Jeff Langton (born December 11, 1956) is an American actor and martial arts performer and practitioner. He is also a professional boxing trainer, cornerman, and cutman.

Early life

Jeff was born in

Pasadena, California Pasadena ( ) is a city in Los Angeles County, California, northeast of downtown Los Angeles. It is the most populous city and the primary cultural center of the San Gabriel Valley. Old Pasadena is the city's original commercial district. I ...

and raised between

San Jose, California San Jose, officially San José (; ; ), is a major city in the U.S. state of California that is the cultural, financial, and political center of Silicon Valley and largest city in Northern California by both population and area. With a 2020 popul ...

and

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

. His father was a member of the Marine Corps Boxing Team and later trained young Langton in the "sweet science." When Langton was 13, he joined the Police Athletic League and trained as an amateur boxer with Gus Spencer. He also trained at Garden City Boxing Club and Bath Beach Health Club in Brooklyn New York. As a young man he also trained in martial arts as well as boxing. He trained in

Tae Kwon Do ''Taekwondo'', ''Tae Kwon Do'' or ''Taekwon-Do'' (; ko, 태권도/跆拳道 ) is a Korean martial arts, Korean form of martial arts involving punching and kicking techniques, with emphasis on head-height kicks, spinning jump kicks, and fast k ...

with Dan Kyu Choi. He became the captain of Choi's Institute of Tae Kwon Do Championship Team and then went on to be California State Tae Kwon Do Champion. He also received a black belt in Tae Kwon Do from Master Byung Yu. He was also the first and original member of the world-famous Ernie Reyes West Coast Demo Team and introduced gymnastics and acrobatics to martial arts demonstration. This legacy continues on, as the format Langton introduced is still used today by West Coast Demo Team in shows all around the world. After making his way through the competitive world of martial arts, he moved on to film and television. He moved to

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

to pursue acting. In L.A. he training extensively with six-time World Champion Kickboxer

Benny Urquidez Benny Urquidez (born June 20, 1952) is an American kickboxer, martial arts choreographer and actor. Nicknamed "The Jet", Urquidez was a non-contact karate competitor who later pioneered full-contact fighting in the United States. He made the t ...

. He was also a trainer at Benny's school, The Jet Center. During this time he also did live action stunts for Universal Studios.

Career

He began doing stunts for

Sylvester Stallone Sylvester Enzio Stallone (; born Michael Sylvester Gardenzio Stallone, ) is an American actor and filmmaker. After his beginnings as a struggling actor for a number of years upon arriving to New York City in 1969 and later Hollywood in 1974, h ...

and then acting in movies such as '' Lionheart'', fighting on screen with stars like

Jean-Claude Van Damme Jean-Claude Camille François Van Varenberg (, ; born 18 October 1960), known professionally as Jean-Claude Van Damme (, ), is a Belgian actor, martial artist, filmmaker, and fight choreographer. Born and raised in Brussels, Belgium, at the a ...

. After this he starred in films such as ''Final Impact'' and ''Maximum Force'', and continued to work on films and television shows like ''Price of Glory'', ''Matlock'', ''Buffy the Vampire Slayer'', and ''Las Vegas''. His background in boxing came in handy as he was asked to train and coach

Tommy Morrison Tommy "The Duke" Morrison (January 2, 1969 – September 1, 2013) was an American professional boxer who competed from 1988 to 2008, and held the WBO heavyweight title in 1993. He retired from boxing in 1996 when he tested positive for HIV. Mor ...

in ''

Rocky V ''Rocky V'' is a 1990 American sports drama film directed by John G. Avildsen (the first time since the first film of the franchise), written by and starring Sylvester Stallone. It is the sequel to ''Rocky IV'' (1985) and is the fifth install ...

''. Langton also appears in the movie itself as one of the fighters Tommy Gunn knocks out. In fact, his name appears in the marquee in a montage depicting Tommy Gunn rising through the ranks. Although in the video game, ''

Rocky Legends ''Rocky Legends'' is a fighting video game, it is the sequel to the 2002 video game ''Rocky''. It was released in 2004, by Venom Games. The game is based on the ''Rocky'' franchise. The events of the game take place before the films and in betw ...

'' his character looks nothing like him and his name is changed to Kofi Langton. His most recent role is in the movie ''Mind Polish: Master Hubbard's Special Reserve'', where he plays a scientology spiritual counselor who suffers from tourette's syndrome.

Filmography

* 1986 '' Cobra'' (Stunts) * 1988 ''

Rambo III ''Rambo III'' is a 1988 American action film directed by Peter MacDonald and co-written by Sylvester Stallone, who also reprises his role as Vietnam War veteran John Rambo. A sequel to '' Rambo: First Blood Part II'' (1985), it is the third in ...

'' (Stunts) * 1989 '' Road House'' (Stunts) * 1989 ''

Tango & Cash ''Tango & Cash'' is a 1989 American buddy cop action comedy film starring Sylvester Stallone, Kurt Russell, Jack Palance and Teri Hatcher. Stallone and Russell star as Raymond Tango and Gabriel Cash respectively, two rival LAPD narcotics detective ...

'' (Stunts) * 1990 '' Lionheart'' as Cynthia's Fighter * 1990 ''

Die Hard 2 ''Die Hard 2'' (also known by its tagline ''Die Harder'')The film's onscreen title is ''Die Hard 2'', as also given at the initial home-video release'official website The film's original advertising used "Die Harder" as a tagline, and many rele ...

'' as Blue Light Team #2 * 1990 '' Matlock'' (1 episode"The Narc) as Narc #2 * 1990 ''

'' as Boxer * 1990 ''Lethal Games'' as Huey * 1991 ''Future Kick'' as Andrews * 1991 ''College Kickboxers'' as Gary Carlisle (uncredited) * 1992 '' Final Impact'' as Jake Gerrard * 1992 ''

Batman Returns ''Batman Returns'' is a 1992 American superhero film directed by Tim Burton and written by Daniel Waters. Based on the DC Comics character Batman, it is the sequel to '' Batman'' (1989) and the second installment in the 1989–1997 ''Batm ...

'' as Clown (uncredited) * 1992 ''Maximum Force'' as Ivan * 1994 ''

Street Fighter , commonly abbreviated as ''SF'' or スト (''Suto''), is a Japanese media franchise centered on a series of fighting video and arcade games developed and published by Capcom. The first game in the series was released in 1987, followed by six ...

'' (Stunts) * 1997 ''Hollywood Safari'' as Neal * 1997 ''

Buffy the Vampire Slayer ''Buffy the Vampire Slayer'' is an American supernatural fiction, supernatural drama television series created by writer and director Joss Whedon. It is based on the Buffy the Vampire Slayer (film), 1992 film of the same name, also written by W ...

'' (1 episode, "

Ted TED may refer to: Economics and finance * TED spread between U.S. Treasuries and Eurodollar Education * ''Türk Eğitim Derneği'', the Turkish Education Association ** TED Ankara College Foundation Schools, Turkey ** Transvaal Education Depa ...

") aa Vampire * 1998 ''

Almost Heroes ''Almost Heroes'' is a 1998 American adventure comedy Western film directed by Christopher Guest, narrated by Guest's friend and frequent collaborator Harry Shearer, and starring Chris Farley and Matthew Perry. It was Farley's last leading film ...

'' (Stunts) * 1998 ''Jane Austen's Mafia!'' as Bodyguard (uncredited) * 2000 ''

Price of Glory ''Price of Glory'' is a 2000 American sports drama film written by Phil Berger, directed by Carlos Avila and starring Jimmy Smits. The movie was nominated for several ALMA Awards in 2001. The film was shot in Huntington Park, California, Los Angel ...

'' as Referee * 2000 ''Intrepid'' (Stunts) * 2002 ''

Deuces Wild ''Deuces Wild'' is a 2002 American crime drama film directed by Scott Kalvert and written by Paul Kimatian and Christopher Gambale, who also created the story. The film stars Stephen Dorff, Brad Renfro, James Franco, Matt Dillon, and Fairuza Bal ...

'' as Gangster (uncredited) * 2003 ''Las Vegas'' ( 1 episode, "Blood and Sand") as Boxing Referee * 2004 ''El Padrino'' as Secret Service Agent (uncredited) * 2006 ''Mini's First Time'' as The Auditor * 2008 ''Mind Polish: Master Hubbard's Special Reserve'' as Frankie Carbo, Mobster #2 * 2010 ''Taken by Force'' as Cop * 2011 ''Brando Unauthorized'' as Al Silvani

Boxing

Jeff has worked the corner in over 40 world championship title bouts including

Ricardo Mayorga Ricardo Antonio Mayorga Perez (born October 3, 1973) is a Nicaraguan boxing, professional boxer and former mixed martial arts, mixed martial artist. In boxing he is a former two-weight world champion, having held the unified WBA (Unified), World ...

(WBC, IBF),

Freddie Pendleton Freddie Pendleton (born January 5, 1963) is an American former professional boxer who competed from 1981 to 2001. Pendleton won his first title in October 1985 knocking out Darryl Martin (9-2) in the 6th round earning him the Pennsylvania State l ...

(IBF, WBA),

Tony Tucker Tony Craig Tucker (born December 27, 1958) is an American former professional boxer who competed from 1980 to 1998. He won the IBF heavyweight title in 1987, and was the shortest-reigning world heavyweight champion at just 64 days. In an inter ...

(NABF, WBC, WBA, WBO),

Byron Mitchell Byron Deangelo-Tarone Mitchell (born October 31, 1973) is an American former professional boxer who fought from 1996 to 2012. He was the Lineal and two-time WBA super middleweight champion, winning the titles in 1999 and 2001. Amateur career ...

(IBF, WBA),

Uriah Grant Uriah or Uriyah () is a Hebrew given name. It may refer to: People In the Bible *Uriah the Hittite, a soldier in King David's army in the Books of Samuel *Uriah, a priest under Ahaz in the Books of Kings * Uriah (prophet), a prophet murdered by ...

(IBF), Kingsley Ikeke (NABA, WBC), William Abelyan (NABO), and

Will Grigsby William Henry Grigsby (born March 19, 1970) is an American former professional boxer who competed from 1988 to 2007 and held the IBF junior flyweight title twice between 1998 and 2006. He also won the WBO junior flyweight title in 2000, but was ...

(IBF). Jeff Langton has trained world champions of his own such as Terry Davis (NBA, IBA Champ) and Young Dick Tiger (Nigerian Commonwealth Champ). Langton has also trained Hector Pena (6 time world kickboxing champion) and Danny "Hard As" Steel (6 time world kickboxing champion). He learned how to be a cutman from his uncle Al Bonanni who has trained many world champions for

Don King Donald King (born August 20, 1931) is an American boxing Promoter (entertainment), promoter, known for his involvement in several historic boxing matchups. He has been a controversial figure, partly due to a manslaughter conviction and civil cas ...

. He is a licensed trainer by the State of California and by the

Nevada State Athletic Commission The Nevada State Athletic Commission (also known as the Nevada Athletic Commission or NSAC) regulates all contests and exhibitions of unarmed combat within the state of Nevada, including licensure and supervision of promoters, boxers, kickboxers, ...

. He also owns a private gym for professional boxers and celebrities.

Martial Arts

Jeff Langton is a practitioner of several martial art disciplines. *

Kajukenbo Kajukenbo (Japanese: カジュケンボ) is a hybrid martial art from Hawaii. It was developed in the late 1940s and founded in 1947 in the Palama Settlement of Palama, Hawaii. The name Kajukenbo is a combination of the various arts from which ...

Shotokan is a style of karate, developed from various martial arts by Gichin Funakoshi (1868–1957) and his son Gigo (Yoshitaka) Funakoshi (1906–1945). Gichin Funakoshi was born in Okinawa and is widely credited with popularizing "karate do" throu ...

KickBoxing Kickboxing is a combat sports, combat sport focused on kicking and punch (strike), punching. The combat takes place in a boxing ring, normally with boxing gloves, mouthguards, shorts, and bare feet to favour the use of kicks. Kickboxing is pract ...

Shaolin Kung Fu Shaolin Kung Fu (), also called Shaolin Wushu (), or Shaolin quan (), is one of the oldest, largest, and most famous styles of wushu, or kung fu of Chan Buddhism. It combines Ch'an philosophy and martial arts and originated and was developed i ...

Hung Gar Hung Ga (), Hung Kuen (), or Hung Ga Kuen () is a southern Chinese martial art belonging to the southern Shaolin styles. The hallmarks of Hung Ga are strong stances, notably the horse stance, or "si ping ma" (), and strong hand techniques, not ...

Escrima Arnis, also known as Kali or Eskrima/Escrima, is the national martial art of the Philippines. The three are roughly interchangeable umbrella terms for the traditional martial arts of the Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Langton, Jeff 1956 births American male film actors American boxing trainers American martial artists Living people Male actors from California Male actors from Brooklyn