Biography
2-time winner of SDA’s William C. White Faculty Recognition Award, John DeMita is a graduate of Yale University (BA in Theatre Studies and English) and was among the first students to receive an MFA in Acting from the American Conservatory Theatre in San Francisco. Since then, he has worked extensively in all aspects of the performing arts.
As a theatre actor, he has performed on the stages of the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Pittsburgh Irish and Classical Theatre, Intiman Theatre, Pasadena Playhouse, Williamstown Theatre Festival, Pacific Conservatory of the Performing Arts, Hollywood Bowl, Pasadena Playhouse, Antaeus Theatre Company, Andak Theatre Company (Garland Award, Best Actor in a Musical for Liberty Inn), Victory Theatre and the Pacific Resident Theatre — of which he was a founding member (Dramalogue Award, Best Actor for Happy End). His selected film and television credits include four seasons as Marine Colonel Clifford Blakely on CBS’s JAG, a series regular on Comedy Central’s The Clinic, and over 30 guest star and recurring roles.
As a director, his selected credits include USC Thornton School of Music’s Postcard from Morocco (MFA 2018); USC School of Dramatic Arts’ Angels in America (BFA 2025), Old Times (MFA 2024), Trouble in Mind (BA 2019), Rough Magic (BA 2019), Mr. Burns: A Post-Electric Play (BA 2017), The Country Wife (BA 2016), The Way of the World (BA 2015), Dark of the Moon (BFA 2014) and 27 Wagons Full of Cotton and Other Plays (MFA 2012). His work with Andak Theatre Company (North Hollywood) includes The Elephant Man, Betrayal (Garland Award) and The Misanthrope (Backstage West Award). At the Santa Clarita Performing Arts Center, he directed SubUrbia, Equus, Death of a Salesman, As You Like It and Rumors. For the El Camino Center for the Performing Arts, his productions include Six Characters in Search of an Author, The Crucible, Picnic, Romeo and Juliet, Macbeth, The Hot l Baltimore, Mother Courage and Her Children and Hay Fever.
As a voice actor, DeMita has performed in hundreds of animated features, cartoon and live-action series, and video games. Selected voice acting credits include Hayao Miyazaki’s classic Princess Mononoke, Star Trek: Discovery, Cars 3, Ninjago, Sing, The Lego Batman Movie, Friday the 13th: The Game, Happy Feet, Lilo & Stitch, The Simpsons Movie, the anime series Dragon Ball Super, One Punch Man, Hunter X Hunter, Naruto, The Animatrix and the Final Fantasy and Dynasty Warriors video game series.
After a decade as a full-time Associate Professor of Theatre Practice in Acting at SDA, DeMita is now Senior Manager for English Language Production at Netflix, where he supervises the localization of films and television series from around the world. He has also directed English language dubs from over a dozen countries, working with local and international voice actors and giving many USC SDA students their first professional jobs.