He Got Game 1998 premiere

1. Denzel Washington

Denzel Hayes Washington, Jr. was born on December 28, 1954 in Mount Vernon, New York. He is the middle of three children of a beautician mother, Lennis, from Georgia, and a Pentecostal minister father, Denzel Washington, Sr., from Virginia. After graduating from high school, Denzel enrolled at ...

2. Pauletta Washington

Soundtrack | Philadelphia

Pauletta Washington was born on September 28, 1950 in the USA. She is an actress, known for Philadelphia (1993), Antwone Fisher (2002) and Genius (2017). She has been married to Denzel Washington since June 25, 1983. They have four children.

3. Tatum O'Neal

Actress | Paper Moon

Tatum Beatrice O'Neal is an American actress and author. She is the youngest person ever to win a competitive Academy Award, winning at age 10 for her performance as Addie Loggins in Paper Moon (1973) opposite her father, Ryan O'Neal. She also starred as Amanda Wurlitzer in The Bad News Bears (1976...

4. Isaac Hayes

Actor | Escape from New York

Isaac Hayes, the second-born child of Eula and Isaac Hayes Sr., was raised by his grandparents, Mr. and Mrs. Willie Wade Sr. The child of a poor family, he grew up picking cotton in Covington, Tennessee. He dropped out of high school, but later his former high-school teachers to get his diploma, ...

5. Jim Brown

Actor | Mars Attacks!

Often mentioned as the greatest player in NFL history, this ruggedly handsome African American fullback for the Cleveland Browns first appeared on movie screens in the western Rio Conchos (1964), followed by a strong supporting role as convict commando "Jefferson" in the terrific WWII action film ...

6. Flavor Flav

Soundtrack | End of Watch

A musical prodigy who is proficient in fifteen instruments, Flavor Flav first burst onto the scene in the late '80s, where he emerged as a rapper, hype man, and co-founder of the legendary hip-hop group Public Enemy. Possessing the most sampled voice in the history of hip-hop, Flavor Flav (along ...

7. Chuck D

Soundtrack | Star Trek Beyond

Both as a solo artist and as the leader of the ground-breaking hip-hop group Public Enemy (which was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2013), Chuck D helped pave the way for political, social and culturally conscious hip-hop. Public Enemy's albums remain among the most critically ...

8. Ray Allen

Actor | He Got Game

Ray Allen was born at Castle Air Force Base, near Merced, California, to Flora (Day) and Walter Allen, Sr. He graduated from Hillcrest High school in Dalzell, South Carolina in 1993 after taking the varsity basketball team (the Wildcats) to the State Championships. He was the 1996 Big East Player ...

9. Shannon Walker Williams

Actress | Girlfight

Shannon Walker Williams is known for Girlfight (2000), Century City (2004) and Bamboozled (2000). She has been married to Ray Allen since August 16, 2008. They have four children.

10. Spike Lee

Director | Do the Right Thing

Spike Lee was born Shelton Jackson Lee on March 20, 1957, in Atlanta, Georgia. At a very young age, he moved from pre-civil rights Georgia, to Brooklyn, New York. Lee came from artistic, education-grounded background; his father was a jazz musician, and his mother, a schoolteacher. He attended ...

11. Jade Scott Yorker

Actor | Gridiron Gang

Jade Scott Yorker (born June 16, 1985) is an American Film and Television SAG-AFTRA actor who grew up in Manalapan, New Jersey. He attended the Freehold Performing Arts Center for High School; which furthered his training as an actor. Jade has worked with some of the biggest starts in Hollywood ...

12. Milla Jovovich

Actress | Le Cinquième Élément

Milla Jovovich is a Ukrainian-American actress, supermodel, fashion designer, singer and public figure, who was on the cover of more than a hundred magazines, and starred in such films as The Fifth Element (1997), Ultraviolet (2006), and the Resident Evil (2002) franchise.

Milica Bogdanovna Jovovich...

13. John Turturro

Actor | Fading Gigolo

Highly talented, lightly built American actor who always looks unsettled and jumpy has become a favourite of cult/arthouse film aficionados with his compelling performances in a broad range of cinematic vehicles.

Turturro was born in Brooklyn, New York, to Italian-American parents, Katherine (...

14. Rosario Dawson

Actress | Rent

This stunning and resourceful actress has been primarily a film player thus far. Only recently has she been opening herself up more to doing television (the series Gemini Division (2008), which she executive-produced), and animated voice-overs. Dawson's powerhouse talent stands out the most in edgy...

15. Joseph Lyle Taylor

Actor | Summer of Sam

Joseph Lyle Taylor was born on September 20, 1964 in Vidor, Texas, USA. He is an actor and writer, known for Summer of Sam (1999), The Dark Knight Rises (2012) and The Breakup Artist (2004). He was previously married to Paula Devicq.

16. Hill Harper

Actor | CSI: NY

Hill Harper, an accomplished film, television and stage actor, stars in the hit CBS drama series, CSI: NY (2004). He portrays "Dr. Sheldon Hawkes", a reclusive coroner who walked away from a promising surgical career after the traumatic loss of two patients. This February, he will star in the HBO ...

17. Shortee Red

Actor | Precious

Shortee Red is known for Precious (2009), He Got Game (1998) and Law & Order (1990).

18. Zelda Harris

Actress | He Got Game

Zelda Harris was born on February 17, 1985 in New York City, New York, USA. She is an actress, known for He Got Game (1998), Crooklyn (1994) and The Baby-Sitters Club (1995).

19. Quinn Harris

Actress | He Got Game

Quinn Harris is known for He Got Game (1998) and You, Me and the Kids (1998).

20. Ned Beatty

Actor | Network

Stocky, genial-looking supporting actor Ned Beatty was once hailed by Daily Variety as the "busiest actor in Hollywood."

Ned Thomas Beatty was born in Louisville, Kentucky, to Margaret (Fortney) and Charles William Beatty. He grew up fishing and working on farms. His hometown of St. Matthews, ...

21. Bill Nunn

Actor | Spider-Man 3

Commanding performer Bill Nunn made his feature debut in fellow Morehouse College graduate Spike Lee's School Daze (1988), but really etched himself into moviegoers' minds as a formidable screen presence in his second film with Lee, Do the Right Thing (1989), playing Radio Raheem, whose ...

22. Michele Shay

Actress | Manhunter

Michele Shay was born on April 18, 1955 in the USA. She is an actress, known for Manhunter (1986), He Got Game (1998) and Miami Vice (1984).

23. Thomas Jefferson Byrd

Actor | Set It Off

Born in Georgia, Byrd earned a bachelor of science degree in education from Morris Brown College and later received a master of fine arts degree in dance from California Institute of the Arts. He has starred in numerous regional stage productions including the San Diego Repertory Theater's ...

24. Roger Guenveur Smith

Actor | Dope

Roger Guenveur Smith is an internationally acclaimed actor, writer, and director who has created a prolific body of work on stage and screen.

He adapted his Obie Award-winning solo performance of A Huey P. Newton Story into a Peabody Award-winning telefilm, directed by his longtime colleague Spike ...

25. Lonette McKee

Actress | Brewster's Millions

Lonette McKee's career began in the music industry in hometown Detroit, Michigan as a child prodigy, where she began playing keyboards composing music and lyrics, singing and performing professionally at a young age. At fourteen she recorded her first record, "Stop Don't Worry 'Bout It" which ...

26. Travis Best

Actor | He Got Game

Travis Best first garnered national attention during his senior at Springfield Central High School in Springfield, Massachusetts - the birthplace of basketball and the location of the Naismith Basketball Hall Of Fame. He scored 81 points in a game, and was named a high school McDonald's All-America...

27. Walter McCarty

Actor | He Got Game

Walter McCarty was born on February 1, 1974 in Evansville, Indiana, USA. He is an actor, known for He Got Game (1998), Sixth Man: Bluesanity (2013) and 1996 NBA Draft (1996).

28. Kim Director

Actress | The Deuce

Kim Director is an American actress best known for her work in films from director Spike Lee, including Inside Man and the Netflix series She's Gotta Have It. Kim played the character Shay on HBO's The Deuce from David Simon & George Pelecanos. The Deuce stared James Franco and Maggie Gyllenhall. ...

29. John Wallace

Actor | He Got Game

Born on February 9, 1974 and raised in Greece, New York by his mother, Vanessa, he grew up with his younger brother, "Kippy" a mile from his alma mater, Greece Athena High School.

After he led that school to several championships, he went on to become the highest-scoring, multi-record holding ...

30. Rick Fox

Actor | Shameless

Born in Toronto, Rick Fox moved to the Bahamas when he was very young. His father is Afro-Bahamian, and his mother, who is Canadian, is of Italian and Scottish descent. Rick went to Warsaw Indiana high school as an exchange student and played basketball there. A complaint was filed about his ...

31. Leonard Roberts

Actor | Drumline

Leonard Roberts was born on November 17, 1972 in St. Louis, Missouri, USA. He is an actor and producer, known for Drumline (2002), American Sniper (2014) and Savages (2012).

32. Jennifer Esposito

Actress | Awkwafina Is Nora from Queens

Jennifer Esposito was born in Brooklyn, New York. She launched her career with an appearance on Law & Order (1990) in 1996, and went on to play the character of "Stacey Paterno" in 36 episodes on the hit TV series Spin City (1996), starring alongside Michael J. Fox.

Her first major film was ...

33. Jill Kelly

Actress | He Got Game

Jill Kelly was born on February 1, 1971 in Pomona, California, USA. She is an actress and producer, known for He Got Game (1998), Orgazmo (1997) and The Roller Blade Seven (1991). She was previously married to Corey Jordan, Julian and Cal Jammer.

34. Al Palagonia

Actor | Summer of Sam

Al Palagonia was born on December 13, 1967 in New York City, New York, USA. He is an actor, known for Summer of Sam (1999), He Got Game (1998) and 25th Hour (2002).

35. Arthur J. Nascarella

Actor | The Sopranos

Arthur J. Nascarella's appearance in films is often as a mobster or police officer, but he has also portrayed fathers, a priest, and other good men. His notable film credits include a corrupt cop in Cop Land (1997), the hypocritical ambulance Captain Barney in Martin Scorsese's film Bringing Out ...

36. Jon Kilik

Producer | The Hunger Games

Jon Kilik graduated from the University of Vermont in 1978 where he studied film under Frank Manchel and Vivian Sobcheck. Jon moved to NYC in 1979 and started developing screenplay ideas with his NJ friend, Paul Mones. Kilik and Mones sold their first screenplay, 'Delamer Park', in 1980 but it was ...

37. Malik Hassan Sayeed

Camera_department | Eyes Wide Shut

Malik Hassan Sayeed was born in 1969 in New York, USA. He is a cinematographer and director, known for Eyes Wide Shut (1999), Just Married (2003) and He Got Game (1998).

38. Barry Alexander Brown

Editor | Do the Right Thing

Barry Alexander Brown was born on November 28, 1960 in Warrington, Cheshire, England, UK. He is an editor and director, known for Do the Right Thing (1989), BlacKkKlansman (2018) and Inside Man (2006).

39. Larenz Tate

Actor | Crash

Larenz Tate was born on the west side of Chicago to Larry and Peggy Tate, the youngest of three brothers. His brothers are actors Larron Tate and Lahmard J. Tate. In 1984, Larenz and his family moved to California. It was while living in California that Larenz's parents got him and his brothers ...

40. Danny Glover

Actor | Lethal Weapon

Actor, producer and humanitarian Danny Glover has been a commanding presence on screen, stage and television for more than 35 years.

Glover was born in San Francisco, California, to Carrie (Hunley) and James Glover, postal workers who were also active in civil rights. Glover trained at the Black ...

41. Samuel L. Jackson

Actor | Pulp Fiction

Samuel L. Jackson is an American producer and highly prolific actor, having appeared in over 100 films, including Die Hard with a Vengeance (1995), Unbreakable (2000), Shaft (2000), Formula 51 (2001), Black Snake Moan (2006), Snakes on a Plane (2006), and the Star Wars prequel trilogy (1999-2005), ...

42. Taye Diggs

Actor | House on Haunted Hill

Taye Diggs was born in Newark, New Jersey, and was raised in Rochester, New York. He is the son of Marcia (Berry), a teacher and actress, and Andre Young, a visual artist. When he was a child, his mother married Jeffries Diggs, whose surname Taye took. He received a BFA degree in musical theater ...

43. Angela Bassett

Actress | Strange Days

Captivating, gifted, and sensational, Angela Bassett's presence has been felt in theaters and on stages and television screens throughout the world. Angela Evelyn Bassett was born on August 16, 1958 in New York City, to Betty Jane (Gilbert), a social worker, and Daniel Benjamin Bassett, a ...

44. Alfre Woodard

Actress | Star Trek: First Contact

Alfre Woodard was born on November 8, 1952 in Tulsa, Oklahoma, the youngest of three children of Constance, a homemaker, and Marion H. Woodard, an interior designer. She was named by her godmother, who claimed she saw a vision of Alfre's name written out in gold letters. A former high school ...

45. Kimberly Elise

Actress | Diary of a Mad Black Woman

Kimberly Elise was born on April 17, 1967 in Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA. She is an actress and executive, known for Diary of a Mad Black Woman (2005), The Manchurian Candidate (2004) and John Q (2002). She was previously married to Maurice Oldham.

46. Oprah Winfrey

Producer | The Oprah Winfrey Show

Oprah Gail Winfrey , often known simply as Oprah, is an American talk show host, television producer, actress, author, and philanthropist. She is best known for her talk show, The Oprah Winfrey Show, broadcast from Chicago, which was the highest-rated television program of its kind in history and ...

47. Whoopi Goldberg

Actress | Ghost

Whoopi Goldberg was born Caryn Elaine Johnson in the Chelsea section of Manhattan on November 13, 1955. Her mother, Emma (Harris), was a teacher and a nurse, and her father, Robert James Johnson, Jr., was a clergyman. Whoopi's recent ancestors were from Georgia, Florida, and Virginia. She worked in...

48. F. Gary Gray

Director | Set It Off

Felix Gary Gray is an African-American music video director, film producer and film director from New York City known for directing films such as Friday, Men in Black: International, Be Cool, The Fate of the Furious, Set It Off, The Negotiator, Straight Outta Compton and The Italian Job. He ...

49. Forest Whitaker

Actor | The Last King of Scotland

Forest Steven Whitaker has packaged a king-size talent into his hulking 6' 2", 220 lb. frame. He won an Academy Award for his performance as Ugandan dictator Idi Amin in the film The Last King of Scotland (2006), and has also won a Golden Globe and a BAFTA. He is the fourth African-American male to...

50. Kevin Rodney Sullivan

Director | How Stella Got Her Groove Back

Kevin Rodney Sullivan was born in the USA. He is a director and producer, known for How Stella Got Her Groove Back (1998), Snowfall (2017) and This Is Us (2016).

51. Maya Angelou

Actress | Poetic Justice

Maya Angelou was an American poet, singer, memoirist, and civil rights activist. She published seven autobiographies, three books of essays, several books of poetry, and is credited with a list of plays, movies, and television shows spanning over 50 years. She received dozens of awards and more ...

52. Pam Grier

Actress | Jackie Brown

Pam Grier was born in Winston-Salem, NC, one of four children of Gwendolyn Sylvia (Samuels), a nurse, and Clarence Ransom Grier Jr., an Air Force mechanic. Pam has been a major African-American star from the early 1970s. Her career started in 1971, when Roger Corman of New World Pictures launched ...

53. Mariah Carey

Soundtrack | Glitter

Mariah Carey was born in Long Island, New York on March 27, 1969. Her parents are Patricia Hickey (Irish-American) and Alfred Roy Carey (African-American/Venezuelan). Mariah attended Greenlawn's Harborfields High School. In June 1990, Mariah made her debut with her self-titled album, Mariah Carey ...

54. Blair Underwood

Actor | Deep Impact

A true multi-hyphenate, Blair Underwood is enjoying success in film, television and theatre, as an actor, director and producer. Underwood recently returned to Broadway starring opposite David Alan Grier in the Pulitzer Prize winning drama "A Solider's Play" for director Kenny Leon and the ...

55. Tatyana Ali

Actress | The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air

Tatyana Marisol Ali was born on January 24, 1979, in North Bellmore, New York, to Sonia, a nurse from Panama, and Sheriff Ali, a retired police officer from Trinidad. At the age of four, she started singing and got a taste of fame when she begged her mother to take her to an audition for Sesame ...

56. Roseanne Barr

Producer | Roseanne

Firebrand Roseanne Barr has long been one of America's funniest and most controversial comedians.

She was born in Salt Lake City, Utah, to Helen (Davis), a cashier and bookkeeper, and Jerome Hershel "Jerry" Barr, a salesman. Her family was Jewish, and had moved to the U.S. from Russia, Lithuania, ...

57. Kathleen Battle

Soundtrack | Shi mian mai fu

Kathleen Battle was born on August 13, 1948 in Portsmouth, Ohio, USA. She was the youngest of seven children in the African-American family, with a good tradition of singing spirituals. She graduated from the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music in Ohio (1971) and taught music to ...

58. Harry Belafonte

Actor | Bobby

Harold George Belafonte was born on March 1, 1927 in New York City. He was educated at the New York Dramatic Workshop. He grew up in Jamaica, British West Indies, and did folk-singing in nightclubs and theaters, and on television and records. His debut was at the Village Vanguard in New York. Also,...

59. Bill Bellamy

Writer | Bill Bellamy: I Want My Life Back

1 brother (deceased) - per TV series "UnSung Hollywood - Bill Bellamy" (S3 Ep7)

Recently aired on TVOne as a repeat on 11/16/2016, It's a Documentary show which details archival film footage and personal, revealing interviews, about the lives and careers of some of the world's most highly talented ...

60. George Benson

Soundtrack | Michael

George Benson was born on March 22, 1943 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA. He is a music artist and actor, known for Michael (1996), Hit and Run (2012) and All That Jazz (1979). He has been married to Johnnie Lee since 1962. They have six children.

61. Halle Berry

Actress | Catwoman

Halle Maria Berry was born Maria Halle Berry on August 14, 1966 in Cleveland, Ohio and raised in Oakwood, Ohio to Judith Ann Berry (née Hawkins), a psychiatric nurse & Jerome Jesse Berry, a hospital attendant. Her father was African-American and her mother is of mostly English and German descent. ...

62. Julian Bond

Actor | Greased Lightning

Julian Bond was born on January 14, 1940 in Nashville, Tennessee, USA. He was an actor, known for Greased Lightning (1977), Ray (2004) and 5 to 7 (2014). He was married to Pamela Horowitz and Alice Louise Clapton. He died on August 15, 2015 in Fort Walton Beach, Florida, USA.

63. James Brown

Actor | The Blues Brothers

James Joseph Brown (May 3, 1933 - December 25, 2006) was an American singer, dancer, musician, record producer, and bandleader. The central progenitor of funk music and a major figure of 20th century music, he is often referred to by the honorific nicknames "Godfather of Soul", "Mr. Dynamite", and ...

64. LeVar Burton

Actor | Star Trek: Generations

LeVar Burton was born on February 16, 1957 in Landstuhl, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. He is an actor and director, known for Star Trek: Generations (1994), Star Trek: First Contact (1996) and Star Trek: Insurrection (1998). He has been married to Stephanie Cozart Burton since October 3, 1992. ...

65. Lisa Nicole Carson

Actress | Ally McBeal

Lisa Nicole Carson has the distinction of having simultaneously starred in television's most lauded comedy and drama series. She has both amused audiences as Renee Radick, the D.A. roommate of Calista Flockhart on Fox's Ally McBeal (1997) and riveted them as Carla Reese, the mother of Eriq La Salle...

66. Cedric The Entertainer

Actor | Barbershop

Cedric the Entertainer is an African-American comedian and actor known for being one of the Original Kings of Comedy. He is also known for his roles in the Barbershop trilogy, the Madagascar trilogy, The Steve Harvey Show, Ice Age, Planes, The Soul Man and The Neighborhood. He has had three ...

67. Don Cheadle

Actor | Crash

Donald Frank Cheadle was born in Kansas City, Missouri, on November 29, 1964. His childhood found him moving from city to city with his family: mother Bettye (née North), a teacher; father Donald Frank Cheadle Sr., a clinical psychologist; sister Cindy; and brother Colin. After graduating from high...

68. Troy Christian

Cinematographer | A Perfect Vintage

Troy Christian is known for A Perfect Vintage (2021), Care for Yourself - Alyssa Grace (2023) and Rent (2005).

69. Eric Clapton

Composer | Lethal Weapon

Eric Clapton was born in Ripley, Surrey, England, on March 30, 1945. His real father was a Canadian pilot but he didn't find that out until he was 53. When he was 2 his mother felt she was unable to look after him, so Eric then went to live with his grandparents. When he was 14 he took up the ...

70. Ossie Davis

Actor | Do the Right Thing

Ossie Davis was born on December 18, 1917 in Cogdell, Georgia, USA. He was an actor and writer, known for Do the Right Thing (1989), Bubba Ho-Tep (2002) and Grumpy Old Men (1993). He was married to Ruby Dee. He died on February 4, 2005 in Miami Beach, Florida, USA.

71. Loretta Devine

Actress | Crash

Equally at home on stage and on screen, award-winning actress Loretta Devine has created some of the most memorable roles in theatre, film and television.

Devine first captured national attention in the role of Lorrell, one of the three original "Dreamgirls" in Michael Bennett's classic ...

72. Doug E. Doug

Actor | Cool Runnings

Doug E. Doug was born on January 7, 1970 in Brooklyn, New York, USA. He is an actor and producer, known for Cool Runnings (1993), Eight Legged Freaks (2002) and Shark Tale (2004).

73. Kevin Eubanks

Actor | Longshot

Kevin Eubanks was born on November 15, 1957 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA. He is an actor and composer, known for Longshot (2001), The Great Buck Howard (2008) and Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip (2006).

74. Morgan Freeman

Actor | Driving Miss Daisy

With an authoritative voice and calm demeanor, this ever popular American actor has grown into one of the most respected figures in modern US cinema. Morgan was born on June 1, 1937 in Memphis, Tennessee, to Mayme Edna (Revere), a teacher, and Morgan Porterfield Freeman, a barber. The young Freeman...

75. Savion Glover

Happy Feet

Savion Glover was born on November 19, 1973 in Newark, New Jersey, USA. He is an actor and composer, known for Happy Feet (2006), Happy Feet Two (2011) and Bamboozled (2000).

76. David Alan Grier

Actor | Joe Pickett

David Alan Grier was born in Detroit, Michigan, to Aretas Ruth (Dudley), a schoolteacher, and William Henry Grier, a psychiatrist and writer. He trained in Shakespeare at Yale University, where he received an MFA from the Yale School of Drama.

Grier began his professional career on Broadway as ...

77. Steve Harris

Actor | The Practice

Steve Harris is the son of John, a bus driver, and Mattie, a housewife, who stressed his and younger brother, Sherwin's education over his love for football. Steve attended St. Joseph High in Westchester, Illinois, a private school known for developing star athletes such as basketball star Isiah ...

78. Jackée Harry

Actress | 227

Jackée Harry was born in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, and reared from the age of nine in Harlem, New York, by her mother, Flossie. At the tender age of fourteen, Jackée landed the lead role of the King in her school's production of The King and I. Upon graduation from New York City's High School ...

79. Lauryn Hill

Soundtrack | Sister Act 2: Back in the Habit

Lauryn Hill, a native of South Orange, New Jersey, first came to attention with the multi-talented Fugees. Their first album, "Blunted On Reality", went virtually unnoticed by the public; their real breakthrough came with the sophomore album, "The Score", which featured "Killing Me Softly". That ...

80. Jennifer Holliday

Soundtrack | Ally McBeal

Jennifer Holliday was born on October 19, 1960 in Houston, Texas, USA. She is an actress, known for Ally McBeal (1997), I'm Gonna Git You Sucka (1988) and Fairy Tale Forest. She was previously married to Rev. Andre Woods and Billy Meadows.

81. D.L. Hughley

Actor | Inspector Gadget

Hughley is the second of four children. His father was an airline maintenance worker and his mother was a homemaker.

He grew up in L.A.'s South Central where he was a member of the Bloods gang after getting kicked out of high school. However, he turned his life around after a cousin was shot. He ...

82. Clark Johnson

Actor | S.W.A.T.

Clark Johnson was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA. He is an actor and director, known for S.W.A.T. (2003), The Sentinel (2006) and Homicide: Life on the Street (1993). He was previously married to Heather Salmon.

83. Michael Jordan

Actor | Space Jam

Michael Jeffrey Jordan was born in Brooklyn, New York on February 17, 1963. He was the fourth of five children born to James and Deloris. James Jordan was a mechanic and Deloris Jordan was a bank teller. Soon after Michael's birth, James and Deloris felt that the streets of Brooklyn were unsafe to ...

84. T'Keyah Crystal Keymáh

Actress | The Cool Crystal Show

A performer since childhood, performer, writer, producer and director T'Keyah Crystal Keymáh (Ta-Kee-ah Kristle Kee-Mah) studied theater, dance, voice, and pantomime in high school, then turned down a business scholarship to complete her studies at Florida A&M University with a degree in Theatre, ...

85. B.B. King

Actor | Blues Brothers 2000

Riley B. King (September 16, 1925 - May 14, 2015), known professionally as B.B. King, was an American blues singer-songwriter, guitarist, and record producer. He introduced a sophisticated style of soloing based on fluid string bending, shimmering vibrato and staccato picking that influenced many ...

86. Jay Leno

Producer | The Tonight Show with Jay Leno

Jay Leno began his career in night clubs, where he worked 300 nights a year before hitting it big in 1992 with his own late-night talk show, The Tonight Show with Jay Leno (1992). By that time he had appeared on television, acted in a few films (American Hot Wax (1978)) but hit paydirt with his ...

87. Ananda Lewis

Actress | On the Line

Ananda Lewis was born on March 21, 1973 in San Diego, California, USA. She is an actress and producer, known for On the Line (2001), Method & Red (2004) and Nora's Hair Salon II (2008).

88. Lucy Liu

Actress | Kill Bill: Vol. 1

Born to immigrants in New York City, Lucy Liu has always tried to balance an interest in her cultural heritage with a desire to move beyond a strictly Asian-American experience. Her mother, Cecilia, a biochemist, is from Beijing & her father, Tom Liu, a civil engineer, is from Shanghai. Once ...

89. Bernie Mac

Actor | The Bernie Mac Show

Bernard Jeffrey McCollough was born in 1957 in Chicago, the son of Mary McCullough and Jeffery Harrison. He grew up in the city, in a rougher neighborhood than most others, with a large family living under one roof. This situation provided him with a great insight into his comedy, as his family, ...

90. Kweisi Mfume

Self | The Remarkable Journey

Kweisi Mfume was born on October 24, 1948 in Baltimore, Maryland, USA. He has been married to Tiffany McMillan since 2012. He was previously married to Linda Shields.

91. Kel Mitchell

Actor | Good Burger

Acting Career - Hailing from the Windy City, Kel Mitchell began his acting career at the young age of 12 with the ETA Creative Arts Foundation. Young Kel wowed audiences with his on-stage performances in Chicago theatrical productions such as "Kasimu & the Coconut Palm" and "Dirt." But it was his ...

92. Shemar Moore

Actor | Criminal Minds

Shemar Franklin Moore (born April 20, 1970) is an American actor and former fashion model. His notable roles are that of Malcolm Winters on The Young and the Restless from 1994 to 2005, Derek Morgan on CBS's Criminal Minds from 2005 to 2016, and as the third permanent host of Soul Train from 1999 ...

93. Rita Moreno

Actress | West Side Story

Rita Moreno is one of the very few performers to win an Oscar, an Emmy, a Tony and a Grammy, thus becoming an EGOT. She was born Rosita Dolores Alverío in the hospital in Humacao, Puerto Rico on December 11, 1931 (but raised in nearby, smaller Juncos, which had no hospital), to seamstress Rosa ...

94. Mya

Actress | Chicago

Mya Marie Harrison was born on October 10, 1979 in Washington D.C. She's an American R&B/pop singer, entertainer, philanthropist & actress known professionally as Mýa. She started taking ballet lessons at 2, adding jazz & tap dancing lessons 2 years later. As a teen, she began to shift her focus to...

95. Queen Latifah

Actress | Chicago

Often considered hip-hop's first lady, the woman behind the moniker Queen Latifah was born Dana Elaine Owens on March 18, 1970, in East Orange, New Jersey. She is the daughter of Rita (Bray), a teacher, and Lancelot Owens Sr. She came from a police family-both her father and her older brother were ...

96. Ahmad Rashad

Actor | Space Jam

Ahmad Rashad was born on November 19, 1949 in Portland, Oregon, USA. He is an actor and producer, known for Space Jam (1996), Best of the Best (1989) and Monsters (1988). He has been married to Ana Luz Rodriguez-Paz since April 30, 2016. He was previously married to Sale Johnson, Phylicia Rashad, ...

97. Holly Robinson Peete

Actress | 21 Jump Street

Holly Robinson Peete was born on September 18, 1964 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA. She is an actress and producer, known for 21 Jump Street (1987), For Your Love (1998) and 21 Jump Street (2012). She has been married to Rodney Peete since June 10, 1995. They have four children.

98. Victoria Rowell

Actress | Dumb and Dumber

Victoria Rowell is an award-winning actress, international lecturer, holds two 'honorary' doctorates - a teacher, advocate, mother, and former foster youth. She has been recognized by 193 members of Congress for advocacy work on behalf of education, arts, foster and adoptive youth and parents as ...

99. Patrice Rushen

Soundtrack | Men in Black

Patrice Rushen is an award-winning musician and composer who is also one of the most sought after artists in the music industry. She is a classically trained pianist who originally found success in the 70's and 80's with her signature fusion of jazz, pop and R&B. During this era, she composed and ...

100. Kimora Lee Simmons

Actress | Waist Deep

Kimora Lee Simmons was born on May 4, 1975 in St. Louis, Missouri, USA. She is a producer and actress, known for Waist Deep (2006), Rebound (2005) and For Love or Money (1993). She has been married to Tim Leissner since December 2013. They have two children. She was previously married to Russell ...