Samuel E. Wright, known for providing the voice of Sebastian the crab in The Little Mermaid movie, has passed away.
Wright’s hometown of Montgomery, New York, first broke the news in a Facebook post, referring to him as “as inspiration to us all.” Wright, along with his family, created the Hudson Valley Conservatory in the area.
“Sam and his family have impacted countless Hudson Valley youth, always inspiring them to reach higher and dig deeper to become the best version of themselves,” the town wrote. “On top of his passion for the arts and his love for his family, Sam was most known for walking into a room and simply providing PURE JOY to those he interacted with. He loved to entertain, he loved to make people smile and laugh, and he loved to love.”
The Hudson Valley Conservatory announced that The Samuel E Wright Scholarship Fund would be created in his honor. The scholarship will be used to support “the children, school, and community” of artists he developed at The Conservatory.
Wright is best known for voicing the beloved crab Sebastian in Disney’s The Little Mermaid. He continued to work with Disney on all of the film’s sequels and also did voiceover work for the movie Dinosaur.
Before he began doing voiceover work, Wright also made appearances on Enos, All My Children, and The Cosby Show. Aside from TV, he also appeared in musicals such as Jesus Christ Superstar and Pippin. He also started the role of Mufasa in the Tony-award-winning musical Lion King.
No cause of death was revealed. He was 74-years-old.
