 karate

Karate

is a martial art developed in the Ryukyu Islands in what is now Okinawa, Japan. It was developed from indigenous fighting methods called and Chinese kenpō. Karate is a striking art using punching, kicking, knee and elbow strikes, and open-handed techniques such as knife-hands. Grappling, locks,...

 at the age of 13 and eventually earned a brown belt in the discipline. He later switched to Kyokushin in which he currently holds a 3rd dan black belt

Black belt (martial arts)

In martial arts, the black belt is a way to describe a graduate of a field where a practitioner's level is often marked by the color of the belt. The black belt is commonly the highest belt color used and denotes a degree of competence. It is often associated with a teaching grade though...

. In addition to karate, he has also studied boxing

Boxing

Boxing, also called pugilism, is a combat sport in which two people fight each other using their fists. Boxing is supervised by a referee over a series of between one to three minute intervals called rounds...

, jujutsu

Jujutsu

Jujutsu , also known as jujitsu, ju-jitsu, or Japanese jiu-jitsu, is a Japanese martial art and a method of close combat for defeating an armed and armored opponent in which one uses no weapon, or only a short weapon....

 and judo

Judo

is a modern martial art and combat sport created in Japan in 1882 by Jigoro Kano. Its most prominent feature is its competitive element, where the object is to either throw or takedown one's opponent to the ground, immobilize or otherwise subdue one's opponent with a grappling maneuver, or force an...

.

In 2002, he began commentating

Sports commentator

In sports broadcasting, a commentator gives a running commentary of a game or event in real time, usually during a live broadcast. The comments are normally a voiceover, with the sounds of the action and spectators also heard in the background. In the case of television commentary, the commentator...

 for K-1

K-1

K-1 is a defunct world-wide kickboxing promotion based in Tokyo, Japan founded by Kazuyoshi Ishii, a formerKyokushin karate practitioner. K-1 combines stand up techniques from Muay Thai, Karate, Taekwondo, Savate, San Shou, kickboxing, western-style boxing, and other martial arts...

 and Fight Club

Eurosport Fight Club

Fight Club is a martial arts TV magazine program which is broadcast by the French based, Pan-European broadcasting sports channel Eurosport. The program includes various events, bouts and special features of kickboxing throughout the world....

on Eurosport

Eurosport

Eurosport is a pan-European television sport network operated by French broadcaster TF1 Group. The network of channels are available in 59 countries, in 20 different languages providing viewers with European and international sporting events...

 under the name Will Vanders or Sensei

Sensei

' is a Japanese word that basically means "person born before another." In general usage, it means "master" or "teacher," and the word is used as a title to refer to or address teachers, professors, professionals such as lawyers, CPA and doctors, politicians, clergymen, and other figures of authority...

 Will Vanders. He is known for his spirited coverage of K-1 events, and his catchphrases "it's a knockdooooooown!" and "goodbye Pepsi-Cola, hello holy wine".
His TV production company produces Fight-Sport programs for Eurosport and other major TV channels

References

External links