Mark Ryan (actor)

Mark Ryan
Ryan at the New York Premiere of Age of Extinction
Born	(1956-06-07) 7 June 1956 (age 60) Doncaster, South Yorkshire, England, U.K.
Nationality	British
Occupation	Actor, author, singer, voice actor, action director
Years active	1978–present

Mark Ryan (born 7 June 1956) is an English actor, author, action director and voice actor. He is perhaps best known for his portrayal of Mr. Gates in the Michael Bay/Starz production of the pirate show Black Sails, as Nasir in the British TV series Robin of Sherwood, as well as for his work for the Transformers franchise, for which he has voiced Bumblebee, Jetfire and Lockdown. In June 2016 he began work on the fifth installment of the Transformers films, Transformers: The Last Knight, reprising his role as live-action stand-in for the robots.

Mark Ryan was born in Doncaster, Yorkshire, Great Britain. Coming from a family with a strong military tradition, Ryan combined his career in the entertainment industry with his work as a member of the British Army's Intelligence Corps, attached to DSF (Director Special Forces) and later as a Licensed Private Investigator in the United States.

Mark Ryan appeared in several major musicals in London's West End, spending four years in Andrew Lloyd Webber's musical Evita in the role of Magaldi and then playing Ché under the direction of Hal Prince. He went on to appear in a cameo in the film version of the musical directed by Alan Parker. He left Evita to play Mac in the classic SAS action film Who Dares Wins for director Ian Sharp.

Ryan played the character of Nasir for the British TV series Robin of Sherwood on which he worked for three years. Nasir was the first Muslim member of the Merry Men - a concept that carried over to later productions such as Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves and the 2006 Robin Hood TV series.