David Kaufman (born July 23, 1961) is an American actor. He is best known for his role as Duane Preston in Down to Earth and for his voice roles such as Danny Fenton/Danny Phantom in Danny Phantom, Jimmy Olsen in various DC projects beginning with Superman: The Animated Series, Dexter Douglas in Freakazoid!, Aldrin in The Buzz on Maggie, Marty McFly in Back to the Future, and Stuart Little in the animated series of the same name. He often serves as a voice double for Michael J. Fox.
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Early life
Kaufman was born and raised in St. Louis, Missouri. His father is Jewish, while his mother is Catholic. Kaufman began acting at a young age in his hometown when his kindergarten teacher handed him the plum lead role of Santa Claus in the class Christmas play.
At the age of 18, Kaufman moved from St. Louis to attend UCLA; he was a student in the Department of Theater Arts.
Career
He has worked with the Daly family of actors on several projects: He worked with Tim Daly on Superman: The Animated Series and its subsequent spin-offs, playing Jimmy Olsen. He also appeared with Daly in the series Wings in 1995 with his wife Lisa; the two portrayed a couple whose wedding Daly's character Joe and his fiancée Helen crash. He worked with Daly's sister Tyne Daly on Kids Like These, and reprised the role of Jimmy Olsen in Justice League: Doom.
Kaufman has also worked as a commercial actor. One of his most prominent roles was as a dancing stockboy in a 1989 commercial for Hi-C Ecto Cooler.
Personal life
On June 30, 1990, Kaufman married actress Lisa Picotte; together, they have two children who are also actors, including Grace Kaufman. He came out as bisexual on Celebrate Bisexuality Day in 2021.
Filmography
Commercials
AT&T (starring with Ray Walston)
Pepsi (starring with Cindy Crawford)
Blockbuster (starring with Magic Johnson)
Kid Cuisine (voice of K. C. Penguin)
as well as spots for Honda, Hi-C Ecto-Cooler, Maxwell House, Dentyne, Chili's, Midas, Wendy's, Twiglets and British Petroleum, among others.
Stage work
Kaufman has earned several Los Angeles area critics' awards and nominations.
He has been a member of the West Coast Ensemble in Los Angeles for over ten years, performing such varied roles as:
Skeets Miller in Floyd Collins
Prosecutor Gilmer in To Kill a Mockingbird
George Lewis in Kaufman and Hart's Once in a Lifetime
Orestes in Electra
Tyler in Sondheim and Furth's Merrily We Roll Along
Ronnie Shaughnessy in The House of Blue Leaves
Callimaco in Machiavelli's The Mandrake
Eugene Jerome in Neil Simon's Biloxi Blues
Paul Palmer in James Duff's A Quarrel of Sparrows at The Court Theatre in Los Angeles
Stewie in the premiere of Richard Greenberg's Night and Her Stars at South Coast Repertory.