James La Rue Avery (November 27, 1945 – December 31, 2013) was an American actor. He was best known for his roles as Philip Banks in ''

The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air ''The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air'' is an American television sitcom created by Andy and Susan Borowitz for NBC. It aired from September 10, 1990, to May 20, 1996. The series stars Will Smith as a fictionalized version of himself, a street-smart ...

'', Shredder in ''

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles ''Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles'' is an American media franchise created by the comic book artists Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird. It follows Leonardo, Michelangelo, Donatello and Raphael, four anthropomorphic turtle brothers (named after It ...

'', Judge Michael Conover on '' L.A. Law'', Steve Yeager in ''

The Brady Bunch Movie ''The Brady Bunch Movie'' is a 1995 American comedy film that parodies the 1969–1974 television series ''The Brady Bunch''. The film was directed by Betty Thomas, with a screenplay by Laurice Elehwany, Rick Copp, and Bonnie and Terry Turner, an ...

'', Haroud Hazi Bin in ''

Aladdin Aladdin ( ; ar, علاء الدين, ', , ATU 561, ‘Aladdin') is a Middle-Eastern folk tale. It is one of the best-known tales associated with ''The Book of One Thousand and One Nights'' (''The Arabian Nights''), despite not being part of ...

'', and Dr. Crippen on ''

The Closer ''The Closer'' is an American television police procedural starring Kyra Sedgwick as Brenda Leigh Johnson, a Los Angeles Police Department deputy chief. A CIA-trained interrogator originally from Atlanta, Georgia, Brenda has a reputation as a c ...

'' (2005–2007).

Early life

Avery was born on November 27, 1945, in

Pughsville, Virginia Pughsville is a community in Virginia. It was part of Nansemond County, Virginia which ceased to exist when it was merged into Suffolk, Virginia in the 1970s. The Pughsville community is now in the northern part of Suffolk, Virginia along the borde ...

, to mother Florence J. Avery. His father denied paternity and was not listed on his birth certificate. Florence would eventually move James to

Atlantic City Atlantic City, often known by its initials A.C., is a coastal resort city in Atlantic County, New Jersey, United States. The city is known for its casinos, boardwalk, and beaches. In 2020, the city had a population of 38,497.

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delawa ...

. He served in the

U.S. Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage o ...

in the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (also known by #Names, other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vie ...

from 1968 to 1969, and eventually moved to

San Diego, California San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the eighth most populous city in the United Stat ...

, where he began to write poetry and TV scripts for PBS. He won an Emmy for production during his tenure there, and then received a scholarship to

UC San Diego The University of California, San Diego (UC San Diego or colloquially, UCSD) is a public land-grant research university in San Diego, California. Established in 1960 near the pre-existing Scripps Institution of Oceanography, UC San Diego is t ...

, where he attended Thurgood Marshall College (then Third College), earning a

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four yea ...

degree in drama and literature in 1976.

Career

Avery began his career in the 1980s with appearances in television series such as

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...

's ''

Hill Street Blues ''Hill Street Blues'' is an American serial police procedural television series that aired on NBC in prime-time from January 15, 1981, to May 12, 1987, for 146 episodes. The show chronicles the lives of the staff of a single police station loca ...

'', Showtime sitcom ''

Brothers A brother is a man or boy who shares one or more parents with another; a male sibling. The female counterpart is a sister. Although the term typically refers to a familial relationship, it is sometimes used endearingly to refer to non-familia ...

'' as Bubba Dean, ''

Amen Amen ( he, אָמֵן, ; grc, ἀμήν, ; syc, ܐܡܝܢ, ; ar, آمين, ) is an Abrahamic declaration of affirmation which is first found in the Hebrew Bible, and subsequently found in the New Testament. It is used in Jewish, Christian, and ...

'', '' FM'' and '' L.A. Law''. In the 1990s, he achieved prominence for his role as Philip Banks in ''

'', a character that was ranked number 34 in ''

TV Guide TV Guide is an American digital media company that provides television program listings information as well as entertainment and television-related news. The company sold its print magazine division, TV Guide Magazine LLC, in 2008. Corporat ...

''s "50 Greatest TV Dads of All Time". After ''The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air'' ended, he played the lead role of Alonzo Sparks in the UPN comedy series '' Sparks'' that lasted for two seasons. Other notable roles in television included Dr. Crippen in ''

'', Charles Haysbert in ''

The Division ''The Division'' is an American police procedural drama television series created by Deborah Joy LeVine starring Bonnie Bedelia. The series focuses on a team of female detectives and police officers in the San Francisco Police Department. The s ...

'', and

Michael Kelso Michael Christopher Kelso is a fictional character and one of the five male leads on Fox Network's ''That '70s Show'', portrayed by Ashton Kutcher. Tall, lanky and long-haired, Kelso had been accepted as the local idiot until he moved to Chicago ...

's commanding officer at the police academy late in the series run of ''

That '70s Show ''That '70s Show'' is an American television period teen sitcom that aired on Fox from August 23, 1998, to May 18, 2006. The series focuses on the lives of a group of six teenage friends living in the fictional town of Point Place, Wisconsin, ...

''. Among his most notable voice credits are the voices of Shredder in the original ''

'' animated series, and James Rhodes/War Machine in the 1990s ''

Iron Man Iron Man is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character was co-created by writer and editor Stan Lee, developed by scripter Larry Lieber, and designed by artists Don Heck and Jack Kirby. The cha ...

'' series. He also lent his powerful bass voice as

Junkyard Dog Sylvester Ritter (December 13, 1952 – June 1, 1998) was an American professional wrestler and college football player, best known for his work in Mid-South Wrestling and the World Wrestling Federation as the Junkyard Dog (or JYD), a nickname ...

in '' Hulk Hogan's Rock 'n' Wrestling'' (1985–1986),

Turbo In an internal combustion engine, a turbocharger (often called a turbo) is a forced induction device that is powered by the flow of exhaust gases. It uses this energy to compress the intake gas, forcing more air into the engine in order to pr ...

in ''

Rambo and the Forces of Freedom ''Rambo: The Force of Freedom'' (also known simply as ''Rambo'') is a 1986 American animated series based on the character of John Rambo from David Morrell's book ''First Blood'' and the subsequent films ''First Blood'' (1982) and '' Rambo: First ...

'' (1986), and

Haroud Hazi Bin The Walt Disney Company, Disney's ''Aladdin (franchise), Aladdin'' franchise features an extensive cast of fictional characters. The lead character of the series is Aladdin, who was originally a street urchin. During the course of the franchise, ...

in ''

'' (1994). Avery was the commencement speaker for his alma mater, UC San Diego's Thurgood Marshall College, in 2007 and again in 2012.

Personal life

In 1988, Avery married his girlfriend Barbara. Barbara was dean of student life at

Loyola Marymount University Loyola Marymount University (LMU) is a private Jesuit and Marymount research university in Los Angeles, California. It is located on the west side of the city near Playa Vista. LMU is the parent school to Loyola Law School, which is located ...

. He had no biological children, but was a stepfather to Barbara's son, Kevin Waters.

Death

On December 31, 2013, Avery died at the age of 68 at Glendale Memorial Medical Center. His publicist, Cynthia Snyder, told the Associated Press that Avery died following complications from open heart surgery.

Janet Hubert Janet Louise Hubert (born January 13, 1956) is an American film and television actress. She is best known for playing the role of the original Vivian Banks on the sitcom ''The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air'' from its first season in 1990 until the en ...

, who portrayed his on-screen wife Vivian on ''

'' for the first three seasons, said after his death: "RIP James, all the world is a stage, and we are all merely players in this production called LIFE."

Will Smith Willard Carroll Smith II (born September 25, 1968), also known by his stage name The Fresh Prince, is an American actor and rapper. He began his acting career starring as a fictionalized version of himself on the NBC sitcom '' The Fresh ...

commented on Avery's death, saying: "Some of my greatest lessons in acting, living, and being a respectable human being came through James Avery. Every young man needs an Uncle Phil. Rest in peace."

Joseph Marcell Joseph Marcell (born 18 August 1948) is a British actor and comedian. He is best known for his role as Geoffrey Butler, the butler on the NBC sitcom ''The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air'' from September 1990 until the show ended in May 1996. Born in S ...

(Geoffrey) called Avery a "gentle giant". Avery's remains were cremated and scattered near the

Pacific Ocean The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the conti ...

. In April 2020, Will Smith reunited with the cast of ''The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air'' on a video conference honoring Avery's best moments on the show.

Filmography

Film

Television

Video games

References

External links

* *
The HistoryMakers
Biography, photos and video clips {{DEFAULTSORT:Avery, James 1945 births 2013 deaths African-American male actors African-American poets American male film actors American male poets American male television actors American male voice actors American television personalities Male television personalities American television writers American male television writers Male actors from New Jersey Male actors from Virginia People from Atlantic City, New Jersey People from Suffolk, Virginia Screenwriters from California Screenwriters from New Jersey Screenwriters from Virginia United States Navy personnel of the Vietnam War United States Navy sailors University of California, San Diego alumni Virginia State University alumni 20th-century American male actors 21st-century American male actors 20th-century American poets African-American screenwriters 20th-century American male writers 20th-century African-American writers 21st-century African-American people African-American male writers African-American United States Navy personnel African Americans in the Vietnam War