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James L. Avery, Sr.
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| James L. Avery, Sr. | |
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| Birth name | James L. Avery |
| Born | November 27, 1948 Atlantic City, New Jersey, U.S. |
| Occupation | Actor |
| Spouse(s) | Barbara Avery (1988-Present) |
James L. Avery, Sr. (born November 27, 1948 in Atlantic City, New Jersey), is a classically disciplined American TV actor. He is best known for his portrayal of the patriarch and attorney (later judge) Philip Banks in the TV show The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, whom Will Smith's character affectionately called "Uncle Phil." This character was ranked #34 in TV Guide's "50 Greatest TV Dads of All Time."
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After Avery left the military, he relocated to San Diego, and began to write TV scripts and poetry for PBS. He won an Emmy Award for his production during his term at PBS and was awarded a scholarship to University of California, San Diego. He earned a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Drama and Literature at the University.
In addition to his fame in sitcoms, he did voice acting for many animated series, most notably the 1987 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles series (as the voice of The Shredder, and credited as James Avery) and James Rhodes in the 1990s Iron Man series. He has been the primary host of Going Places, a popular travel and adventure series on PBS. He also guest starred in That 70's Show as Officer Kennedy. In 2000, he guest starred in the "Unfriendly Skies" episode of CSI as Preston Cash, a legally-blind witness to a murder who assists the CSI team with a near-flawless verbal account of what he heard onboard the flight. Avery currently plays LA coroner, Dr. Cripper (who has recently appeared in a wheelchair), on the TNT series "The Closer." In 2004, he guest starred on the television series That's So Raven where he played an entrepreneur.
Avery was also once in a video called "I can't believe it's not butter?". He is frequently mistaken for fellow actor Reginald VelJohnson and vice versa, a joke that was played out on episodes of VelJohnson's sitcom Family Matters as well as "Fresh Prince of Bel-Air".
James Avery joined the United States Navy shortly after high school graduation and served in the Vietnam War from 1968 to 1969.
Avery is 6 ft 4.5 in (1.94m) tall, and enjoys snorkeling, scuba diving, sailing, and swimming.
Avery's wife Barbara, whom he married in 1988, is the Dean of Students at Occidental College in California. His son is also named James.
- James Avery at the Voice Chasers Database
- James Avery at the Internet Movie Database
- James Avery at TV.com
- James Avery article at Memory Alpha, a Star Trek wiki
- The HistoryMakers Biography, photos and video clips
Categories: American television actors | American film actors | American voice actors | American television writers | American poets | People from San Diego | American television personalities | African-American actors | United States Navy sailors | American military personnel of the Vietnam War | New Jersey actors | 1948 births | Living people