Eddie Steeples (born November 25, 1973) is an American

actor An actor or actress is a person who portrays a character in a performance. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. The analogous Greek term is (), li ...

known for his roles as the "Rubberband Man" in an

advertising campaign An advertising campaign is a series of advertisement messages that share a single idea and theme which make up an integrated marketing communication (IMC). An IMC is a platform in which a group of people can group their ideas, beliefs, and conc ...

for

OfficeMax OfficeMax is an American office supplies retailer founded in 1988. It is now a subsidiary of The ODP Corporation, which is headquartered in Boca Raton, Florida. As of December 2012, OfficeMax operated 941 stores in 47 states, Puerto Rico, the U.S ...

, Cal in ''

Would You Rather "Would you rather" is a conversation or party game that poses a dilemma in the form of a question beginning with "would you rather". The dilemma can be between two supposedly good options such as "Would you rather have the power of flight or the ...

'', and as

Darnell Turner The NBC sitcom television series ''My Name Is Earl'' created by Greg Garcia features a variety of characters, most of whom live in the fictional town of Camden and Camden County. The show centers on Earl Hickey, a small-time crook who after an e ...

on the

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an Television in the United States, American English-language Commercial broadcasting, commercial television network, broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Enterta ...

sitcom A sitcom, a portmanteau of situation comedy, or situational comedy, is a genre of comedy centered on a fixed set of characters who mostly carry over from episode to episode. Sitcoms can be contrasted with sketch comedy, where a troupe may use ne ...

My Name Is Earl ''My Name Is Earl'' is an American television sitcom created by Greg Garcia that aired on the NBC television network from September 20, 2005, to May 14, 2009, in the United States. It was produced by 20th Century Fox Television and starred Jaso ...

''.

Life and career

Steeples was born and raised in

Spring, Texas Spring is a census-designated place (CDP) within the extraterritorial jurisdiction of Houston in Harris County, Texas, United States, part of the metropolitan area. The population was 62,559 at the 2020 census. While the name "Spring" is popul ...

, the oldest of eight children. He was dubbed the "Distinguished Dog" in grade school by his friends and family due his dignified and doglike appearance. After graduating from

Klein Oak High School Klein Oak High School is a public high school serving students grades 9– 12 in unincorporated Harris County, Texas. The school's principal is Thomas Hensley. It was established August 1982. Klein Oak was the third high school established in ...

in 1992, he moved to

Santa Cruz, California Santa Cruz (Spanish for "Holy Cross") is the county seat and largest city of Santa Cruz County, in Northern California. As of the 2020 census, the city population was 62,956. Situated on the northern edge of Monterey Bay, Santa Cruz is a pop ...

, where he took acting classes at

Cabrillo College Cabrillo College is a public community college in Aptos, California. It is named after the conquistador Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo and opened in 1959. Cabrillo College has an enrollment of about 12,000 students per term. Facilities Classes are of ...

. He later studied with the St. Louis Black Repertory Theatre and briefly at

Howard University Howard University (Howard) is a private, federally chartered historically black research university in Washington, D.C. It is classified among "R2: Doctoral Universities – High research activity" and accredited by the Middle States Commissi ...

, eventually settling in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

. There Steeples joined the experimental film group Mo-Freek, and a hip hop group, No Surrender. Among the Mo-Freek productions he has starred in are ''Lost in the Bush'', ''Caravan Summer'', and ''People Are Dead''. He also starred in the short film ''Whoa'' and appeared as a guest on ''

The Chris Rock Show ''The Chris Rock Show'' was a weekly, Friday night, late-night talk show featured on HBO. It was created by comedian and namesake Chris Rock and featured various guests. The show won an Emmy for Outstanding Writing for a Variety or Music Progr ...

''. Steeples became nationally known when he was cast as the "Rubberband Man" in a series of commercials for

. He has also appeared in feature films. Steeples played the role of

on the NBC comedy series ''My Name Is Earl'', which premiered on September 20, 2005 and ran for four seasons. Steeples on the show was known as Darnell Turner (witness protection name) aka Harry Monroe (real name) a.k.a. "Crab Man".

Filmography

Television

References

External links

*
Eddie Steeples' talks about his tattoos at Inked Magazine
{{DEFAULTSORT:Steeples, Eddie 1973 births Male actors from Houston African-American male actors American male film actors American male television actors Living people Male actors from St. Louis People from Spring, Texas 21st-century African-American people 20th-century African-American people