Merrick McCartha is an American actor who appeared on television shows such as '' All American,'' ''

Criminal Minds ''Criminal Minds'' is an American police procedural crime drama television series created and produced by Jeff Davis (writer), Jeff Davis. The series premiered on CBS on September 22, 2005, and originally concluded on February 19, 2020; it was r ...

'', ''Rebel'' and ''

Unstable In numerous fields of study, the component of instability within a system is generally characterized by some of the outputs or internal states growing without bounds. Not all systems that are not stable are unstable; systems can also be mar ...

''. His film credits include ''Anatomy of an Antihero: Redemption'', '' Failure!'', '' Hemet, or the Landlady Don't Drink Tea'' and ''

The Playground The Playground Theater is the only continuously operating non-profit theater in Chicago dedicated to Modern Theatrical Improvisation, a form of theater invented in the city. The Playground was founded in 1997 by its original member companies. ...

''.

Early life

McCartha grew up in

Detroit, Michigan Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at ...

. He discovered he had a knack for performance in elementary school but his parents, who were police officers, did not want him to take on acting as a career. In 1990, McCartha was a student and part-time waiter when he helped judge a meatloaf cook-off. He attended

Cass Technical High School Cass Technical High School (simply referred to as Cass Tech) is a public high school in Midtown Detroit, Michigan, United States.

and pursued an engineering career after college. He later took acting classes and signed with an agency in

Los Angeles, California 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' ...

Career

In 2011, McCartha was runner-up in a

Backstage Backstage most commonly refers to backstage (theatre), also in motion picture and television production. Backstage may also refer to: Film and television * ''Back Stage'' (1969 film), a silent film starring Oliver Hardy * ''Back Stage'' (1942 fil ...

actors pitch contest that received over 100 submissions. In 2017, he was cast in the

San Diego International Fringe Festival The San Diego International Fringe Festival is a non-profit fringe theatre festival project of conTACT ARTS, in association with the Actors Alliance of San Diego, designed to help provide a platform for artists while also helping the community a ...

and portrayed Deacon Avery Silver in ''

Rebel A rebel is a participant in a rebellion. Rebel or rebels may also refer to: People * Rebel (given name) * Rebel (surname) * Patriot (American Revolution), during the American Revolution * American Southerners, as a form of self-identification; s ...

'' by producer

John Singleton John Daniel Singleton (January 6, 1968 April 28, 2019) was an American director, screenwriter, and producer. He made his feature film debut writing and directing ''Boyz n the Hood'' (1991), for which he was nominated for the Academy Award for B ...

for the

BET Network Black Entertainment Television (acronym BET) is an American basic cable channel targeting African-American audiences. It is owned by the CBS Entertainment Group unit of Paramount Global via BET Networks and has offices in New York City, Los An ...

. McCartha was cast in the film ''Anatomy of an Antihero: Redemption'' in 2018 and as Robert Hicks in ''All American'' in 2021. In 2023, he became eligible for an

Emmy The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the calendar year, each with the ...

for his role in ''House of Payne'', co-starred with

Ted Raimi Theodore "Ted" Raimi (born December 14, 1965) is an American character actor, director, comedian, and writer. He is known for his roles in the works of his brother Sam Raimi, including a fake Shemp in ''The Evil Dead'', possessed Henrietta in ...

in the film '' Failure!'' which premiered at FrightFest, and appeared in the film '' Hemet, or the Landlady Don't Drink Tea'' with

Randy Davison Randy Lee Davison (born ) is an American actor who appeared in the films ''The United States vs. Billie Holiday'' (2021) as Joseph McCarthy, ''Mank'' (2020), ''Hemet, or the Landlady Don't Drink Tea'' (2023), '' Not This Part of the World'' (199 ...

Filmography

Accolades

References

External links

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Merrick McCartha
at

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*
Merrick McCartha
at

Moviefone Moviefone is an American-based moving pictures listing and information service. Moviegoers can obtain local showtimes, cinema information, film reviews, and advance tickets, as well as TV content and a comprehensive search tool that allows users ...

Celeb Magazine InterviewThe BLK Script InterviewVoyage LA Interview

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:McCartha, Merrick Living people 21st-century American male actors 21st-century African-American people African-American male actors American male film actors American male television actors Male actors from Detroit Male actors from Los Angeles Male actors from San Diego Cass Technical High School alumni University of Michigan alumni University of California, San Diego alumni