Khary Payton

Not to be confused with Gary Payton.

Khary Payton (born May 16, 1972) is an American actor. He is known for his roles as King Ezekiel on the AMC horror drama series The Walking Dead and Dr. Terrell Jackson on the soap opera General Hospital, as well as voicing Cyborg across various DC media and Kaldur'ahm / Aqualad in the animated series Young Justice.

Khary Payton
Payton in 2020
Born	(1972-05-16) May 16, 1972 (age 52) Augusta, Georgia, U.S.
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1986–present
Spouses	Linda Braddock ​ ​ (m. 2001; div. 2009)​ Stacy Reed ​ ​ (m. 2010; div. 2019)​
Children	3

Early life

Payton was born on May 16, 1972, in Augusta, Georgia. At the age of 14, he won Showtime's first annual Kid Talent Quest, and a recording exists of him introducing an animated film called Sherlock Holmes in the Baskerville Curse broadcast on Showtime in September 1986.^[1]

Career

Live-action work

Payton appeared on a recurring basis as Dr. Terrell Jackson on the ABC daytime soap opera General Hospital.^[2] He portrayed King Ezekiel on AMC's The Walking Dead.^[3][4][5]

Voice work

Payton has portrayed Cyborg in both Teen Titans^[6] animated series and Aqualad in Young Justice, reprising his role in Teen Titans Go!.^[7] In the cartoon series Justice League, Payton provided the voice of the villain Ten from the Royal Flush Gang. He also provided the voice of Drebin in the game Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots, Ripcord in G.I. Joe: Renegades, Blade in Marvel: Ultimate Alliance, Grimlock in Transformers: Robots in Disguise, Quinn Derringer in République and Killer Croc in Batman: Arkham Underworld^[8] and voiced Wasabi on the Disney XD original series Big Hero 6: The Series based on the Marvel Comics by Man of Action and the film of the same name.^[9]

Personal life

Payton has three children. He married Linda Braddock in 2001, and they divorced in 2009. He married Stacey Reed in 2010 and they filed for divorce in 2019.^[10] He has two children with Reed.^[10]

Filmography

Voice over roles

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes	Ref
2002	The Proud Family	Slapmaster	Episode: "The Altos"
2003–2007	Teen Titans	Cyborg, Herald		[11]
2003	Justice League	Ten	Episode: "Wild Cards" (Pt. I and II)	[11]
2003	What's New, Scooby-Doo?	Mitch	Episode: "E-Scream"
2004	The Shield	Lil Psych	Episode: Cracking Ice
2004–2007	Codename: Kids Next Door	Maurice / Numbuh 9, additional voices	3 episodes
2006–2007	Ben 10	Hex, additional voices	7 episodes	[11]
2006–2007	Loonatics Unleashed	General Deuce	3 episodes	[11]
2007	Friday: The Animated Series	Craig Jones
2007	Legion of Super-Heroes	Tyr, Hunter	2 episodes
2008–2010	Ben 10: Alien Force	Manny, Hex	6 episodes	[11]
2010	Generator Rex	Beasly, Gang Punk, Male Providence Cadet #2, Pilot	3 episodes	[11]
2010–2011	G.I. Joe: Renegades	Ripcord, Wallace Weems, Guard #1, Lead Trooper	7 episodes	[11]
2010–2013, 2019–2022	Young Justice	Aqualad, Brick, Black Manta, Black Lightning, Robotman, additional voices		[11][12]
2012	Ben 10: Ultimate Alien	Hex	Episode: "The Enemy of My Frenemy"
2013–present	Teen Titans Go!	Cyborg, Zan, Couch, Universe Tree, Halloween Spirit, Young Justice Aqualad, Himself, various voices		[11]
2014	Ben 10: Omniverse	Manny, Hex, Student	4 episodes	[11]
2014	Lego DC Comics: Batman Be-Leaguered	Cyborg	TV special	[11][13]
2015–2017	Transformers: Robots in Disguise	Grimlock, Bisk, Divebomb, additional voices		[14]
2015	Fresh Beat Band of Spies	Rubberface Rudy, Teller #1	Episode: "Fake Fresh Beats"	[11]
2015	Be Cool, Scooby-Doo!	Tony, Stan, Axel	Episode: "Screama Donna", "Junkyard Dogs"	[11][15]
2015–2019	The Lion Guard	Rafiki, Muhangus	12 episodes	[11][16]
2016	Sofia the First	Barley	Episode: "Bunny Swap"
2016–2017	DC Super Hero Girls	Cyborg, Lion-Mane	5 episodes
2016–2017	Justice League Action	Cyborg, Kanjar Ro	6 episodes	[11]
2017–2021	Big Hero 6: The Series	Wasabi, others
2017	Guardians of the Galaxy	Jukka, Ship Crasher #2	2 episodes	[11]
2017	Elena of Avalor	Captain Chiloya	Episode: "Party of a Lifetime"
2019	Rapunzel's Tangled Adventure	Kai
2021–present	Invincible	Black Samson, Kyle, additional voices		[17]
2022–2023	The Legend of Vox Machina	Sovereign Uriel Tal'Dorei	6 episodes	[18]
2022–present	The Loud House	Harold McBride, additional voices	3 episodes
2024–present	Hot Wheels Let's Race	Speedy Getaway

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes	Source
2006	Teen Titans: Trouble in Tokyo	Cyborg	TV movie	[11]
2011	The Legend of Awesomest Maximus	King Erotic	Comedy Film	[11]
2012	Strange Frame: Love & Sax	Atem		[11]
2013	Khumba	Dassies, Wild Dog	English dub	[11]
2014	Batman: Assault on Arkham	Inmates, Henchmen	Direct-to-video
2015	Justice League: Throne of Atlantis	John Henry Irons		[11][19]
2015	Lego DC Comics Super Heroes: Justice League vs. Bizarro League	Cyborg, Cyzarro		[11]
2015	Justice League: Gods and Monsters	John Henry Irons, Granny Goodness, Mugger		[11][20]
2015	Batman Unlimited: Monster Mayhem	Cyborg		[11][21]
2015	Lego DC Comics Super Heroes: Justice League – Attack of the Legion of Doom	Cyborg, Cy-Bot		[11]
2015	The Lion Guard: Return of the Roar	Rafiki		[11]
2016	Lego DC Comics Super Heroes: Justice League – Cosmic Clash	Cyborg	Direct-to-video	[11]
2016	Lego DC Comics Super Heroes: Justice League: Gotham City Breakout			[11]
2016	DC Super Hero Girls: Hero of the Year			[11]
2017	DC Super Hero Girls: Intergalactic Games	Cyborg, Lead
2017	The Lion Guard: The Rise of Scar	Rafiki
2018	Lego DC Comics Super Heroes: The Flash	Cyborg	Direct-to-video	[11]
2018	Lego DC Super Hero Girls: Super-Villain High	Cyborg, Wizard Shazam
2018	Teen Titans Go! To the Movies	Cyborg		[11]
2018	Lego DC Comics Super Heroes: Aquaman – Rage of Atlantis		Direct-to-video	[11]
2018	DC Super Hero Girls: Legends of Atlantis			[11]
2019	Teen Titans Go! vs. Teen Titans			[11]
2020	Bobbleheads: The Movie	Deuce
2021	Teen Titans Go! See Space Jam	Cyborg	TV movie	[11]
2022	Teen Titans Go! & DC Super Hero Girls: Mayhem in the Multiverse	Cyborg, Narrator	Direct-to-video	[11]
2023	The Super Mario Bros. Movie	Penguin King		[22]
2024	No Time to Spy: A Loud House Movie	Harold McBride

Video games

Year	Title	Role	Notes	Source
2000	Deus Ex	Smuggler, JoJo Fine
2004	Syphon Filter: The Omega Strain	Lawrence Mujari
2004	The Chronicles of Riddick: Escape from Butcher Bay	Rael, Michaels
2004	Men of Valor	Greaser, Random Marines
2005	X-Men Legends II: Rise of Apocalypse	Bishop, Nick Fury		[11]
2005	Quake 4	Bidwell
2005	Tony Hawk's American Wasteland	Additional voices
2006	Teen Titans	Cyborg		[11]
2006	Reservoir Dogs	Mr. Blue
2006	Saints Row	Additional voices
2006	Marvel: Ultimate Alliance	Blade, Paibok		[11]
2006	SOCOM U.S. Navy SEALs: Fireteam Bravo 2	WRAITH
2006	Dead or Alive Xtreme 2	Zack
2007	God of War II	Rhodes Soldiers, Spartan Soldiers
2007	Spider-Man: Friend or Foe	Blade		[11]
2008	Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots	Drebin 893	English dub	[11]
2008	SOCOM U.S. Navy SEALs: Confrontation	Commando 3
2008	Resistance 2	Warner
2008	Tom Clancy's EndWar	Additional voices
2009	FusionFall	Hex
2009	Ninja Blade	Andy Walker
2009	The Sims 3	Sim
2009	Prototype	Additional voices
2009	Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs	Earl Deveraux		[11]
2009	Marvel: Ultimate Alliance 2	Luke Cage, Blade
2010	No More Heroes 2: Desperate Struggle	Nathan Copeland		[11]
2010	SOCOM U.S. Navy SEALs: Fireteam Bravo 3	WRAITH
2010	Dead or Alive Paradise	Zack		[23]
2010	Ben 10 Alien Force: The Rise of Hex	Hex
2010	Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker	Soldiers, Extras	English dub	[11]
2010	StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty	Additional voices
2011	Killzone 3	Additional ISA voices		[11]
2011	Dead or Alive: Dimensions	Zack		[11]
2011	Infamous 2	Male Pedestrians
2011	Spider-Man: Edge of Time	Additional voices
2011	Ace Combat: Assault Horizon	Razor Co-Pilot
2011	Batman: Arkham City	Azrael, Inmates
2011	Star Wars: The Old Republic	Additional voices
2012	Starhawk	Emmett Graves		[11]
2012	PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale
2013	SimCity BuildIt	Additional voices
2013	Aliens: Colonial Marines	Marine		[11]
2013	Tomb Raider	Islanders
2013	God of War: Ascension	Soldier, Slave
2013	Injustice: Gods Among Us	Cyborg, Doomsday		[24]
2013	Metro: Last Light	Additional voices
2013	Fuse	Jacob Kimble		[11]
2013	Marvel Heroes	Blade, War Machine
2013	Batman: Arkham Origins	Killer Croc, Warden Joseph
2013	Young Justice: Legacy	Aqualad, Black Manta		[11]
2013	République	Quinn Derringer		[11]
2014	Infamous Second Son	Additional voices		[25]
2014	Infamous First Light			[26]
2014	Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare	Knox, additional voices
2015	Infinite Crisis	Cyborg
2015	Lego Dimensions	Cyborg (Teen Titans Go!)
2015	Batman: Arkham Knight	Azrael
2016	Mafia III	Additional voices
2017	Injustice 2	Cyborg		[11]
2019	Kingdom Hearts III	Wasabi No-Ginger	English dub
2020	World of Warcraft: Shadowlands	Henry Garrick
2023	Stray Gods: The Roleplaying Musical	Pan		[27]
2024	Batman: Arkham Shadow	Otis Flannagan		[28]
2025	Marvel 1943: Rise of Hydra	Azzuri / Black Panther		[29]

Live action roles

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes	Source
2001	Walker, Texas Ranger	Gillis	Episode: "Justice for All"
2002	Imagine That	Demetrius	Episode: "The Married Balladeer"
2003	JAG	Seaman James Westin	Episode: "Touchdown"
2004	The Shield	Kaliel "Lil' Psych" Wilkes	Episode: "Cracking Ice"
2006–2008	Emily's Reasons Why Not	Josh	6 episodes
2006	Hannah Montana	Roger the Director	Episode: "More Than a Zombie to Me"
2008	How I Met Your Mother	Guy #3 in Booth	Episode: "The Fight"
2009	Medium	Mr. Bronson	Episode: "Baby Fever"
2009	Criminal Minds	Det. Landon Kaminski	Episode: "Slave of Duty"
2010	I'm in the Band	Director Kaz Ridley	Episode: "Spiders, Snakes and Clowns"
2010	Lie to Me	Cpt. Stan Renshaw	Episode: "React to Contact"
2010	CSI: Miami	Aaron Taber	Episode: "Manhunt"
2011	General Hospital	Dr. Terrell Jackson	24 episodes
2012	Fairly Legal	Tom Finnerman	Episode: "Kiss Me, Kate"
2012	Go On	Don	Episode: "Pilot"
2013	Body of Proof	Brad Carter	Episode: "Breakout"
2016–2022	The Walking Dead	Ezekiel Sutton	Recurring (Season 7) Also Starring (Season 8) Main Role (Seasons 9–11) 49 episodes
2017	Hand of God	Major Tom	2 episodes
2018	Critical Role	Shakäste	2 episodes
2019	UnDeadwood	Aloysius Fogg	4 episodes

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes	Source
2003	Dracula II: Ascension	Kenny
2004	Latter Days	Andrew
2005	Hellraiser: Hellworld	Derrick
2008	Ping Pong Playa	JP Money
2009	Blood: The Last Vampire	Creature
2011	The Legend of Awesomest Maximus	King Erotic
2012	Astronaut: The Last Push	Michael Forrest	Also producer

Awards and nominations

Year	Award	Category	Work	Result
2014	BTVA Voice Acting Awards	Best Male Vocal Performance in a TV Series in a Guest Role - Action/Drama[30]	Ben 10: Omniverse	Nominated
2015		Best Male Lead Vocal Performance in a TV Series[31]	Transformers: Robots In Disguise	Nominated
2018	Saturn Awards	Best Supporting Actor on a Television Series[32]	The Walking Dead	Nominated
2019		Best Supporting Actor on a Television Series[33]		Nominated

References

1. "- YouTube". YouTube. Archived from the original on August 21, 2018.
2. "GH's adds Suzanne Whang & Khary Payton to the cast!". Michael Fairman On-Air On-Soaps. Archived from the original on October 9, 2016. Retrieved October 7, 2016.
3. Muir, John Kenneth (May 1, 2007). TV Year, Volume 1: The Prime Time 2005-2006 Season. Hal Leonard Corporation. pp. 43–. ISBN 978-1-55783-684-7. Retrieved August 17, 2011.
4. "Comic-Con: 'Walking Dead' Casts Kingdom Leader Ezekiel". The Hollywood Reporter. July 22, 2016. Retrieved October 7, 2016.
5. "'The Walking Dead': Ezekiel speaks! Khary Payton gives first interview about landing coveted role". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved October 7, 2016.
6. "Khary Payton Talks "Teen Titans Go!" And "Justice League's" Live-Action Cyborg". CBR.com. July 19, 2015. Retrieved October 7, 2016.
7. "Young Justice's Aqualad Voice Actor Has A Good Feeling About A Third Season". Comicbook.com. Retrieved October 7, 2016.
8. "Killer Croc Voice Actor Talks Arkham Underworld". Arkhamverse.com. May 23, 2016. Archived from the original on October 9, 2016. Retrieved October 7, 2016.
9. "'Big Hero 6': Maya Rudolph & More Reprise Roles for Disney XD Animated Series". Deadline. November 3, 2016. Retrieved November 3, 2016.
10. "'Walking Dead' Ezekiel's Wife Files for Divorce". August 30, 2019.
11. "Khary Payton (visual voices guide)". Behind The Voice Actors. Retrieved June 27, 2015. A green check mark indicates that a role has been confirmed using a screenshot (or collage of screenshots) of a title's list of voice actors and their respective characters found in its credits or other reliable sources of information.
12. "Endgame". Young Justice: Invasion. Season 2. Episode 20. March 16, 2013. Cartoon Network.
13. "Lego Batman: Be-Leaguered". Lego Batman. October 27, 2014. Archived from the original on December 7, 2014. Retrieved November 30, 2014.
14. Transformers: Robots in Disguise Episode 12 closing credits
15. "Screama Donna". Be Cool, Scooby-Doo!. Season 1. Episode 9. October 20, 2015. Cartoon Network.
16. "Twitter / kharypayton". Retrieved March 30, 2015.
17. Trumbore, Dave (September 6, 2019). "Exclusive: Disney's 'Rapunzel's Tangled Adventure' Season 3 Returns This October". Collider. Retrieved September 9, 2019.
18. Moreau, Jordan (January 20, 2022). "Critical Role's 'Legend of Vox Machina' Adds Stephanie Beatriz, David Tennant, Tony Hale and More as Guest Stars". Variety. Retrieved January 20, 2022.
19. Justice League: Throne of Atlantis End Credits
20. Justice League: Gods and Monsters (film). 2015.
21. "EXCLUSIVE TRAILER DEBUT: Joker Rules in "Batman Unlimited: Monster Mayhem"". Comic Book Resources. June 2, 2015. Archived from the original on December 25, 2015. Retrieved June 5, 2015.
22. Brian (October 6, 2022). "Khary Payton revealed as the voice of the penguin king in The Super Mario Bros. Movie". Nintendo Everything. Retrieved October 6, 2022.
23. Dead or Alive Paradise (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on October 6, 2014. Retrieved April 24, 2014.
24. "Twitter / kharypayton: @tomkambur @InjusticeGame We". Twitter.com. April 20, 2013. Retrieved April 24, 2014.
25. Sucker Punch Productions. Infamous: Second Son. Sony Computer Entertainment. Scene: Credits, 3:43 in, Additional Voice Talent.
26. Sucker Punch Productions. Infamous First Light. Scene: Closing credits, 1:18 minutes in, Additional Voice Acting by.
27. Jackson, Zach (April 13, 2023). "Aussie-Made Stray Gods: The Roleplaying Musical Is Hitting The Stage In August".
28. Yin-Poole, Wesley (August 20, 2024). "First Look at Batman VR Game Arkham Shadow Gameplay, Voice Cast Revealed gamescom 2024". IGN. Archived from the original on August 20, 2024. Retrieved August 20, 2024.
29. "'Marvel 1943: Rise of Hydra' Unveils Cast and Composer". www.marvel.com. Retrieved March 20, 2024.
30. "2014 BTVA Voice Acting Awards". Behind The Voice Actors. Retrieved November 1, 2016.
31. "2015 BTVA Voice Acting Awards". Behind The Voice Actors. Retrieved November 1, 2016.
32. McNary, Dave (March 15, 2018). "'Black Panther,' 'Walking Dead' Rule Saturn Awards Nominations". Variety. Retrieved March 15, 2018.
33. Mancuso, Vinnie (July 16, 2019). "'Avengers: Endgame', 'Game of Thrones' Lead the 2019 Saturn Awards Nominations". Collider. Retrieved July 16, 2019.

External links

• Khary Payton at IMDb 
• Khary Payton at Behind The Voice Actors