More Black Movie Stars!
by willi-beckenlehner | created - 14 Aug 2011 | updated - 20 Apr 2016 | Public
1. Bubba Smith
Actor | Police Academy
The athletically gifted 6' 7" Charles Aaron "Bubba" Smith played defensive end / defensive tackle for the National Football League's Baltimore Colts (1967-1971), Oakland Raiders (1973-1974), and Houston Oilers (1975-1976). After the conclusion of his football career, Smith moved into a TV & film ...
2. Woody Strode
Actor | Spartacus
An athlete turned actor, Strode was a top-notch decathlete and a football star at UCLA. He became part of Hollywood lore after meeting director John Ford and becoming a part of the Ford "family," appearing in four Ford motion pictures. Strode also played the powerful gladiator who does battle with ...
3. Wesley Snipes
Actor | Blade
Wesley Trent Snipes was born in Orlando, Florida, to Marian (Long), a teacher's assistant, and SMSGT Wesley Rudolph Snipes, an aircraft engineer. He grew up on the streets of the South Bronx in New York City, where he very early decided that dance and the theatre were to be his career. He attended ...
4. Ving Rhames
Actor | Pulp Fiction
Strikingly featured and muscular American actor Ving Rhames was born Irving Rameses Rhames in Harlem, New York, to Reather, a homemaker, and Ernest Rhames, an auto mechanic. A good student, Ving entered the New York High School of Performing Arts, where he discovered his love of acting. He studied ...
5. Michael Dorn
Actor | Star Trek: First Contact
Michael Dorn is an American actor from Texas. He is best known for playing Worf in the "Star Trek" franchise, the first Klingon character to be part of a television series' main cast. Dorn played the character regularly from 1987 to 2002, appearing in four films and 272 television episodes. Dorn ...
6. Herbert Jefferson Jr.
Actor | Battlestar Galactica
Herbert Jefferson Jr. was born on September 28, 1946 in Sandersville, Georgia, USA. He is an actor, known for Battlestar Galactica (1978), Knight Rider (1982) and Apollo 13 (1995).
7. Victor Williams
Actor | The Affair
Victor Williams was born on September 19, 1970 in Brooklyn, New York, USA. He is an actor and producer, known for The Affair (2014), Sneaky Pete (2015) and The King of Queens (1998). He is married to Zia Williams. They have one child.
8. Terry Carter
Actor | Foxy Brown
Terry Carter, a native of Brooklyn, New York, is a graduate of Stuyvesant High School in New York City. He attended Hunter College, Boston University - School of Communications, U.C.L.A. - School of Theater, Film, and Television, and St. John's University School of Law. He earned a Bachelor of ...
9. Chris Rock
Actor | Top Five
Christopher Julius Rock was born in Andrews, South Carolina and raised in Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn, New York. He is the son of Rosalie (Tingman), a teacher and social worker for the mentally handicapped, and Julius Rock, a truck driver and newspaper deliveryman, whose own father was a preacher.
...
10. Denzel Washington
Actor | Fences
Denzel Hayes Washington, Jr. was born on December 28, 1954 in Mount Vernon, New York. He is the middle of three children of a beautician mother, Lennis, from Georgia, and a Pentecostal minister father, Denzel Washington, Sr., from Virginia. After graduating from high school, Denzel enrolled at ...
11. Richard Townsend
Producer | Hero Hawk and Open Hand
Richard Townsend is known for Hero Hawk and Open Hand (2004) and The Making of 'A Charlie Brown Christmas' (2001).
12. Miguel A. Núñez Jr.
Actor | The Family Business
Miguel A. Núñez Jr. is an Afro-Latino actor and writer who played Harris Grant from The Family Business, Marcus Taylor from Tour of Duty, Spider from The Return of the Living Dead, Biscuit from Life, and the Voodoo Maestro of Spooky Island from the 2002 Raja Gosnell/James Gunn film Scooby-Doo. He ...
13. Stan Foster
Producer | Preacher's Kid
Stan Foster began his versatile career as an actor for three seasons, starring in the Emmy winning CBS television drama "Tour of Duty". Foster segued behind the camera in striking an overall development deal with Columbia Pictures Television to write, produce, and brand new content. This led to ...
14. Billy Blanks
Actor | The Last Boy Scout
Muscular African American sports star, actor, media identity and inventor of the phenomenally popular "Tae Bo" fitness system, derived from his extensive martial arts training. Blanks was born in Erie, Pennsylvania in 1955 amongst humble backgrounds and grew up as one of 15 children, battling ...
15. Paul Winfield
Actor | Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan
Signifying intelligence, eloquence, versatility and quiet intensity, one of the more important, critically acclaimed black actors to gain a Hollywood foothold in the 1970s was Paul Winfield. He was born in 1939 in Dallas, Texas, where he lived in his early years before moving with his family to Los...
16. Bill Duke
Actor | Predator
Duke Media Entertainment, led by actor, director, producer, writer and humanitarian, Bill Duke, is dedicated to bringing quality Edutainment to audiences around the globe. Formerly Yagya Productions, Duke Media has successfully produced critically acclaimed film and television content for more than...
17. Mr. T
Actor | Rocky III
Mr. T was born Laurence Tureaud on 21 May 1952, in the rough south side ghetto of Chicago. He is the second to youngest of twelve children (he has four sisters and seven brothers) and grew up in the housing projects. His father, Nathaniel Tureaud, left when Laurence was 5, and his mother raised the...
18. Michael Clarke Duncan
Actor | The Green Mile
Michael Clarke Duncan was born on December 10, 1957 in Chicago, Illinois. Raised on Chicago's South Side by his single mother, Jean, a house cleaner, Duncan grew up resisting drugs and alcohol, instead concentrating on school. He wanted to play football in high school, but his mother wouldn't let ...
19. Orlando Jones
Actor | Evolution
Orlando Jones was born on April 10, 1968 in Mobile, Alabama, USA. He is an actor and writer, known for Evolution (2001), The Time Machine (2002) and The Replacements (2000). He has been married to Jacqueline Staph since January 2, 2009. They have two children.
20. Ice Cube
Soundtrack | Friday
Ice Cube was born in South Central Los Angeles, to Doris (Benjamin), a custodian and hospital clerk, and Hosea Jackson, a UCLA groundskeeper. He first came to public notice as a singer and songwriter with the controversial and influential band N.W.A. His compositions with that group included many ...
21. Ice-T
Actor | New Jack City
The legendary gangsta hip-hop emcee Ice-T was born Tracy Marrow on February 16, 1958, in Newark, New Jersey. He moved to Los Angeles, California, to live with his paternal aunt after the death of his father while he was in the sixth grade; his mother had died earlier when he was in the third grade....
22. Brock Peters
Actor | Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country
Born of African and West Indian ancestry on July 2, 1927 in New York City, Brock Peters set his sights on a show business career early on, at age ten. A product of NYC's famed Music and Arts High School, Peters initially fielded more odd jobs than acting jobs as he worked his way up from Harlem ...
23. Ben Vereen
Actor | All That Jazz
Few entertainers today are as accomplished or versatile as Ben Vereen. His legendary performances transcend time and have been woven into the fabric of this country's artistic legacy. His first love and passion is and always will be the stage. "The theater was my first training ground. It taught me...
24. Ernie Hudson
Actor | Ghostbusters
As a child growing up in Benton Harbor, Michigan, Ernie Hudson wrote short stories, poems and songs, always thinking that his words might one day come to life on stage. After a short stint in the Marine Corps, he moved to Detroit where he became the resident playwright at Concept East, the oldest ...
25. Michael Jackson
Soundtrack | Michael Jackson: Thriller
Michael Joseph Jackson was born on August 29, 1958 in Gary, Indiana, and entertained audiences nearly his entire life. His father, Joe Jackson (no relation to Joe Jackson, also a musician), had been a guitarist, but was forced to give up his musical ambitions following his marriage to Michael's ...
26. Darius McCrary
Actor | Family Matters
Darius McCrary is best known for his role as Eddie Winslow on the long-running television series "Family Matters". He began his career in Hollywood at the age of nine and has continued to provide performance excellence in multiple films, television, theater, and music projects.
McCrary has starred ...
27. Shad Moss
Actor | The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift
Shad Gregory Moss was born on March 9, 1987 in Columbus, Ohio to Teresa Rena (Jones) and Alfonso Preston Moss. When Shad was five, he started his rap career using the nickname "Kid Gangsta." One year later, he took front stage during "The Chronic Tour" and impressed rapper Snoop Dogg, who later ...
28. Nonso Anozie
Actor | Cinderella
Nonso Anozie was born on November 17, 1978 in London, England, UK. He is an actor and producer, known for Cinderella (2015), Conan the Barbarian (2011) and Happy-Go-Lucky (2008).
29. Michael Ealy
Actor | Barbershop
Known for his charming looks and deep personality, Michael Ealy blessed the movie screen with his role in Barbershop (2002). When he left Silver Spring, Maryland, with a degree in English, he headed off to New York. From there he performed in several stage productions, including the Off-Broadway ...
30. Michael B. Jordan
Actor | Black Panther
Michael B. Jordan, the middle of three children, was born in Santa Ana, California and raised in Newark, New Jersey. He is the son of Donna (Davis), a high school counselor, and Michael A. Jordan. His middle name, Bakari, means "noble promise" in Swahili. (He is not related to, or named after, ...
31. David Harewood
Actor | Blood Diamond
David Harewood was born on December 8, 1965 in Birmingham, England, UK. He is an actor and director, known for Blood Diamond (2006), The Merchant of Venice (2004) and Supergirl (2015). He has been married to Kirsty Handy since February 26, 2013. They have two children.
32. John Boyega
Actor | Star Wars: Episode VII - The Force Awakens
John Boyega is a British actor, known for playing Finn in Star Wars: Episode VII - The Force Awakens (2015). Boyega rose to prominence in his native United Kingdom for his role of Moses in the 2011 sci-fi comedy film Attack the Block (2011), before attaining international recognition for his work ...
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