Chi McBride

Chi McBride
McBride in 2009
Born	Kenneth McBride (1961-09-23) September 23, 1961 Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1992–present
Height	6 ft 4 in (193 cm)
Spouse	Julissa Marquez

Kenneth "Chi" McBride (born September 23, 1961) is an American actor. He has appeared in both film, where he is known primarily as a character actor, and in television, where he has had numerous starring roles.

In film, he has played prominent roles including The Frighteners (1996), Gone in 60 Seconds (2000), I, Robot (2004), Waiting... (2005), Let's Go to Prison (2006), and Draft Day (2014).

On television, he was high school principal Steven Harper on the series Boston Public, Emerson Cod on Pushing Daisies, Detective Laverne Winston on the Fox drama Human Target, Detective Don Owen in the short-lived CBS crime drama Golden Boy, and Captain Lou Grover in Hawaii Five-0.

Early life

McBride was born in Chicago, Illinois, from which his stage name, pronounced "shy", derives. He was raised in the Seventh-day Adventist religion and attended Shiloh Academy, now known as Chicago SDA Academy, a Seventh-day Adventist school. McBride originally planned to pursue a career in music. After studying several instruments and singing with gospel choirs in his native Chicago, he relocated to Atlanta, Georgia, in 1986 to work for AT&T as a billing clerk.

Career

His first success in show business came with the hit song "Basically, He's the Champ" as part of the group KSL, which parodied the marriage of boxer Mike Tyson and actress Robin Givens. Based on the tune's success, McBride was signed by Esquire Records and he joined the rhythm and blues band Covert. Convinced he should try his hand in front of the camera, the singer moved to Los Angeles and, billed as "Chi", landed guest spots on Fox's In Living Color and NBC's The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, as well as a featured role in the TV movie Revenge of the Nerds III: The Next Generation.

In 1998, he was a co-star of Mercury Rising, alongside Bruce Willis. He was later given the role of Principal Steven Harper on the series Boston Public. Much of McBride's work sees him playing right-hand man to the hero, as in the films Mercury Rising and The Terminal. He is also notable for television roles on The John Larroquette Show, House, The Secret Diary of Desmond Pfeiffer, Killer Instinct and Pushing Daisies.

McBride's other film credits include Cradle 2 the Grave, The Distinguished Gentleman, Gone in 60 Seconds, The Frighteners, Narc, Disney's The Kid, I, Robot, Roll Bounce, Annapolis, Hoodlum, Undercover Brother, Let's Go to Prison and The Brothers Solomon. McBride portrayed eight different characters in the play Nagataki Sake, directed by Robert Downey, Sr.

He starred in Human Target as Winston, business partner of Christopher Chance (the protagonist). The show premiered on January 17, 2010, on FOX.

Starting in 2013, he starred on Hawaii Five-0 as Captain Lou Grover. He previously worked with co-star Scott Caan in Gone in 60 Seconds.

On May 14, 2021, CBS announced that McBride will star along with Pete Holmes and Katie Lowes in a sitcom based around the life of laid-off auto worker-turned-professional bowler Tom Smallwood. McBride plays Archie, a bowling alley owner who serves as friend and mentor to the main character played by Holmes. The multi-camera series debuted on March 31, 2022.

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1992	Revenge of the Nerds III: The Next Generation	Malcolm Pennington III
1992	The Distinguished Gentleman	Homer
1993	What's Love Got to Do with It	Fross
1996	The Frighteners	Cyrus
1997	Hoodlum	Illinois Gordon
1998	Mercury Rising	FBI Agent Thomas "Bizzi" Jordan
2000	Magicians	Tom
2000	Gone in 60 Seconds	Donny Astricky
2000	Disney's The Kid	Kenny
2002	Narc	Captain Cheevers
2002	Undercover Brother	The Chief
2002	Paid in Full	Pip
2003	Cradle 2 the Grave	Jump Chambers	Uncredited
2003	Delusion	John	Short film
2004	The Terminal	Joe Mulroy
2004	I, Robot	Lt. John Bergin
2005	Roll Bounce	Curtis Smith
2005	Waiting...	Bishop Coleman
2006	Annapolis	McNally
2006	Ultimate Avengers 2	Elder Chief	Voice role; Direct-to-video
2006	Let's Go to Prison	Barry
2007	The Brothers Solomon	James Coolwell
2008	American Son	Eddie
2008	First Sunday	Pastor Arthur Mitchell
2008	Who Do You Love	Willie Dixon
2009	Still Waiting...	Bishop Coleman
2011	Fruit of Labor	Mr. Hoffman	Short film
2011	The Family Tree	Simon Krebs
2013	Pawn Shop Chronicles	Johnson	Direct-to-video
2014	Draft Day	Walt Gordon
2015	Home Sweet Hell	Police Officer	Uncredited
2017	Unspoken: Diary of an Assassin	Actor

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1992	The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air	Ed Barker	Episode: "Boyz in the Woods"
1994	Cosmic Slop	T-Bone	TV film; Segment: "Tang"
1994	Married... with Children	Dexter	Episode: "Nooner or Later"
1996	Nash Bridges	Luscious	Episode: "The Great Escape"
1993–96	The John Larroquette Show	Heavy Gene	Main role (84 episodes)
1998	The Secret Diary of Desmond Pfeiffer	Desmond Pfeiffer	Main role (9 episodes; 5 unaired)
1999	The Parkers	Cliff Rogers	Episodes: "Betting on Love"
2000	King of the World	Drew Bundini Brown	TV film
2000	Dancing in September	Security Guard	TV film
2001	The Practice	Steven Harper	Episode: "The Day After"
2001	Rocket Power	Big Tony	Episode: "Reggie's Choice"
2000–04	Boston Public	Steven Harper	Main role (81 episodes)
2000–02	Max Steel	Jefferson Smith	Voice role/Main role (22 episodes)
2005	Boston Legal	Steven Harper	Episode: "Let Sales Ring"
2005	House	Edward Vogler	Recurring role (5 episodes)
2005–2006	Killer Instinct	Lt. Matt Cavanaugh	Main role (13 episodes)
2006	Monk	Mayor Ray Nicholson	Episode: "Mr. Monk and the Garbage Strike"
2006–07	The Nine	Malcolm Jones	Main role (13 episodes)
2007–09	Pushing Daisies	Emerson Cod	Main role (22 episodes)
2010	Psych	Craig Snowden	Episode: "Ferry Tale"
2010–11	Human Target	Detective Laverne Winston	Main role (25 episodes)
2011	God, the Devil and Bob	Unknown (voice)	Episode: "God's Favorite"
2011	How I Met Your Mother	Rod	Episode: "Challenge Accepted"
2011	HawthoRNe	Garland Brice	Recurring role (4 episodes)
2011, 2015	Suits	District Attorney Terrence Wolf	2 episodes
2012–17	Ultimate Spider-Man	Nick Fury (voice)	Additional voices
2013	Golden Boy	Detective Don Owen	Main role
2013–15	Avengers Assemble	Nick Fury (voice)	Additional voices
2013	Phineas and Ferb: Mission Marvel	Nick Fury (voice)	Additional voices
2013	Lego Marvel Super Heroes: Maximum Overload	Nick Fury, Red Skull (voices)
2013–20	Hawaii Five-0	Captain Lou Grover	Recurring Role (Season 4); Main Role (Season 4-10) Written 3 episodes
2014	Murder Police	Randall Hickox (voice)	Mid-season replacement series
2014–15	Hulk and the Agents of S.M.A.S.H.	Nick Fury (voice)
2021	This Is Us	Paul DuBois	Episode: "Birth Mother"
2022	How We Roll	Archie	Main cast

External links

• Chi McBride at IMDb
• Chi McBride at MTV.com
• Chi McBride discography at Discogs