Boris Kodjoe

Boris Kodjoe

Kodjoe in 2010
Born Boris Frederic Cecil Tay-Natey Ofuatey-Kodjoe
(1973-03-08) March 8, 1973
Vienna, Austria
Nationality German
Occupation Actor, Former fashion model
Years active 1995–present
Height 1.93 m (6 ft 4 in)
Spouse(s) Nicole Ari Parker (m. 2005)
Children 2

Boris Frederic Cecil Tay-Natey Ofuatey-Kodjoe[1] (/ˈkoʊdʒʊ/; born March 8, 1973), better known as Boris Kodjoe, is an Austrian born actor of German and Ghanian descent known for his roles as Kelby in the 2002 film Brown Sugar, the sports-courier agent Damon Carter on the Showtime drama series Soul Food and was a recurring character on FOX's The Last Man on Earth. He currently co-stars on BET's Real Husbands of Hollywood and on the CBS medical drama Code Black.

Early life

Kodjoe was born in Vienna, Austria, the son of Ursula, a German psychologist of partially Jewish descent, and Eric Kodjoe, a Ghanaian physician who is of the Krobo people.[1] His namesake is the Russian poet and writer Boris Pasternak.[2] Kodjoe's matrilineal great-grandmother was Jewish and died in the Holocaust; his maternal grandmother survived the war in hiding.[1][3] Kodjoe's parents divorced when he was six years old.[4] He grew up in the vicinity of Freiburg im Breisgau. Kodjoe is fluent in German, English, and French, and speaks some Spanish. He has a brother named Patrick and two sisters named Nadja and Lara.

Career

Kodjoe attended Virginia Commonwealth University on a tennis scholarship, and graduated with a bachelor's degree in marketing in 1996.[5] A four-year letterman on the Rams' men's tennis team, he is currently ninth in school history with 75 career singles wins. Tied for third in doubles victories with 66, he was paired with Jonas Elmblad on 37 of them, also third all-time.[6] His brother Patrick Kodjoe played for VCU's basketball team. A back injury ended Boris' tennis aspirations, but he was quickly signed as a model and soon after entered acting.[7] In 1995, he was featured in TLC's music video for "Red Light Special."

Named one of the "50 Most Beautiful People in the World" by People magazine in 2002, Kodjoe is perhaps best known as one of the seven regular cast members from the Showtime drama Soul Food, which aired from 2000 to 2004. He appeared in the 2002 film Brown Sugar and starred in the short-lived sitcom Second Time Around with his Soul Food co-star Nicole Ari Parker, whom he eventually married. He played the role of David Taylor, the wayward son of Pastor Fred Taylor, in the October 2005 film The Gospel. He performed in a play called Whatever She Wants, starring Vivica A. Fox, and made an appearance on the fifth season of Nip/Tuck. His most recent role was in the 2009 science fiction film Surrogates. On December 16, 2009, it was announced that Kodjoe had been cast as the male lead, Steven Bloom, in the new J. J. Abrams television series Undercovers; the show premiered in September and was subsequently cancelled in November 2010 on NBC. Also that year, he appeared as Luther in the film Resident Evil: Afterlife. He appeared on Franklin & Bash in 2010.

In 2013, Kodjoe began starring in the BET comedy parody series Real Husbands of Hollywood. In 2014 he was cast as regular on the ABC primetime soap opera Members Only created by Susannah Grant.[8][9] In 2015, Kodjoe began a recurring guest-star role in Fox's The Last Man on Earth television series.[10]

Personal life

Kodjoe in 2011

Kodjoe married his Soul Food: The Series co-star Nicole Ari Parker on May 21, 2005, in Gundelfingen, Germany. She gave birth to their first child, a girl, Sophie Tei-Naaki Lee Kodjoe, on March 5, 2005. Sophie has spina bifida, which was diagnosed at birth.[11] Parker gave birth to the couple's second child, a boy, Nicolas Neruda Kodjoe, on October 31, 2006. Kodjoe and his wife are members of Cascade United Methodist Church in Atlanta, Georgia.[12] The family resides in Los Angeles, California.

Filmography

Film

Year Title Role Notes
2000 Love & Basketball Jason
2002 Brown Sugar Kelby Dawson
2004 Doing Hard Time Michael Mitchell Direct-to-video
2005 The Gospel David Taylor
2006 Madea's Family Reunion Frankie Henderson
2007 All About Us Edward Brown
2007 Alice Upside Down Mr. Edgecombe
2008 Starship Troopers 3: Marauder General Dix Hauser
2009 Surrogates Stone
2010 The Confidant Nigel Patterson
2010 Resident Evil: Afterlife Luther West
2012 Resident Evil: Retribution Luther West
2012 A Killer Among Us Detective Joe Moran TV Movie
Nominated – Black Reel Award for Best Supporting Actor
2013 Baggage Claim Graham Nominated – Acapulco Black Film Festival Award for Best Ensemble Cast
2013 Nurse 3D Detective John Rogan
2014 Addicted Jason Reynard

Television

Year Title Role Notes
1998 The Steve Harvey Show Dexter Episode: "Every Boy Needs a Teacher"
2000 For Your Love Terrence Episode: "The French Lesson"
2003 Boston Public Coach Derek Williams 3 episodes
2003 Street Time Bowman Calloway Episodes: "High Holly Roller" and "Cop Killer"
2003 All of Us Marcus Episode: "Uncle Marcus Comes to Dinner"
2004 Eve Kevin Episode: "Valentine's Day Reloaded"
2000–2001, 2003, 2004 Soul Food Damon Carter Series regular, 27 episodes
Nominated – NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series (2002–2004)
2004–2005 Second Time Around Jackson Muse Series regular, 13 episodes
2006 If You Lived Here, You'd Be Home Now Brad TV pilot
2007 Crossing Jordan Detective Elliot Chandler Episodes: "Post Hoc..." and "In Sickness & in Health"
2007 Women's Murder Club Simon Perry Episode: "Blind Dates and Bleeding Hearts"
2007 Nip/Tuck Elton Forrest Episode: "Chaz Darling"
2010 Undercovers Steven Bloom Series regular, 13 episodes
2012 Scruples Josh Hillman TV pilot
2012 Franklin & Bash Nolan Tate Episode: "Last Dance"
2013–present Real Husbands of Hollywood Himself Series regular
Nominated – NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series (2014)
2014 Members Only Deacon Series regular
2015–2016 The Last Man on Earth Philip Stacy "Phil" Miller Recurring, 12 episodes
2015 The Boris & Nicole Show himself
2016 Cape Town Sanctus Snook
2016 Code Black Dr. Campbell Guest Star in season 1, main character from season 2 on

References

  1. 1 2 3 Williams, Kam (2009). "Boris Kodjoe: The All about Us Interview with Kam Williams". aalbc.com. Retrieved 2010-09-24.
  2. ↑ Buckley, Michael. "STAGE TO SCREENS: Chats With Whitford, Hurt, Howard, and Kodjoe", Playbill, 5 May 2008.
  3. ↑ The Gospel: Boris Kodjoe Archived February 22, 2012, at the Wayback Machine.
  4. ↑ Boris Kodjoe at superiorpics.com
  5. ↑ "Kodjoe's Time Has Finally Come," Virginia Commonwealth University Athletics, Wednesday, June 16, 2010. Archived April 10, 2016, at the Wayback Machine.
  6. ↑ The Tradition of VCU Men's Tennis (Virginia Commonwealth University men's tennis media guide).
  7. ↑ Boris Kodjoe (profile) – Classic TV & Movie Hits. Archived August 6, 2016, at the Wayback Machine.
  8. ↑ Etkin, Jaimie; Jarett Wieselman. "Shonda Rhimes Takes Over ABC's Thursday Nights". BuzzFeed. Retrieved 14 May 2014.
  9. ↑ "Boris Kodjoe Joins ABC's 'The Club'; Yvette Monreal In El Rey's 'Matador'". Deadline.com. Retrieved 2014-04-01.
  10. ↑ Prudom, Laura (February 5, 2015). "Boris Kodjoe Joins Fox's 'The Last Man on Earth'". Variety. Retrieved March 31, 2015.
  11. ↑ "Boris and Nicole Open Up About Sophie's Spina Bifida" Archived February 6, 2010, at the Wayback Machine., Celebrity Baby Blog, 15 January 2009.
  12. ↑ Rhone, Nedra; and Gracie Bonds Staples. "In Atlanta’s churches, prayers for president-elect" Archived June 20, 2012, at the Wayback Machine., The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, 9 November 2008.
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