Mark Christopher Lawrence | |
---|---|
Born | Los Angeles, California, U.S. | May 22, 1964
Occupation(s) | Actor, stand-up comedian, voice-over artist |
Years active | 1987–present |
Website | markchristopherlawrence |
Mark Christopher Lawrence (born May 22, 1964 [1] ) is an American character actor, stand-up comedian and voice-over artist. He is known for his role as esoteric D.J. Tone Def in the 1994 satirical rap mockumentary Fear of a Black Hat . He has appeared in popular films such as Child's Play 3 (1991), Crimson Tide (1995), Sprung (1997), Garfield: The Movie (2004) and The Island (2005).
Lawrence is best known for his role as Big Mike on the series Chuck . He has made guest appearances on many television programs, most notably Heroes , My Name Is Earl , Crossing Jordan , Dharma & Greg , Malcolm in the Middle , Touched by an Angel , Malcolm & Eddie , Men Behaving Badly , Seinfeld , Murphy Brown , Good Luck Charlie and Martin. He is also featured on the radio series Adventures in Odyssey as "Ed Washington". [2]
Lawrence grew up in Compton, California. He and his two siblings were raised by a single mother. In tenth grade, he became involved with his high school's debate team—immersing himself in forensics competitions and theater. After winning his school district's Literary Olympiad competition, Lawrence went on to compete at the state and national levels as a member of the Cerritos Community College forensics squad. There he went on to capture the collegiate Bovero-Tabor Award, awarded to the top community college speaker in the country. Lawrence gained the attention of the University of Southern California’s debate team coaches, and was awarded a full scholarship to attend the university. While at USC, he traveled the nation competing in tournaments. Meanwhile, he was gaining valuable experience in his craft by moonlighting at the Los Angeles Theater Center. There, a Hollywood talent agent noticed his skill and landed Lawrence his first job in television, a role on Hill Street Blues .
After graduation from USC, he worked with the San Francisco Mime Troupe while also performing standup comedy throughout the United States, Australia, and Canada, opening for major acts, such as Jerry Seinfeld and Rodney Dangerfield. Lawrence's work in live theater led to a Dramalogue Award for his performance in Reza Abdoh’s, Minimanta. He won an NAACP award for his work in Ken Davis' The Glass House in 1990. It was this role which attracted the attention of director, James Cameron, who then cast him as the "burly insane asylum attendant" in Terminator 2: Judgment Day .
Year | Title | Role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
1988 | Caddyshack II | Construction Worker #4 | |
1989 | Listen to Me | Attila | |
1991 | Terminator 2: Judgment Day | Burly Attendant | |
Child's Play 3 | Cop | ||
1993 | Fear of a Black Hat | Tone Def | |
12:01 | Jack Spays | TV movie | |
1995 | Crimson Tide | Rono, Chief Culinary Specialist | |
Tales from the Hood | Prison Guard | ||
1997 | That Darn Cat | Rollo | |
Sprung | Brotha #3 | ||
The Rockford Files: Shoot-Out at the Golden Pagoda | Pagoda DJ | TV movie | |
1998 | Senseless | Wig Shop Owner | |
Caught in the Spray | Lil' Ass Gee | Short | |
1999 | Molly | Angels' Manager | |
Shake, Rattle and Roll: An American Love Story | Fats Domino | TV movie | |
2000 | Retiring Tatiana | E.J. | |
2001 | Go with the Fro | - | Short |
Planet of the Apes | Friend at Leo's Party | ||
Two Can Play That Game | Lying Man #4 | ||
K-PAX | Simms | ||
2003 | Lost Treasure | Danny G. | |
2004 | Garfield: The Movie | Christopher Mello | |
Tiger Cruise | Pop | TV movie | |
Christmas with the Kranks | Wes Trogden | ||
2005 | Fair Game | Wesley | |
The Island | Construction Worker | ||
Life Is Ruff | Calvin's Dad | TV movie | |
Ordinary Miracles | Duty Sergeant | TV movie | |
2006 | The Pursuit of Happyness | Wayne | |
2008 | Shout! | - | |
The Club | Donovan | Short | |
2009 | Halloween II | Deputy Fred King | |
2010 | Speed-Dating | Dr. Petesmith | |
Sudden Death! | Jim | Short | |
Uncle Matin's Sword Trick | Azeem | Short | |
Silverlake Video: The Movie | Landlord | ||
2011 | Sock Babies | Dad | Short |
2014 | Cooties | Mr. Pederson | |
Blood Lake: Attack of the Killer Lampreys | Ted | TV movie | |
2015 | Cocked | Burt | TV movie |
Always Watching: A Marble Hornets Story | Gary Rockwell | ||
When I Wake Up | Ronnie Williams | Short | |
2016 | The Death of Rasputin | Detective Reynolds | Short |
Moving On | Det. Weston Dempsey | Short | |
2017 | Stage Fright | - | TV movie |
Conflict of Interest | Rich | ||
Circus Kane | Billy | ||
2018 | West of Hell | Abram | |
Mr. Malevolent | Borris | ||
2019 | Maybe I'm Fine | Detective Greene | |
The Flourish | Dennis | Short | |
One Fine Christmas | Al | TV movie | |
2nd Chance for Christmas | Spoken Word Poet | ||
2020 | Skin: The Movie | Marvin | |
$TACK$ | Hector | Short [3] | |
Sleeper Agent | Mike | ||
Leave 'em Laughing | Soup Guy Fan | Short | |
2021 | Nothing Is Impossible | Pastor Lawrence | |
Romeo and Juliet: A Covid Trajedy | Father Lawrence | Short | |
2022 | Family Camp | Pastor Dave | [4] [5] |
Year | Title | Role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
1987 | Ohara | Carl | Episode: "The Sparrow" |
1991 | Roc | Husband | Episode: "A Home, a Loan" |
1992 | Designing Women | Black Gentleman | Episode: "Driving My Mama Back Home" |
Evening Shade | Mr. Powell | Episode: "Hasta la Vista" | |
Seinfeld | Skycap | Episode: "The Airport" | |
1993 | In Living Color | - | Episode: "The Info Group" |
Martin | Security Guard | Episode: "Hollywood Swinging: Part 2" | |
1994 | Murphy Brown | Trekker | Episode: "Where Have You Gone, Joe DiMaggio?" |
Seinfeld | Boss | Episode: "The Race" | |
1995 | The George Wendt Show | Fletcher Williams | Main Cast |
1996 | The Show | Chris | Recurring cast |
3rd Rock from the Sun | Bartender | Episode: "Gobble, Gobble, Dick, Dick" | |
1997 | Coach | Big Dave | Episode: "A Boy and His Doll" |
High Incident | - | Episode: "Excessive Force" | |
Sister, Sister | Mr. Kirkpatrick | Episode: "Child's Play" | |
Men Behaving Badly | Russell | Recurring cast: season 2 | |
1998 | Kelly Kelly | Hank | Episode: "Episode One" |
Malcolm & Eddie | Squires | Episode: "A Few So-So Men" | |
2000 | Touched by an Angel | Hank | Episode: "A Perfect Game" |
Malcolm in the Middle | Sheriff #1 | Episode: "Traffic Jam" | |
2001 | Yes, Dear | Tony | Episode: "The Daddies Group" |
Dharma & Greg | Arnold | Episode: "Do the Hustle" | |
Emeril | Matt | Episode: "Blind Dates" | |
2003 | The Mullets | Bill | Recurring cast |
2004 | American Dreams | Melvin Bishop | Episode: "Real-to-Reel" |
Crossing Jordan | Rob Morton | Episode: "Second Chances" | |
Grounded for Life | Duane | Episode: "Pressure Drop" | |
Reba | Bar Bouncer | Episode: "Girls' Night Out" | |
Center of the Universe | Moe | Episode: "Independence Day" | |
2005 | Hot Properties | John | Episode: "Waiting for Oprah" |
2006 | My Name Is Earl | Jack Knox | Episode: "Stole P's HD Cart" |
Weeds | Mike | Episode: "Cooking with Jesus" | |
2007 | Heroes | Mr. Lamont | Episode: "Chapter Four 'The Kindness of Strangers'" |
2007-12 | Chuck | Michael "Big Mike" Tucker | Recurring cast: season 1, main cast: seasons 2–5 [6] |
2008 | Chuck Versus the Webisodes | Big Mike | Recurring cast |
Buy More | Big Mike | Recurring cast | |
2010 | Buy Hard - The Jeff and Lester Story | Big Mike | Main Cast |
2011 | Retired at 35 | Carl | Episode: "The Tell-Tale Cart" |
2012 | Glee | Rob Adams | Episode: "Glease" |
2013 | Lab Rats | Announcer | Episode: "Robot Fight Club" |
Good Luck Charlie | Bernie | Episode: "Duncan Dream House" | |
2014 | Franklin & Bash | Henry Shae's Boss | Episode: "Honor Thy Mother" |
2014-15 | Kirby Buckets | Coach Batchelder | Episode: "Killer Puppies" & "Atta Boy" |
2015 | Murder? [7] | Jason | Episode: "Part 1 & 4" |
2015-16 | Chain Comedy Hour | Cast Member | Main Cast |
2016 | Inside the Extras Studio | Will Johnson | Episode: "Famous Director" |
The Encounter | Sheldon | Episode: "Her Final Role" | |
Pitch | Russell | Episode: "Unstoppable Forces & Immovable Objects" | |
2017 | Malibu Dan the Family Man | Marty Dankles | Recurring cast |
2019 | The Detour | Officer Bradshawl | Episode: "The Return" |
Chartered | Mr. Jay Heard | Episode: "Pilot" | |
Black Jesus | Det. Samuels | Episode: "The Compton Crusader" | |
2020 | The Dream | Tom | Episode: "Pilot" |
Two Degrees | Mark | Episode: "Dr. Abigail & Me" | |
2021 | All the Queen's Men [8] | Gene Marks | Recurring cast: season 1 |
2022 | Sprung | Hank | Episode: "Chapter Seven" |
Jay Scott Greenspan, known professionally as Jason Alexander, is an American actor and comedian. Over the course of his career he has received an Emmy Award and a Tony Award as well as nominations for four Golden Globe Awards. He gained stardom for his role as George Costanza in the NBC sitcom Seinfeld (1989–1998), for which he won a Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Comedy Series and was nominated for seven consecutive Primetime Emmy Awards for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series and four Golden Globe Awards for Best Supporting Actor in Television.
Tyler Christopher Baker was an American actor. He was best known for his roles as Nikolas Cassadine and Connor Bishop (2004–2005) on the ABC soap opera General Hospital.
The Bishop's School is an independent college preparatory Episcopal day school in La Jolla, a community in San Diego, California. Bishop's is known for its reputation in academics, arts, and athletics, as well as its sizable endowment. The school offers courses for students in the sixth through twelfth grades and has an 8:1 student-teacher ratio.
La Jolla Playhouse is a not-for-profit, professional theatre on the campus of the University of California, San Diego.
Great Lakes Theater, originally known as the Great Lakes Shakespeare Festival, is a professional classic theater company in Cleveland, Ohio, United States. Founded in 1962, Great Lakes specializes in large-cast classic plays, often performing the works of Shakespeare. The company performs its main stage productions in rotating repertory at the Hanna Theatre in Playhouse Square, which reopened in 2008. The organization shares a resident company of artists with the Idaho Shakespeare Festival. On its main stage and through its education programs, GLT reaches approximately 85,000 adults and students each season.
Harry Groener is a German-born American actor and dancer, perhaps best known for playing Mayor Wilkins in Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
Daniel von Bargen was an American character actor of film, stage and television. He was known for his roles as Mr. Kruger on Seinfeld, Commandant Edwin Spangler on Malcolm in the Middle, and Chief Grady in Super Troopers.
John Michael Higgins is an American actor, game show host, and comedian whose film credits include Christopher Guest's mockumentaries, the role of David Letterman in HBO's The Late Shift, and a starring role in the American version of Kath & Kim. He portrayed Peter Lovett in the TV Land original sitcom Happily Divorced and provided the voice of Iknik Blackstone Varrick in The Legend of Korra and Mini-Max in Big Hero 6: The Series. He also starred in the NBC sitcom Great News as Chuck Pierce for two seasons. Since 2018, he has hosted the game show America Says, which earned him a 2019 Daytime Emmy Award nomination for Outstanding Game Show Host. Higgins attended Amherst College, graduating in 1985 and was a member of the a cappella group the Zumbyes. Starting on April 17, 2023, he has also hosted the new version of the game show Split Second on Game Show Network.
Jeffrey P. DeMunn is an American stage, film, and television actor known for playing Captain Esteridge in The Hitcher (1986), Sheriff Herb Geller in The Blob (1988), Andrei Chikatilo in Citizen X (1995), Harry Terwilliger in The Green Mile (1999), Ernie Cole in The Majestic (2001), Dan Miller in The Mist (2007), Dale Horvath in The Walking Dead (2010–2012), and Charles Rhoades Sr. in Billions (2016–2023).
Neil Richard Flynn is an American actor and comedian. He is best known for his roles as Janitor on Scrubs and Clone High, and Mike Heck in the ABC comedy series The Middle. He has had notable appearances in television series, such as That '70s Show, CSI, and Smallville, and the television films It's a Very Merry Muppet Christmas Movie and Wake Up, Ron Burgundy: The Lost Movie.
Jonathan Cake is an English actor who has worked on various TV programmes and films. His notable screen roles include Jack Favell in Rebecca (1997), Oswald Mosley in Mosley (1997), Japheth in the NBC television film Noah's Ark (1999), Tyrannus in the ABC miniseries Empire (2005) and Det. Chuck Vance on the ABC drama series Desperate Housewives (2011–2012).
James Patrick Stuart is an American actor, currently portraying Valentin Cassadine on the daytime soap opera General Hospital, for which he received three consecutive Daytime Emmy Award nominations for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series in 2020, 2021 and 2022.
Joseph Peter Spano is an American actor known best for his roles as Lt. Henry Goldblume on Hill Street Blues and FBI Special Agent Tobias C. Fornell on NCIS. He also voiced the Chuck E. Cheese character, Pasqually the Chef, from 1977 to 1983.
Lawrence Alan Hankin is an American character actor. He has had major film roles as Charley Butts in Escape from Alcatraz (1979), Ace in Running Scared (1986), and Carl Alphonse in Billy Madison (1995). He had smaller roles as Doobby in Planes, Trains and Automobiles, Sergeant Larry Balzak in Home Alone, Mr. Heckles in Friends, and Joe in Breaking Bad and El Camino.
John Patrick Page is an American actor, low bass singer, and playwright. He originated the roles of the Grinch in Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas! The Musical (2006), Norman Osborn/Green Goblin in Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark (2011), and Hades in Hadestown (2019–2022), the last of which earned him a nomination for the Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Musical.
Sterling Kelby Brown is an American actor. Known for his leading roles on stage and screen, he has received numerous accolades including three Primetime Emmy Awards and a Golden Globe Award as well as a nomination for an Academy Award. He was included in Time magazine's list of the 100 most influential people in the world in 2018.
Igor Gruppman is a Ukrainian violinist and conductor. He is the Principal Conductor of the Orchestra at Temple Square in Salt Lake City, Utah, a position he has held since 2003. In May 2009, Igor Gruppman was appointed by Valery Gergiev to the position of music director of the newly formed Mariinsky Stradivary Orchestra. He currently also is Concertmaster of the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra.
Natick High School is an urban/suburban public high school serving students in grades 9 to 12 in Natick, Massachusetts, United States. The school is located on the banks of Dug Pond. Its enrollment was 1,603 students during the 2015–2016 school year. The original building was built in 1953 at approximately 189,000 sq ft (17,600 m2). and opened in 1954. The building was expanded in 1965. Additional renovations took place in 1985. In 2010, the town voted to replace the Natick High School building. The new facility was constructed on the fields immediately to the south of the former building. Demolition on the former building began on June 25, 2012. The new building design is based on a model approved by the state of Massachusetts. This was necessary in order to maximize state reimbursement for design and construction; it cost $78 million. The new high school opened to students on August 29, 2012.
Charlie Seunghee Lee, known professionally as C.S. Lee, is an American actor and comedian. He is best known for playing forensics analyst Vince Masuka on the Showtime drama series Dexter.
California Shakespeare Theater is a regional theater located in the San Francisco Bay Area of California. Its performance space, the Lt. G. H. Bruns III Memorial Amphitheater, is located in Orinda, while the administrative offices, rehearsal hall, costume and prop shop are located in Berkeley.