Dan Gilvezan was born in St. Louis, Missouri and attended Webster University, a Midwestern fine arts college, graduating with a Bachelor of Arts degree in drama. Upon graduation he embarked on a national tour bringing the classics to theaters and civic auditoriums all over the country. After completing the tour he worked in repertory theater, summer stock, children’s theater, and dinner theater all over the eastern seaboard.
Upon arriving in Los Angeles Dan found work voicing characters in a variety of animated series, such as Spider-Man/Peter Parker on NBC’s “Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends,” Bumblebee, on the original “Transformers” animated series. He also provided voices in other series like, “GI Joe,” “Jem and the Holograms,” “Sectaurs,” “Dino-Riders,” “Spiral Zone,” “Pound Puppies,” “The Jetsons,” “Rugrats,” “Scooby-Doo,” “Talespin,” “The Real Ghostbusters,” “Family Dog,” “Fantastic Four,” “The Tick,” “Grim and Evil” and many, many others.
He has also lent his voice to numerous video games, two of his more prominent roles being Spider-Man 2099 in “Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions,” and reprising one of his most recognizable roles as G1 Bumblebee in “Transformers: Devastation.”
No stranger to on-camera television, Dan has appeared as a guest-star or recurring character on “Desperate Housewives,” “Bones,” “NYPD Blue,” “Boston Legal,” “The Bernie Mac Show,” “Third Rock From the Sun,” “Sabrina, the Teenaged Witch,” “Diagnosis Murder,” “Step by Step,” “She-Wolf of London,” “Murphy Brown,” “Perfect Strangers,” and many others. His recent most role was as Bette Davis’ agent in the critically acclaimed television mini-series, “Feud.” He currently appears in a recurring role as Marcus the rodeo announcer on “Baskets,” the Zach Galifianakis’ comedy series airing on the FX network.
As many with many other actors, Dan’s first love is the theater. In addition to appearing in many plays in the Los Angeles area over the years, he earlier this year performed the role of the father, Norman Apple, in the Santa Monica Playhouse production of “Almost Perfect.” Thirty years previous, during the play’s premiere run, he assayed the role of Mike, Norman Apple’s older son. Age has a way of affecting one’s choice of roles.
Dan has written several books including “Bumblebee & Me: Life as a G1 Transformer,” a memoir of his time working on that seminal series, as well as three novels, “Drowned in the Grenadine,” a fictionalized account of his experiences working as an actor in Hollywood, “Soul,” a fantasy novel that takes place on Earth, in Heaven and a few places in between and “Dead Money,” a detective novel.
Dan currently resides in Sherman Oaks, California, in the heart of the San Fernando Valley, with his wife, Joselle, their cat “Small Cat,” and several houseplants.
