Lateef Crowder dos Santos (born November 23, 1977) is a Brazilian-American actor,

martial artist Martial arts are codified systems and traditions of combat practiced for a number of reasons such as self-defense; military and law enforcement applications; competition; physical, mental, and spiritual development; entertainment; and the preserv ...

, and

stuntman A stunt performer, often called a stuntman or stuntwoman and occasionally stuntperson or stunt-person, is a trained professional who performs daring acts, often as a career. Stunt performers usually appear in films or on television, as opposed ...

. As a member of the ZeroGravity stunt team since 2000, he has been featured in multiple internet short videos and demo reels, such as ''Inmate 451''. An experienced

capoeira Capoeira () is an Afro-Brazilian martial art that combines elements of dance, acrobatics, music and spirituality. Born of the melting pot of enslaved Africans, Indigenous Brazilians and Portuguese influences at the beginning of the 16th century ...

practitioner, he started training in

martial arts Martial arts are codified systems and traditions of combat practiced for a number of reasons such as self-defense; military and law enforcement applications; combat sport, competition; physical, mental, and spiritual development; entertainment; a ...

when he was 6 years old.

Biography

He was born in

Salvador, Bahia Salvador (English: ''Savior'') is a Brazilian municipality and capital city of the state of Bahia. Situated in the Zona da Mata in the Northeast Region of Brazil, Salvador is recognized throughout the country and internationally for its cuisine ...

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

, but moved to

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 ...

, at the age of four. With great experience and training in

Capoeira Capoeira () is an Afro-Brazilian martial art that combines elements of dance, acrobatics, music and spirituality. Born of the melting pot of enslaved Africans, Indigenous Brazilians and Portuguese influences at the beginning of the 16th century ...

, taught by his father and gymnasts, he became an international competitor and became a member of the Zero Gravity Stunt Team. Today he is an inactive member. Lateef has since been working on his own acting career he appear in The protector 2005 movie stared with Tony jaa a Thai martial art actor and also known for working with Scott Adkins in undisputed 3 he played the character adriago Silva in the movie.

Career

dos Santos is best known for his appearance in ''

Tom-Yum-Goong ''Tom-Yum-Goong'' (Thai: ต้มยำกุ้ง, ) is a 2005 Thai martial arts action film starring Tony Jaa. The film was directed by Prachya Pinkaew, who also directed Jaa's prior breakout film ''Ong-Bak''. As with ''Ong-Bak'', the fights ...

'' (known in North America as ''The Protector''), using Capoeira in a fight scene with

Tony Jaa Tatchakorn Yeerum ( th, ทัชชกร ยีรัมย์, , ; formerly Phanom Yeerum ( th, พนม ยีรัมย์, ); born 5 February 1976), better known internationally as Tony Jaa and in Thailand as Jaa Phanom ( th, จา � ...

. Due to an injury to his

achilles tendon The Achilles tendon or heel cord, also known as the calcaneal tendon, is a tendon at the back of the lower leg, and is the thickest in the human body. It serves to attach the plantaris, gastrocnemius (calf) and soleus muscles to the calcaneus (h ...

, the scene was cut short, but he has since recovered, and was featured in the martial arts feature, ''Duel of Legends'', released in 2007. Due to his Capoeira skills and gymnast with resemblance to the character, Lateef Crowder played the role of

Eddy Gordo is a video game character from the ''Tekken'' series by Namco Bandai Games. The character is a Brazilian capoeira fighter. Introduced in ''Tekken 3'' in 1997, Eddy has since appeared in every game thereafter (albeit he is not a participant in th ...

in the ''

Tekken is a Japanese Media mix, media franchise centered on a series of fighting game, fighting video and arcade games developed and published by Bandai Namco Entertainment (formerly Namco). The franchise also includes film and print adaptations. The ...

'' feature film. He has also featured in

Undisputed 3 ''Undisputed III: Redemption'' is a 2010 American action film directed by Isaac Florentine and starring Scott Adkins, Mykel Shannon Jenkins, Mark Ivanir and Hristo Shopov. The third installment in the franchise started by the 2002 action film '' ...

which stars

Scott Adkins Scott Edward Adkins (born 17 June 1976) is a British actor, film producer, screenwriter, gymnast, and martial artist. He is best known for his role as the Russian prison fighter Yuri Boyka in the ''Undisputed franchise''. He has played Yuri Boy ...

and Mykel Jenkins. Directed by

Isaac Florentine Isaac Florentine ( he, יצחק פלורנטין; born 28 July 1958) is an Israeli film director. He is best known for his martial arts and action genre films, namely '' Undisputed II: Last Man Standing'' (2006), '' Undisputed III: Redemption'' ...

and also stars in the

Kevin Tancharoen Kevin Harwick Tancharoen (born April 23, 1984) is an American film director, producer, screenwriter, dancer, and choreographer. On September 29, 2011, New Line Cinema/Warner Bros. announced that Tancharoen would be helming a big-screen adaptation ...

directed short film '' Mortal Kombat: Rebirth''. Another memorable work of Lateef was in

Fight Science ''Fight Science'' is a television program shown on the National Geographic Channel in which scientists and martial arts masters work together to analyze the world's fighting techniques, to compare the disciplines and to find out which one has the ...

when he represented his style in tests to show the effectiveness of his kicks. Since 2019, he appeared in the

Disney+ The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment Entertainment is a form of activity that holds the attention and interest of an audience or gives pleasure and deligh ...

original series ''

The Mandalorian ''The Mandalorian'' is an American space Western television series created by Jon Favreau for the streaming service Disney+. It is the first live-action series in the ''Star Wars'' franchise, beginning five years after the events of ''Retur ...

'' as the stunt double for Din Djarin / The Mandalorian, for which he won a Primetime Emmy Creative Arts Award for Outstanding Stunt Performance in

2022 File:2022 collage V1.png, Clockwise, from top left: Road junction at Yamato-Saidaiji Station several hours after the assassination of Shinzo Abe; 2022 Sri Lankan protests, Anti-government protest in Sri Lanka in front of the Presidential Secretari ...

Biography

Career

Filmography

References

External links