Larenz Tate

Larenz Tate
Born (1975-09-08) September 8, 1975[1][2][3]
Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
Nationality American
Education Palmdale High School
Occupation Actor
Years active 1985–present
Known for Peter Waters – Crash
O-Dog – Menace II Society

Larenz Tate (born September 8, 1975[4][5]) is an American film and television actor. Tate is best known for his roles as Peter Waters in Crash and as O-Dog in the 1993 teen hood drama film, Menace II Society. Tate's other films include Dead Presidents, Love Jones, Why Do Fools Fall in Love, A Man Apart, Waist Deep, Biker Boyz, and Ray.

Early life

Larenz Tate was born on Chicago, Illinois' west side, in a middle-class suburb, to Peggy and Larry Tate.[6] Tate is the youngest of three siblings (his two brothers, Larron and Lahmard, are also actors) whose family moved to California when he was 4 years old. Convinced by their parents to enter a drama program at the Inner City Cultural Center, the trio did not take the lessons seriously until classmate Malcolm-Jamal Warner's ascent to fame after being cast on the sitcom The Cosby Show. Subsequently, realizing that they could parlay their efforts into a tangible form of success, the siblings began to receive small roles and in 1985, Tate made his small-screen debut in an episode of The New Twilight Zone. Tate attended Palmdale High School, graduating in 1993.[7]

Career

Following appearances in such television series as 21 Jump Street and The Wonder Years, Tate was cast in the television movie The Women of Brewster Place before receiving the recurring role of Steve Urkel's nemesis, Willie Fuffner, in the family comedy series Family Matters (1989). He was also a cast member on the CBS series The Royal Family, starring Redd Foxx and Della Reese, which ended prematurely after Redd Foxx died. In the video game 187 Ride or Die, Tate voices the main character, Buck.

Following numerous small-screen roles, offers began pouring in for Tate, and in late 1992, collaborative filmmaking siblings Albert and Allen Hughes approached him to star in their debut feature Menace II Society. The film found Tate channeling his substantial energy into creating "O-Dog", a trigger-happy teenager. Following up with the little-seen but often-praised television series South Central, Tate would later appear in the family comedy-drama The Inkwell (1994) before re-teaming with the Hughes brothers for Dead Presidents (1995) and taking on the role of a love-stricken young poet in the romantic drama Love Jones (1997). Larenz Tate also played the role of Kenny in The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air in the episode "That's No Lady, That's My Cousin".[8]

There followed roles in The Postman (as the automotively monikered Ford Lincoln Mercury), the Frankie Lymon biopic Why Do Fools Fall in Love (1998, with Tate as Lymon), and 2000's Love Come Down. Though a big theatrical release had eluded Tate for the first few years of the millennial turnover, Tate would soon turn up opposite Laurence Fishburne in the high-octane but critically derided Biker Boyz (2003)[9] A Man Apart (2003), Crash (2004), as music legend Quincy Jones in Ray (2004), and Waist Deep (2006). Larenz was also featured in R&B singer Ashanti's 2003 released music video Rain on Me, where he played the jealous, abusive spouse of Ashanti. The video touched on the subject of domestic abuse. He also starred as part of the main cast in season's 4-7 of FX's Rescue Me as Bart "Black Shawn" Johnston.

Select filmography

References

  1. ↑ Phelps, Shirelle (1997). "Contemporary Black Biography: Profiles from the International Black Community, Volume 15". Google Books. Gale. Retrieved October 8, 2017.
  2. ↑ Fearn-Banks, Kathleen; Burford-Johnson, Anne (3 October 2014). "Historical Dictionary of African American Television". Rowman & Littlefield. Retrieved 4 October 2018 – via Google Books.
  3. ↑ Willis, John; Monush, Barry (25 March 2002). "Screen World 2001". Hal Leonard Corporation. Retrieved 4 October 2018 – via Google Books.
  4. ↑ Willis, John; Monush, Barry (1 April 2006). "Screen World: 2005 Film Annual". Hal Leonard Corporation. Retrieved 4 October 2018 – via Google Books.
  5. ↑ Berry, S. Torriano; Berry, Venise T. (2 September 2009). "The A to Z of African American Cinema". Scarecrow Press. Retrieved 4 October 2018 – via Google Books.
  6. ↑ "Larenz Tate profile". Filmreference.com. 1975-09-08. Retrieved 2010-10-06.
  7. ↑ "Hall of Fame - Alumni - Palmdale High School". Phsfalcons.org. Retrieved 4 October 2018.
  8. ↑ "The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air (TV series): That's No Lady, That's My Cousin". IMDb.com. Retrieved April 16, 2018.
  9. ↑ "Biker Boyz". Rottentomatoes.com. Retrieved 2010-10-06.
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