Boris Kodjoe

Boris Frederic Cecil Tay-Natey Ofuatey-Kodjoe[1] (/ˈkoʊdʒuː/; born March 8, 1973), better known as Boris Kodjoe, is an Austrian-born American actor of mixed Ghanaian and German-Jewish descent who is best 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 a recurring character on FOX's The Last Man on Earth. He co-stars on BET's Real Husbands of Hollywood and the Grey's Anatomy spin-off, Station 19 as Battalion Chief Robert Sullivan.

Boris Kodjoe
Born	Boris Frederic Cecil Tay-Natey Ofuatey-Kodjoe (1973-03-08) March 8, 1973 Vienna, Austria
Alma mater	Virginia Commonwealth University, (BA)
Occupation	Actor, model
Years active	1994–present
Height	1.93 m (6 ft 4 in)
Spouse(s)	Nicole Ari Parker ( m. after 2005)
Children	2

Early life

Kodjoe was born in Vienna, Austria, the son of Ursula, a German psychologist of partial Jewish descent, and Eric Kodjoe, a Ghanaian physician who is of the Ga-Adangbe people.[1] His namesake is the Russian poet and writer Boris Pasternak.[2] Kodjoe's matrilineal great-grandmother was Jewish and was murdered 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 speaks fluently in different languages such as German, English, and French, and speaks a little 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]

In July 2018, Kodjoe landed a recurring role in second season of the Grey's Anatomy spin-off series, Station 19.[11] In October, he was promoted to a series regular after his appearance in the season premiere as the new fire captain, Robert Sullivan.[12] In "Eulogy", he is promoted to Battalion Chief.

Kodjoe will portray O.J. Simpson in the upcoming film Nicole and O.J..[13]

Personal life

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, in March 2005. She has spina bifida, which was diagnosed at birth.[14] Parker gave birth to the couple's second child, a boy, in October 2006. Kodjoe and his wife are members of Cascade United Methodist Church in Atlanta, Georgia.[15] The family resides in Los Angeles, California. Parker and Kodjoe competed against one another on a February 2019 episode of Lip Sync Battle.

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	Got Married
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
2013	Baggage Claim	Graham	Nominated – Acapulco Black Film Festival Award for Best Ensemble Cast
2013	Nurse 3D	Detective John Rogan
2014	Addicted	Jason Reynard
2017	Ferdinand	Klaus (voice)
TBA	Nicole and O.J.	O.J. Simpson

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"
2012	A Killer Among Us	Detective Joe Moran	TV Movie Nominated – Black Reel Award for Best Supporting Actor
2013–2016	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
2014	The Chase	Himself	1 episode: "Starry Eyed: Celebrity Episode"
2014	Unforgettable	Agent Francis Simms	Recurring, 2 episodes
2015–2016	The Last Man on Earth	Philip Stacy "Phil" Miller	Recurring, 12 episodes
2015	The Boris & Nicole Show	Himself (co-host)
2016	Cape Town	Sanctus Snook
2016–2018	Code Black	Dr. Will Campbell	Guest star (season 1), main role (season 2-3) 33 episodes
2017	Tales	Ray Vance	Episode: "Fuck the Police"
2018–present	Station 19	Robert Sullivan	Main role; 33 episodes
2018	House of Cards	Brett Cole
2019	Lip Sync Battle	Himself	Episode: "Boris Kodjoe vs. Nicole Ari Parker"
2019	Grey's Anatomy	Robert Sullivan	Episode: "What I Did For Love"

References

1. 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. Goldberg, Lesley (July 19, 2018). "'Station 19' Taps Boris Kodjoe for Season 2". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved July 19, 2018.
12. Ramos, Dino-Ray (October 9, 2018). "Boris Kodjoe Upped To Series Regular On 'Station 19'". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved October 9, 2018.
13. "Boris Kodjoe Is Unrecognizable as O.J. Simpson in First Look at Movie Nicole & O.J." People. May 17, 2018. Retrieved February 23, 2018.
14. "Boris and Nicole Open Up About Sophie's Spina Bifida" Archived February 6, 2010, at the Wayback Machine, Celebrity Baby Blog, 15 January 2009.
15. 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.

External links

• Boris Kodjoe on IMDb
• Official website