Wayne Knight (born August 7, 1955) is an American actor, best known for his roles as Newman in the TV sitcom Seinfeld and as police officer Don Orville in the sitcom 3rd Rock from the Sun.

He was born in Cartersville, Georgia, in Bartow County and briefly attended the University of Georgia where a professor once told him that he would never make it as an actor.

Knight has had prominent film roles, such as in JFK by Oliver Stone and in the infamous interrogation scene in Basic Instinct. He was the first person to be cast in Jurassic Park after director Steven Spielberg saw him in that scene.

Knight was truly in his glory during the mid-to-late 1990s, when he simultaneously played prominent supporting roles on two different hit TV series on NBC (Seinfeld and 3rd Rock), an unusual situation for television.

He was married to makeup artist Paula Sutor from 1996 until their divorce in 2003. The wedding ceremony was held in fellow Seinfeld cast member Michael Richards's house.

Knight was told by his doctor that he was reaching morbid obesity, so he started a diet and exercise program on which he lost 117 pounds.

After his significant weight loss, Knight began to grow a beard and this gave him a much different look than fans had seen over recent years. It led some people to call it the "Wicked Beard".

He is now currently voicing the cat Mister Blik on the Nickelodeon cartoon Catscratch. He also voices the dragon Dojo Kanojo Cho in the Kids' WB animated series Xiaolin Showdown. He also voiced the Evil Emperor Zurg on Buzz Lightyear of Star Command on Toon Disney and Disney Channel, and Al McWhiggin, the toy store manager of Al's Toy Barn, in Toy Story 2.

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