William Wallace Bruce-Vanderpuye, also known as William Vanderpuye, Will Vanderpuye or Will Vanders, is an award-winning British actor broadcaster, writer, voice-over artist and producer. He can currently be heard playing Zoomer and a cast of thousands in the award-winning hit BBC animation series Rastamouse and appearing as “Kobi” in the Bafta nominated BBC series Apple Tree House which he co-created, co wrote and co-produced. He is the grandson of Jacob Sylvanus Bruce-Vanderpuye, a Barrister-at-Law, Djastse and Ga Mantse 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" 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, a nobleman and Dutch Governor-General of the region at St George's 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 Clarke during the late 70s and 80s. Film roles include Aitch in the multi-award-winning The Firm with Gary Oldman, and thriller action filmDown. 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 . He has also appeared in London's Burning, Jonathan Creek, The Brokers Man, Minder, 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, Vanderpuye's theatre performances include Reggae Britannia at the Royal Court Theatre, The Great White Hope, 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 well-known for providing the voice of the character Patches in each of the latter's appearances across FromSoftware's Souls and Bloodborne titles. 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 trilogy. He appeared in the films The Curse of the Were-Rabbit, Quest for a Heart and Minions. He is the voice to certain promos for the Nickelodeon UK Channels, The Africa Channel, Comedy Central and the Fox International Channels.
Martial arts
Inspired by the Akira Kurosawa film Seven Samurai, Vanderpuye began studying ShotokanKarate 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" 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 and World Series of Boxing commentator.
