Kadeem Hardison

Kadeem Hardison
Hardison at the premiere of Beyond: Two Souls in 2013
Born	(1965-07-24) July 24, 1965 (age 59) Brooklyn, New York City, U.S.
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1981–present
Known for	A Different World , The Cosby Show & K.C. Undercover
Spouse	Chanté Moore ​ ​ (m. 1997;div. 2000)​
Children	1

Kadeem Hardison (born July 24, 1965) is an American actor. The son of fashion model Bethann Hardison, he rose to prominence after landing the role of Dwayne Wayne on the television series A Different World , a spin-off of the NBC sitcom The Cosby Show . He is also known for playing Craig Cooper, the title character's father, in the Disney Channel series K.C. Undercover . Hardison has also appeared in the first season of the Showtime comedy Black Monday and starred as Bowser in the Netflix series Teenage Bounty Hunters . On February 14, 2025, Hardison was announced as a cast member in the 3rd season of the HBO series Euphoria .

Early life

Hardison was born in Bedford–Stuyvesant, Brooklyn, New York, the only child of Donald McFadden, an antique and fine art collector, and Bethann Hardison, a pioneering African-American runway model and advocate for diversity in the fashion industry. ^{[1] [2]}

Career

Hardison was a starring cast member on the sitcom A Different World as Dwayne Wayne, and a regular cast member of K.C. Undercover and the short-lived sitcoms Abby and Between Brothers . His career was managed predominantly by his mother, Bethann Hardison. He has also guest starred on several other sitcoms, including Living Single , Girlfriends , Under One Roof , The Boondocks (as himself), Greek , Parenthood , and on Everybody Hates Chris as the judge. His films include Escapee, Rappin' , School Daze , Def by Temptation , Vampire in Brooklyn , 30 Years to Life , Made of Honor , The 6th Man , Drive , Renaissance Man , Panther , The Fantasia Barrino Story: Life Is Not a Fairy Tale , Bratz , Biker Boyz , Who's Your Daddy? , The Crow: Stairway to Heaven , I'm Gonna Git You Sucka , Blind Faith , Showtime , White Men Can't Jump , and B.C. Butcher . He appears in the 2013 PlayStation 3 video game Beyond: Two Souls as Cole Freeman, a doctor at the United States Department of Paranormal Activity.

Personal life

Hardison was married to American singer Chanté Moore from 1997 until 2000; they have a daughter named Sophia (b. 1996). Hardison remains a close friend of actor Darryl Bell, who played his best friend Ron Johnson on A Different World; he made an appearance alongside Bell on FOX's Househusbands of Hollywood . ^[3]

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1984	Beat Street	High School Student
	The House of Dies Drear	Mac Darrow	Television film
	Go Tell It on the Mountain	Royal
1985	Rappin'	Moon
1987	Enemy Territory	A-Train
1988	School Daze	Edge
	I'm Gonna Git You Sucka	Willie
1989	Dream Date	Jim Parker	Television film
1990	Def by Temptation	'K'
1992	White Men Can't Jump	Junior
1994	Gunmen	Izzy
	Renaissance Man	Pvt. Jamaal Montgomery
1995	Panther	Judge
	Vampire in Brooklyn	Julius Jones
1997	The 6th Man	Antoine Tyler
	Drive	Malik Brody
1998	Blind Faith	Eddie Williams
2000	Dancing in September	Winston
2001	30 Years to Life	Bruce
	Fire & Ice	Michael Williams	Television film
	Instinct to Kill	Lance Difford
	Thank Heaven	Billy Ferrell
2002	Showtime	Kyle
	Red Skies	Riley	Television film
	Who's Your Daddy?	Andy Brookes	Video
2003	Biker Boyz	T.J.
	Dunsmore	Walter Taylor
2004	Face of Terror	Jefferson
2006	The Cassidy Kids	Dennis Peabody
	Love Hollywood Style	Ice Pop
	Life Is Not a Fairytale: The Fantasia Barrino Story	Joseph Barrino	Television film
2007	Bratz	Sasha's Dad
2008	Made of Honour	Felix
	The Sweep	Tyrone
2010	Ashes	Matthew
2011	Escapee	Detective Pars
	The Hop Off	Charles Lee	Short
	Ricochet	Bob Worley	Television film
2013	The Dark Party	Jeff
	Zerosome	Cyrus Wainwright
2014	Android Cop	Sgt. Jones
	Rescuing Madison	Steven	Television film
2015	Sister Switch	Gregory Cole
2016	B.C. Butcher	Narrator
	Queen of Hearts	Book	Short
2018	The Christmas Pact	Sadie’s Dad	Television film
2019	Paddleton	David
2020	Psych 2: Lassie Come Home	Wilkerson	Television film
	Playing with Beethoven	Ted
2024	ClearMind	Tom

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1981	ABC Afterschool Specials	-	Episode: "The Colour of Friendship"
1984	The Cosby Show	Phillip Washington	Episode: "A Shirt Story"
1985	American Playhouse	Royal	Episode: "Go Tell It on the Mountain"
1987	Spenser: For Hire	Bobby Waters	Episode: "My Enemy, My Friend"
1987–93	A Different World	Dwayne Cleofis Wayne	Main Cast
1988	TV's Bloopers & Practical Jokes	Himself	Episode: "Corbin Bernsen/Kadeem Hardison/Morton Downey Jr."
1990	Saturday Morning Videos	Himself/Host	Main Host
	The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air	Himself	Episode: "Someday Your Prince Will Be in Effect: Part 2"
1991	Sesame Street	Himself	Episode: "Episode #22.42"
1992	CBS Schoolbreak Special	Henry Brooks	Episode: "Words Up!"
	Out All Night	Dean	Episode: "Smooth Operator"
	Roc	Rev. Adams	Episode: "Dear Landlord"
1994	Captain Planet and the Planeteers	Goki (voice)	Episode: "Gorillas Will Be Missed"
1995	Living Single	Marcus Hughes	Episode: "Who's Scooping Who?"
1997	Touched by an Angel	Marc Hamilton	Episode: "Smokescreen"
1997–99	Between Brothers	Charles Gordon	Main Cast
1998	Love Boat: The Next Wave	Perry	Episode: "Smooth Sailing"
	Linc's	-	Episode: "Gangsta Rap"
	Fantasy Island	Michael Wilkinson	Episode: "Wishboned"
1998–99	The Crow: Stairway to Heaven	Skull Cowboy	Recurring Cast
2000	Just Shoot Me!	Tad Gallow	Episode: "Blackjack"
	Happily Ever After: Fairy Tales for Every Child	Clown (voice)	Episode: "The Steadfast Tin Soldier"
2001	Intimate Portrait	Himself	Episode: "Jasmine Guy"
	What About Joan?	Ben	Episode: "Joan Sets Up Alice"
2002–03	Livin' Large	Himself/Host	Main Host
2003	Abby	Will Jefferies	Main Cast
2000–04	Static Shock	Adam Evans/Rubberband Man (voice)	Recurring Cast: Seasons 1–2 & 4 [4]
2005	One on One	Director	Episode: "Venice Boulevard of Broken Dreams"
2006	Just for Kicks	Charles Atwood	Recurring Cast
	My Name is Earl	Owner	Episode: "Born a Gamblin Man"
2006–07	House	Lawyer Howard Gemeiner	Recurring Cast: Season 3
2007	Girlfriends	Eldon Parks	Recurring Cast: Season 7
2007–09	Everybody Hates Chris	Judge Harry Watkins	Guest Cast: Seasons 3–4
2008	Under One Roof	Jamal	Episode: "Cell Out"
2009	Greek	Brian Howard	Episode: "Our Fathers"
	Cold Case	Andrew 'Huxtable' Garrett '09	Episode: "Read Between the Lines"
2010	Ghost Whisperer	Dean Olson	Episode: "Dead Air"
	The Boondocks	Himself/Bald Actor (voice)	Episode: "Pause"
2012	Parenthood	Richard Gilchrist	Episode: "Remember Me, I'm the One Who Loves You"
	Family Guy	NBA Player (voice)	Episode: "Ratings Guy"
2013	Cult	Paz	Recurring Cast
2015	Unsung Hollywood	Himself	Episode: "A Different World"
2015–18	K.C. Undercover	Craig Cooper	Main Cast
2016	Unsung Hollywood	Himself	Episode: "Jasmine Guy"
	Supernatural	Russell Lemmons	Episode: "Rock Never Dies"
2017	9JKL	Terrance	Episode: "The Key to Life"
	K.9. Undercover	Craig Cooper (voice)	Episode: "Infinite Loop"
2018	Love Is	Norman	Recurring Cast
2019	Black Monday	Spencer	Recurring Cast: Season 1
2020	Teenage Bounty Hunters	Bowser Jenkins	Main Cast
2021	Reunion Road Trip	Himself	Episode: "It's a Different World"
2022	The Lincoln Lawyer	Detective Kinder	Recurring Cast: Season 1
	Moonhaven	Arlo	Main Cast [5]
2022–24	Grown-ish	Carnegie P. Miller	Guest: Seasons 4–5, Recurring Cast: Season 6
2023–24	The Chi	Professor Gardner	Recurring Cast: Season 6
2024	That 90's Show	Marcus	Episode: "I Can See Clearly Now"
TBA	Criminal	Gnarley	[6]

Music videos

Year	Song	Artist
1991	"Monster in the Mirror"	Sesame Street
1995	"Just tah Let U Know"	Eazy-E
2001	"Careful (Click, Click)"	Wu-Tang Clan

Video games

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2013	Beyond: Two Souls	Cole Freeman	Voice acting and motion capture

Cultural influence

• Linda Rosenkrantz and Pamela Redmond Satran credit Hardison for making the name "Kadeem" familiar. ^[7]
• Hardison is the model for the title character Michael “The Cool” Young History in the inserts of the album The Cool by Lupe Fiasco.
• Hardison was the subject of then-wife Chanté Moore's 1999 single "Chanté's Got a Man".
• In a press conference following Game 4 of the 2012 NBA Finals, Dwyane Wade wore flip-up sunglasses and said he was, "paying a little homage to Dwayne Wayne tonight", referencing Hardison's popular character from A Different World. ^{[8] [9]}
• In Season 2, Episode 7 of Psych ("If You're So Smart, Then Why Are You Dead"), Gus references utilizing the "Kadeem Hardison method" to kiss a girl.
• Hardison appears as the narrator on Add-2's 2019 album, Jim Crow: The Musical. ^[10]

References

1. "Kadeem Hardison Biography (1965?-)". filmreference.com. Retrieved October 7, 2015.
2. Cadet, Danielle (September 21, 2017). "Whitley's World: A Brief History of Bad and Boujee Black Girl Style". Andscape . ESPN. Retrieved September 25, 2017.
3. "'A Different World': Where Are They Now?". EW.com. Retrieved May 29, 2021.
4. "Kadeem Hardison (visual voices guide)". Behind The Voice Actors. Retrieved October 19, 2023. A green check mark indicates that a role has been confirmed using a screenshot (or collage of screenshots) of a title's list of voice actors and their respective characters found in its credits or other reliable sources of information.
5. Rosario, Alexandra Del (July 20, 2021). "Moonhaven: Kadeem Hardison Joins Cast Of AMC Utopian Drama As Series Regular". Deadline. Retrieved January 6, 2025.
6. Cordero, Rosy (May 29, 2024). "Kadeem Hardison Joins Ed Brubaker's Prime Video Series Criminal as Series Regular". Deadline Hollywood . Penske Media Corporation. Archived from the original on May 29, 2024. Retrieved May 29, 2024.
7. Linda Rosenkrantz and Pamela Redmond Satran, Baby Names Now: From Classic to Cool—The Very Last Word on First Names (Macmillan, 2002), 353.
8. Dwyane Wade postgame interview, Game 4 of the NBA Finals.
9. Wade brings back flip shades at the podium!. YouTube. June 20, 2012. Archived from the original on December 13, 2021. Retrieved October 7, 2015.
10. Ivey, Justin (November 26, 2019). "Add-2 Releases 'Jim Crow: The Musical' Album". hiphopdx.com. Cheri Media. Retrieved February 1, 2020.

External links

• Kadeem Hardison at IMDb