BLACK SOCIAL HISTORY Boris Frederic Cecil Tay-Natey Ofuatey-Kodjoe[1] (/ˈkoʊdʒʊ/; born 8 March 1973), better known as Boris Kodjoe, is a German actor known for his roles as Jason in the 2000 film Love & Basketball, and the sports-courier agent Damon Carter on the Showtimedrama series Soul Food.
Early life
Kodjoe was born in Vienna, Austria, the son of Ursula, a German psychologist of partially Jewish descent, and Eric Kodjoe, a Ghanaian physician who is of the Nzema people.[1] His name sake is the Russian poet and writer Boris Pasternak.[2] Kodjoe's maternal great-grandmother was Jewish and died in the Holocaust; his maternal grandmother survived the war in hiding.[1][3] Kodjoe's parents divorced when he was six years old.[4] He grew up in the vicinity of Freiburg im Breisgau. Kodjoe is fluent in French, English, and German, and speaks some Spanish. He has a brother named Patrick and two sisters named Nadja and Lara.
Career
Kodjoe attended Virginia Commonwealth University on a tennis scholarship, and graduated with a bachelor's degree in marketing in 1996.[5] A four-year letterman on the Rams' men's tennis team, he is currently ninth in school history with 75 career singles wins. Tied for third in doubles victories with 66, he was paired with Jonas Elmblad on 37 of them, also third all-time.[6] His brother Patrick Kodjoe played for VCU's basketball team. A back injury ended Boris' tennis aspirations, but he was quickly signed as a model and soon after entered acting.[7]
Named one of the "50 Most Beautiful People in the World" by People magazine in 2002, Kodjoe is perhaps best known as one of the seven regular cast members from theShowtime drama Soul Food, which aired from 2000 to 2004. He appeared in the 2002 film Brown Sugar and starred in the short-lived sitcom Second Time Around with his Soul Food co-star Nicole Ari Parker, whom he eventually married. He played the role of David Taylor, the wayward son of Pastor Fred Taylor in the October 2005 film The Gospel. He performed in a play called Whatever She Wants starring Vivica A. Fox and made an appearance on the fifth season of Nip/Tuck. His most recent role was in the 2009 science fiction film Surrogates. On December 16, 2009, it was announced that Kodjoe had been cast as the male lead, Steven Bloom, in the new J. J. Abrams television seriesUndercovers; the show premiered in September and was subsequently cancelled in November 2010 on NBC. Also that year, he appeared as Luther in the film Resident Evil: Afterlife. He appeared on Franklin & Bash in 2012.
In 2013, Kodjoe began starring in the BET comedy parody series Real Husbands of Hollywood. In 2014 he was cast as regular on the ABC primetime soap opera Members Onlycreated by Susannah Grant.[8][9]
Personal life
Kodjoe married his Soul Food: The Series co-star Nicole Ari Parker on May 21, 2005 in Gundelfingen, Germany. She gave birth to their first child, a girl, Sophie Tei-Naaki Lee Kodjoe, on March 5, 2005. Sophie has spina bifida, which was diagnosed at birth.[10] Parker gave birth to the couple's second child, a boy, Nicolas Neruda Kodjoe, on October 31, 2006. Kodjoe and his wife are members of Cascade United Methodist Church in Atlanta, Georgia.[11] The family resides in Los Angeles, California.
Filmography
Film
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | Love & Basketball | Jason | |
| 2002 | Brown Sugar | Kelby Dawson | |
| 2004 | Doing Hard Time | Michael Mitchell | Direct-to-video |
| 2005 | The Gospel | David Taylor | |
| 2006 | Madea's Family Reunion | Frankie Henderson | |
| 2007 | All About Us | Edward Brown | |
| 2007 | Alice Upside Down | Mr. Edgecombe | |
| 2008 | Starship Troopers 3: Marauder | Gen. Dix Hauser | |
| 2009 | Surrogates | Stone | |
| 2010 | The Confidant | Nigel Patterson | |
| 2010 | Resident Evil: Afterlife | Luther West | |
| 2012 | Resident Evil: Retribution | Luther West | |
| 2012 | A Killer Among Us | Detective Joe Moran | TV Movie Nominated - Black Reel Award for Best Supporting Actor |
| 2013 | Baggage Claim | Graham | Nominated - Acapulco Black Film Festival Award for Best Ensemble Cast |
| 2013 | Nurse 3D | Detective John Rogan | |
| 2014 | Addicted | Jason Reynard |
Television
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1998 | The Steve Harvey Show | Dexter | Episode: "Every Boy Needs a Teacher" |
| 2000 | For Your Love | Terrence | Episode: "The French Lesson" |
| 2003 | Boston Public | Coach Derek Williams | 3 episodes |
| 2003 | Street Time | Bowman Calloway | Episodes: "High Holly Roller" and "Cop Killer" |
| 2003 | All of Us | Marcus | Episode: "Uncle Marcus Comes to Dinner" |
| 2004 | Eve | Kevin | Episode: "Valentine's Day Reloaded" |
| 2000-2001, 2003, 2004 | Soul Food | Damon Carter | Series regular, 27 episodes Nominated - NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series (2002-2004) |
| 2004-2005 | Second Time Around | Jackson Muse | Series regular, 13 episodes |
| 2006 | If You Lived Here, You'd Be Home Now | Brad | TV pilot |
| 2007 | Crossing Jordan | Detective Elliot Chandler | Episodes: "Post Hoc..." and "In Sickness & in Health" |
| 2007 | Women's Murder Club | Simon Perry | Episode: "Blind Dates and Bleeding Hearts" |
| 2007 | Nip/Tuck | Elton Forrest | Episode: "Chaz Darling" |
| 2010 | Undercovers | Steven Bloom | Series regular, 13 episodes |
| 2012 | Scruples | Josh Hillman | TV pilot |
| 2012 | Franklin & Bash | Nolan Tate | Episode: "Last Dance" |
| 2013– present | Real Husbands of Hollywood | Himself | Series regular Nominated - NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series(2014) |
| 2014 | Members Only | Deacon | Series regular                                                                                                                                                                |
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