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- For the character, see Terry Jeffords.
Terrence Alan "Terry" Crews (born July 30, 1968) is an American actor and former NFL player. He is perhaps best known for playing Julius on the UPN/CWsitcom Everybody Hates Chris and for his appearances in Old Spice commercials,[1] as well as for roles in films like Friday After Next, White Chicks,Idiocracy, Gamer, and The Expendables. He stars as Nick Kingston-Persons in the TBS sitcom Are We There Yet? and as himself in the BET reality series The Family Crews.
Early life
Crews was born July 30, 1968[3] in Flint, Michigan, the son of Patricia and Terry Crews. He grew up in a strict Christian household in Flint and was raised mainly by his mother. His father was an alcoholic who was abusive to his mother. Crews received a flute from his great aunt, and took lessons for eight years.
After earning his high school diploma from Flint Southwestern, he received a Chrysler-sponsored art scholarship at the Interlochen Center for the Arts in Interlochen, Michigan, which was followed by an Art Excellence scholarship and a full athletic scholarship for football at Western Michigan University in Kalamazoo, Michigan. As a defensive end for the WMU Broncos, Crews earned All-Conference honors and won the 1988 Mid-American Conference Championship.
Career
After retiring from the NFL in 1997, Crews moved to Los Angeles to pursue an acting career. He had held a long-standing ambition to work in the film industry, but up until then had no plans to pursue acting; simply wanting to be involved in some way. A year earlier, he had co-written and co-produced the independent feature film Young Boys Incorporated. A self-funded production filmed in Detroit with an anti-drug message, the film drew on his own observations, as well as those of his friends and family. Despite describing it as a "horrible" film, he credits the experience with getting him interested in the film industry.
In 1999, Crews auditioned for a role as a character athlete (known as Warriors) in the syndicated game show Battle Dome, which became his first acting part. He played T-Money for two seasons until its cancellation in 2001. The audition process and the opportunity to perform in front of an audience made him realize that he wanted to pursue acting as a career. However, he failed to land another acting job for the following two years.
Appearances in commercials, films, and music videos soon followed. His breakout role came in Friday After Next starring rapper-turned-actor Ice Cube, for whom Crews had previously worked as on-set security. Having never taken acting classes, instead he asked himself what the audience wanted, and he believes this ultimately brought him success. He now believes acting is what he was born to do and would not wish to have any other career, despite the physically demanding nature of the work.
Based on his performance in White Chicks (2004), Adam Sandler changed a role in The Longest Yard (2005) to give it to Crews, who had auditioned for another role in the film. His role as Julius Rock, the father on the UPN/CW sitcom on Everybody Hates Chris, brought Crews wider public recognition, and the show aired for four seasons from 2005-09. Since Everybody Hates Chris, Crews has had main roles as husband and father Nick Kingston-Persons in the TBS sitcom Are We There Yet?, which aired for three seasons from 2010–13, and as NYPD Sergeant Terry Jeffords in the ensemble cast of the Fox sitcom Brooklyn Nine-Nine, which premiered in 2013 and ran for five seasons before it was picked up for a sixth season by NBC in 2018.
Filmography
Film
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | The 6th Day | Vincent Bansworth | |
| 2001 | Training Day | Bloods member | Uncredited |
| 2002 | Serving Sara | Vernon | |
| 2002 | Friday After Next | Damon Pearly | |
| 2003 | Deliver Us from Eva | Big bartender | |
| 2003 | Malibu's Most Wanted | 8 Ball | |
| 2003 | BAADASSSSS! | Big T | |
| 2004 | Behind the Smile | Big James | |
| 2004 | Soul Plane | Bouncer | |
| 2004 | Starsky & Hutch | Porter | |
| 2004 | White Chicks | Latrell Spencer | |
| 2005 | The Longest Yard | Cheeseburger Eddy "89" | |
| 2006 | The Alibi | Crazy Eight | |
| 2006 | Harsh Times | Darrell | |
| 2006 | The Benchwarmers | Steven | |
| 2006 | Puff, Puff, Pass | Cool Crush Ice Killa | |
| 2006 | Click | Singing guy in car | Uncredited |
| 2006 | Idiocracy | President Dwayne Elizondo Mountain Dew Herbert Camacho | |
| 2006 | Inland Empire | Street person | |
| 2007 | Norbit | Big Black Jack Latimore | |
| 2007 | How to Rob a Bank | Officer Degepse | |
| 2007 | Who's Your Caddy? | Tank | |
| 2007 | Balls of Fury | Freddy "Fingers" Wilson | |
| 2008 | Street Kings | Detective II Terrence Washington | |
| 2008 | Get Smart | Agent 91 | |
| 2008 | Get Smart's Bruce and Lloyd: Out of Control | Agent 91 | |
| 2009 | Terminator Salvation | Captain Jericho | |
| 2009 | Gamer | Hackman | |
| 2010 | The Expendables | Hale Caesar | |
| 2010 | Lottery Ticket | Jimmy | |
| 2010 | Middle Men | James | |
| 2011 | Bridesmaids | Boot camp instructor | Cameo |
| 2012 | The Expendables 2 | Hale Caesar | |
| 2013 | Scary Movie 5 | ||
| 2013 | Aztec Warrior | Juan Claudio | |
| 2013 | Reach Me | ||
| 2013 | Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2 | Earl Devereaux | |
| 2014 | The Expendables 3 | Hale Ceasar |
Television
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1999–2012 | Battle Dome | T-Money | |
| 2004 | CSI: Miami | Craig Waters | |
| 2005 | My Wife and Kids | Daryl | |
| 2005–2009 | Everybody Hates Chris | Julius Rock | |
| 2006 | The Boondocks | Various characters | Voice |
| 2010–2011 | Are We There Yet? | Nick Kingston-Persons | |
| 2010–2011 | The Family Crews | Himself | Reality show |
| 2011 | BrainSurge | Himself | |
| 2012 | The Newsroom | Lonny Church | |
| 2012 | Stars Earn Stripes | Himself | Reality show |
| 2013 | Real Husbands of Hollywood | Himself | Reality show |
| 2013 | Second Generation Wayans | Himself | (TV series) |
| 2013 | Arrested Development | ||
| 2013-Present | Brooklyn Nine-Nine | Terry Jeffords | (TV series) |
Music videos
| Year | Artist | Song | Role |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2004 | Blink-182 | "Down" | Police officer |
Video games
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2012 | The Expendables 2 | Hale Caesar | Voice |
References
- ^ Terry Crews Talks The Expendables 2
- ^ "Flint native Terry Crews shines on screen". The Michigan Journal. February 6, 2007. Retrieved October 2, 2008.
- ^ "Chris Rock to Appear on His Own Sitcom". BET.com. July 25, 2007. Retrieved May 8, 2011.
- ^ "Everybody Hates Chris". The CW. Retrieved October 2, 2008.
- ^ "Terry Crews NFL Football Statistics". Pro Football Reference/USA Today. Retrieved December 21, 2012.
- ^ The Family Crews TV Show (Wife says she followed him around the NFL for 9 years)
- ^ Tim and Eric direct Terry Crews for Old Spice
- ^ ‘Are We There Yet‘ Renewed by TBS for 90 More Episodes 16 August 2010 - tvbythenumbers
- ^ "Terry Crews' Triple Threat! Friday Four?! Actor Speaks on Success, Family and More!"UrbLife.com. August 19, 2010.
- ^ http://insidetv.ew.com/2012/07/02/newsroom-scoop-expendables-ii-star-to-play-heavy/
Trivia
- Producer Dan Goor revealed that his character name Terry Jeffords is a reference to the actor himself, as he originally refused the role, and the character name is to remind him that he almost lost a role which designed from him.
- Terry Jeffords is the first character created for the show.