Menace II Society

Background:

Starting acting in L.A. community theater before breaking into television in the mid-1980s, American actor Larenz Tate had already amassed various TV credits, including the award-nominating roles of teenaged son Curtis Royal on the CBS sitcom “The Royal Family” (1991-1992) and a notable guest turn on “The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air” (1992), before exploding out of Hollywood and into the public cognizance with his role as the street gangsta O-Dog on the Hughes brothers film “Menace II Society” (1993). After the auspicious debut, Tate delivered good performances in such films as “Dead Presidents” (1995, again directed by the Hughes brothers), “Love Jones” (1997, earned an Acapulco Black Film Festival and Image nominations), “Why Do Fools Fall in Love?” (1998, won an Acapulco Black Film Festival award), “Biker Boyz” (2003), “A Man Apart” (2003), “Ray” (2004) and Paul Haggis' “Crash” (2004, netted a SAG Award, a Black Reel Award and an Image nomination). Despite his hectic film schedule, the prevailing co-star of Clifton Powell still found time acting on the small screen. Since “The Royal Family,” he has had regular roles in “South Central” (1994), “Waterfront” and “Love Monkey” (both 2006) and a recurring role on “Rescue Me” (2007).

The 5' 7½” star of the music video “Rain on Me” by Ashanti has been married to wife Tomasina Parrott since 2006. They have a son, Miles Xavier, and are currently expecting their second child. Tate likes listening to the music of The Notorious B.I.G. and mentions “Lady Sings the Blues” as his favorite film and “The Cosby Show” and “Sanford and Son” as his favorite TV program. His favorite book is the Sidney Poitier autobiography “The Measure of a Man.”

Along with his brothers, writer-producer Lahmard Tate and actor Larron Tate, the youngest Tate established a production company called “Tate Men Entertainment.” The trio also founded the The Tate Bros. Foundation, a non-profit organization aimed to help support children living with the disease reaping hook cell anemia.

Fan of Sugar Ray

Childhood and Family:

Larenz Tate was born on September 8, 1975, in Chicago, Illinois, to Larry Tate, a teacher, and Peggy. The youngest of three sons moved with his family to Bell Gardens, California when he was nine years old. There, he and brothers Larron (born in 1970) and Lahmard (born in 1972) were sent to a drama program at the Inner City Cultural Center, whose students also included actor Malcolm-Jamal Warner.

In 2006, Larenz tied the knot with dancer/choreographer/actress Tomasina Parrott. They have a son named Miles Xavier. Currently, the family live in Calabasas, California. On living in Los Angeles, he said, “There's a lot of good things about Los Angeles. I mean, once you kind of get to know people and have that open relationship and rapport with different kinds of people, you find there's a lot of people who are not from Los Angeles who are here and you get a chance to learn a lot about people, but again, the strange thing about it is we're all here but we don't know it, or we know it but we don't try to engage one another.”

Larenz admires boxer Sugar Ray Robinson.

Crash

Career:

Inspired by classmate Malcolm-Jamal Warner, who got a part in the massively popular TV sitcom “The Cosby Show,” Larenz Tate started to study acting more solemnly. His effort paid off in 1985 when he landed his first TV guest spot in the CBS revival of “The Twilight Zone.” More episodic roles followed in such series as “Hunter” (1987), “21 Jump Street,” “The Wonder Years” and “Matlock” (all 1989). His miniseries debut also arrived in 1989 with the celebrated “The Women of Brewster Place,” starring Oprah Winfrey.

Tate entered the 1990s by having his first series regular role on the short-lived ABC sitcom “New Attitude,” playing Chilly D. It was followed with a recurring role on the well-liked family comedy series “Family Matters,” where he appeared as Willie Fuffner on two episodes during 1990-1991 season, and a regular gig on the CBS comedy series “The Royal Family” (1991-1992), portraying the son of Della Reese and Redd Foxx. The latter role brought the actor a 1992 Young Artist nomination for Best Young Actor Starring in a New Television Series. He nabbed his second Young Artist nomination in the following year for his guest performance in “That's No Lady, That's My Cousin,” a 1992 episode of the TV series “The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air.” He also acted in the TV films “Seeds of Tragedy” and “Clippers” (both 1991).

However, Tate did not make his big screen debut until 1993 when he won the costarring role of Kevin 'O-Dog' on the Hughes brothers-directed “Menace II Society” (1993), opposite Tyrin Turner as Caine 'Kaydee' Lawson. His role as the demoniac gun-holding teenager made him not easily forget by moviegoers. Tate returned to the small screen in the following year to play a regular on the Fox comedy/drama “South Central,” as Andre, before making his next wide screen outing in Matty Rich's “The Inkwell” (also 1994), starring along side Joe Morton and Suzzanne Douglass.

The Illinois native rejoined with the Hughes brothers for the actioner “Dead Presidents” (1995), where he starred as Anthony Curtis, a Vietnam veteran-turned-bank thief, and finely portrayed young African-American poet named Darius Lovehall on Theodore Witcher's “Love Jones” (1997), for which he picked up an Acapulco Black Film Festival nomination for Best Actor and an Image nomination for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Motion Picture. In the biopic “Why Do Fools Fall in Love?” (1998), he took home the 1999 Acapulco Black Film Festival award for his starring role as the glossy and even-textured pop singer Frankie Lymon. In between “Love Jones” and “Why Do Fools Fall in Love?,” Tate could be seen playing Ford Lincoln Mercury in “The Postman”(1997), a disappointing drama directed by and starred Kevin Costner.

2000 saw Tate star as Neville Carter, a black comic attempting to keep a good relationship with his white brother, as well as made his debut as an executive producer in the independence film “Love Come Down,” which also starred Martin Cummins and Debra Cox. Two years later, he teamed up with Laurence Fishburne and Derek Luke for the motorcycle action/drama “Biker Boyz,” playing Wood, and costarred with Vin Diesel in the breakdown action-drama “A Man Apart,” helmed by F. Gary Gray. In the appraisingly biopic “Ray” (2004), based on the wonder working life of the legendary popular music pianist Ray Charles (played by Jamie Foxx), Tate had an important supporting part as music maestro Qunicy Jones and jointly received a 2005 Screen Actors Guild for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture for his work in the Taylor Hackford-directed. The same year, he also delivered a pleasing and atrocious portrayal of a pleasant L.A. juvenile who also finds himself being a carjacker in the Oscar winner “Crash,” which marked Paul Haggis' directorial debut. The film brought Tate a 2006 Screen Actors Guild for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture, a Black Reel for Best Ensemble and nominations like a 2005 Gotham nomination for Best Ensemble Cast and a 2006 Image for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture.

After making his directorial debut in “The Hot Spot” (2005), a comedy starring Derrick Tate and Madd Marv that went straight to video release, Tate supported Tyrese Gibson and Meagan Good for the gangster film “Waist Deep” (2006), by director Vondie Curtis-Hall. He revisited the small screen to costar with Joe Pantoliano, William Baldwin and Mary Stuart Masterson in the short-lived drama series “Waterfront” (2006), portraying Marcus. He also played the regular role of Shooter Cooper in the comedy series “Love Monkey” (2006), which, unfortunately, also had a short life. Among his costars in the series were Thomas Cavanagh, Judy Greer, Jason Priestley, Ivana Milicevic and Christopher Wiehl. The following year, he took on a recurring role on the Denis Leary comedy flick “Rescue Me” (2007), playing Bart.

The 33-year-old is currently filming a TV film called “Blue Blood” (2008), an ensemble drama helmed by Brett Ratner.

Awards:

• Screen Actors Guild: Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture, “Crash,” 2006

• Black Reel: Best Ensemble, “Crash,” 2006

• Acapulco Black Film Festival: Best Actor, “Why Do Fools Fall in Love,” 1999