Chaz Lamar Shepherd is an American actor and singer-songwriter. Best known as Artis Tower in '' Me and the Boys'' (1994-1995), John Hamilton on '' 7th Heaven'' (1996-2001), and Piranha in ''

Luke Cage Lucas "Luke" Cage, born Carl Lucas and also known as Power Man, is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. He first appeared in ''Luke Cage, Hero for Hire'' #1 (June 1972) and was created by Archie Go ...

'' (2018).

Early life

Shepherd grew up in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, where he was active in Tindley Temple United Methodist Church and graduated from Evelyn Graves Christian Academy. His mother, Cheryl Shepherd, is a dancer and choreographer who left her work in Philadelphia's public schools to manage his career. He first appeared on stage when he was 5 years old as an MC at a recital for his mother's dance school.

Career

Shepherd's professional debut came in a production of '' Fame'' staged by the

Walnut Street Theatre The Walnut Street Theatre, founded in 1809 at 825 Walnut Street, on the corner of S. 9th Street in the Washington Square West neighborhood of Philadelphia, is the oldest operating theatre in the United States. The venue is operated by the Walnu ...

. On television, he portrayed Al Bryant in the NBC miniseries ''

The Temptations The Temptations are an American vocal group from Detroit, Michigan, who released a series of successful singles and albums with Motown Records during the 1960s and 1970s. The group's work with producer Norman Whitfield, beginning with the Top ...

'' (1998).he also played on the Parkers. He also played Artis Tower, son of Steve Tower (

Steve Harvey Broderick Stephen Harvey Sr. Also aired August 16, 2015. (born January 17, 1957) is an American television host, producer, actor, and comedian. He hosts '' The Steve Harvey Morning Show'', '' Family Feud'', ''Celebrity Family Feud,'' the Miss ...

) on '' Me and the Boys'' and appeared on ''In the House'', ''Moesha'', and ''Sister, Sister''. He played John Hamilton on '' 7th Heaven'', had a recurring role as Trey Wiggs on '' The Game'', and portrayed Raymond "Piranha" Jones in the second season of

''. Shepherd appeared on film in '' Set It Off'' in the role of Stevie, On Broadway, he portrayed Billy Flynn in ''Chicago'' (2018) and Harpo in ''

The Color Purple ''The Color Purple'' is a 1982 epistolary novel by American author Alice Walker which won the 1983 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction and the National Book Award for Fiction.

'' (2005). His other work on stage includes appearing as Curtis Taylor, Jr. in a 2009–10 national tour of the musical ''

Dreamgirls ''Dreamgirls'' is a Broadway musical, with music by Henry Krieger and lyrics and book by Tom Eyen. Based on the show business aspirations and successes of R&B acts such as The Supremes, The Shirelles, James Brown, Jackie Wilson, and others,G ...

''.

Filmography

Discography

Albums

''Love & Truth'' *Released: October 26, 2010 *Label: Chaz Records/Introspect Music *Formats: CD, Digital Download

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Shepherd, Chaz Lamar Living people Male actors from Philadelphia African-American male actors African-American male singer-songwriters American male child actors American male film actors American male stage actors American male television actors Singer-songwriters from Pennsylvania 20th-century African-American male singers 21st-century African-American male singers Year of birth missing (living people)