Lamman Rucker (born October 6, 1971) is an American actor. Rucker began his career on the daytime soap operas ''

As the World Turns ''As the World Turns'' (often abbreviated as ''ATWT'') is an American television soap opera that aired on CBS for 54 years from April 2, 1956, to September 17, 2010. Irna Phillips created ''As the World Turns'' as a sister show to her other s ...

'' and '' All My Children'', before roles in ''

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 ...

'',

Tyler Perry Tyler Perry (born Emmitt Perry Jr., September 13, 1969) is an American actor, comedian, filmmaker, and playwright. He is the creator and performer of the Madea character, a tough elderly woman. Perry's films vary in style from orthodox filmma ...

's films '' Why Did I Get Married?'', ''

Why Did I Get Married Too? ''Why Did I Get Married Too?'' is a 2010 American comedy-drama film directed by Tyler Perry and starring Janet Jackson, Tyler Perry, Tasha Smith, Jill Scott, Louis Gossett Jr., Malik Yoba, Michael Jai White, Sharon Leal, Richard T. Jones, Lam ...

'', and '' Meet the Browns'', and its television adaptation. In 2016, he began starring as Jacob Greenleaf in the Oprah Winfrey Network drama series, '' Greenleaf''. Rucker is married to Kelly Davis Rucker, a graduate of Hampton University. , he stars in BET+ drama ''

The Black Hamptons ''The Black Hamptons'' is an American drama miniseries created by Carl Weber. It premiered on BET+ on August 25, 2022. Plot Cast and characters *Lamman Rucker as Anthony Johnson *Vanessa Bell Calloway as Carolyn Britton * Elise Neal as Sydney J ...

''.

Early life

Rucker was born in

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Western Pennsylvania, the second-most populous city in Pennsylva ...

, the son of Malaya (née Ray) and Eric Rucker. He has partial ancestry from

Barbados Barbados is an island country in the Lesser Antilles of the West Indies, in the Caribbean region of the Americas, and the most easterly of the Caribbean Islands. It occupies an area of and has a population of about 287,000 (2019 estimate) ...

. Rucker spent his formative years in the greater Washington, DC, Maryland area. He first had an interest in acting after he was placed in many child pageants. His first acting role was as Martin Luther King in the 4th grade. He was in the drama club in 7th grade and then attended high school at the

Duke Ellington School of the Arts The Duke Ellington School of the Arts (established 1974) is a high school located at 35th Street and R Street, Northwest, Washington, D.C., and dedicated to arts education. One of the high schools of the District of Columbia Public School syst ...

in Washington, D.C. Rucker studied at

Carnegie-Mellon University Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) is a private research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. One of its predecessors was established in 1900 by Andrew Carnegie as the Carnegie Technical Schools; it became the Carnegie Institute of Technology ...

and

Duquesne University Duquesne University of the Holy Spirit ( or ; Duquesne University or Duquesne) is a private Catholic research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Founded by members of the Congregation of the Holy Spirit , image = Holy Gh ...

. On August 29, 2019, he shared personal life experiences that he credits for his success with the Hampton University football team.

Career

His major role came in 2002 when he assumed the role of attorney T. Marshall Travers on the

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainm ...

daytime soap opera ''

'' opposite

Tamara Tunie Tamara Tunie (born March 14, 1959) is an American film, stage, and television actress, director, and producer. She is best known for her roles as attorney Jessica Griffin on the CBS soap opera ''As the World Turns'' (1987–1995, 2000–2007, 2009 ...

. He left the series the following year and portrayed Garret Williams on

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...

soap opera '' All My Children'' in 2005. He also had the recurring roles on the

UPN The United Paramount Network (UPN) was an American broadcast television network that launched on January 16, 1995. It was originally owned by Chris-Craft Industries' United Television. Viacom (through its Paramount Television unit, which pr ...

sitcoms ''

All of Us ''All of Us'' is an American sitcom television series that premiered on the UPN network in the United States on September 16, 2003, where it aired for its first three seasons. On October 1, 2006, the show moved to The CW, a new network formed ...

'' and ''

Half & Half ''Half & Half'' is an American television sitcom created by Jeffrey Klarik that aired on UPN from September 23, 2002, to May 15, 2006. The show focuses on the lives of two paternal half-sisters in their twenties who were estranged throughout t ...

''. Rucker is best known for his roles in the

's films. He co-starred in '' Why Did I Get Married?'' (2007) and ''

'' (2010). He played Will Brown in 2008 film '' Meet The Browns''. He later had a starring role on Perry's sitcom '' Meet the Browns'' reprising his role as Will from 2009 to 2011. The following year after ''Meet the Browns'', Rucker was cast in the male lead role opposite Anne Heche in the NBC comedy series '' Save Me'', but left after pilot episode. He later had roles in a number of small movies and TV movies. Rucker also had regular role opposite

Mena Suvari Mena Alexandra Suvari (; born February 13, 1979) is an American actress, producer, fashion designer and model. After beginning her career as a model and guest-starring on several television shows, she made her film debut in the 1997 drama '' Now ...

in the short-lived

WE tv We TV (stylized as WE tv) is an American pay television channel. Owned by AMC Networks since its September 1997 launch, it is oriented mainly towards lifestyle and entertainment programming. As of February 2015, approximately 85.2 million Amer ...

drama series, '' South of Hell''. In 2015, Rucker was cast as one of leads in the Oprah Winfrey Network drama series, '' Greenleaf''. He plays Jacob Greenleaf, the eldest son of

Lynn Whitfield Lynn Whitfield ('' née'' Smith; born February 15, 1953) is an American actress. She began her acting career in television and theatre before progressing to supporting roles in film. She won a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a ...

' and

Keith David Keith David Williams (born June 4, 1956) is an American actor. He is known for his signature deep voice and commanding screen presence in over 300 roles across film, stage, television, and interactive media. He has starred in such films as '' T ...

's characters.

Filmography

Film

Television

Award nominations

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Rucker, Lamman 1971 births Living people Male actors from Pennsylvania African-American male actors American people of Barbadian descent American male film actors American male soap opera actors American male television actors Carnegie Mellon University alumni Duquesne University alumni 21st-century American male actors