Spawn

Background:

A black belt in seven karate styles, Michael Jai White is no stranger to action movies since his feature debut in "The Toxic Avenger, Part II" (1989). He appeared in the films "True Identity" (1991), "Universal Soldier" (1992), "Lion Strike" (1995), "Tyson" (1995; TV; as the title role) and "2 Days in the Valley" (1996) before landing his most popular role to date in "Spawn" (1997), a film adaptation of the cult comic book of the same name in which he took on the main role of a double-crossed military soldier/assassin who seeks vengeance.

The 6' 1½" actor was also seen in such films as "Thick as Thieves" (1998), "Ringmaster" (1998), "Universal Soldier: The Return" (1999), "Exit Wounds" (2001), "Pandora's Box" (2002), "Fei ying" (2004; aka "Silver Hawk") and "Getting Played" (2005). He also starred in the films "Why Did I Get Married,” "The Dark Knight" and "Blood and Bone."

On the small screen, White has appeared in a string of TV shows, including "Saved by the Bell," "Renegade," "NYPD Blue," "JAG," "Wonderland," "Boston Public," "Soul Food," "CSI: Miami," "Justice League" and "Clubhouse." He will star in an upcoming TV series titled "The Legend of Bruce Lee" and will provide his voice in another new series, "Spawn: The Animation."

Martial Arts

Childhood and Family:

Born in Brooklyn, New York, on November 10, 1967, Michael Jai White was raised in Bridgeport and Westport, CT. An introverted young boy, White began his martial arts training at the age of eight and had earned his first black belt by the time he was 12. By age 14, he had gained a reputation as a fearsome street fighter.

White holds seven black belts in various martial arts: Shotokan, Tae Kwon Do, Kobudo, Goju Ryu, Tang Soo Do, Wushu and Kyokushin. He also holds 26 titles, including an U.S. Open, a North American Open, and a New England Grand Champion title. Originally a student of Shigeru Oyama, White is now the head of World Oyama Karate. He also trained in Wushu with Eric Chen and had the privilege of training with Benny Urquidez, James Lew, Don Wilson, Jean Claude Van Damme, Billy Blanks, Bill Wallace and Joe Lewis, among others. White is the co-founder of Top Ten Karate with Larry Rogers Jr.

White attended Central High School in Bridgeport, CT, (class of 1982). He later studied acting at H.B. Studio, Yale University, and Brown University. He also performed off-Broadway in the plays "Raisin in the Sun" and "To Kill a Mockingbird."

On August 6, 2005, White married his girlfriend of two years, Courtenay Chatman, who is an OB/GYN.

Blood and Bone

Career:

After taking a few acting lessons, martial art expert Michael Jai White worked as a martial arts teacher for children and as a junior high school teacher specializing in emotionally disturbed children.

In the late 1980s, White got his first acting break when he backed fellow martial arts expert Steven Seagal on a soup commercial for Japanese television. He soon began auditioning for roles in Manhattan and landed his earliest big screen role in Lloyd Kaufman's “The Toxic Avenger, Part II” and “The Toxic Avenger Part III: The Last Temptation of Toxie” (both in 1989, billed as Michael White.

In 1991, White made an unaccredited appearance in "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Secret of the Ooze," and was featured as an alley guy in Charles Lane's comedy movie "True Identity," starring Lenny Henry. He also appeared in the straight-to-video kung-fu movie "Ring of Fire" (1991; starring Don 'The Dragon' Wilson) and its straight-to-video sequel, “Lion Strike” (1995; aka “Ring of Fire 3: Lion Strike"). White then played a soldier in Roland Emmerich's action film "Universal Soldier," starring fellow martial artist Jean-Claude Van Damme, and did stunt work in Phillip J. Roth's “Prototype” (both in 1992). He also made his TV debut with an unaccredited guest role in an October 1992 episode of NBC’s sitcom “Saved by the Bell,” followed by another guest appearance in a May 1993 episode of the long running action series starring Lorenzo Lamas, "Renegade."

After acting in the straight-to-video Hong Kong martial arts feature "Full Contact" (1993; starring Chow Yun-Fat), White was spotted as a guest on episodes of Fox’s series "Living Single" and "Martin," both of which aired on the same date (February 20, 1994). He then did stunt work in actor/director Steven Seagal's action film "On Deadly Ground" (1994) and portrayed Lieutenant Fancy's (played by James McDaniel) hot-headed brother in two 1995 episodes of ABC's Emmy winning cop series "NYPD Blue."

In 1995, White snagged his first starring role, that of a former heavyweight boxing champ in the HBO biopic "Tyson," which was directed by Uli Edel. The next year, he appeared in writer/director John Herzfeld's drama "2 Days in the Valley," with James Spader, Danny Aiello, Peter Horton, Teri Hatcher and Charlize Theron, and played Elroi in the CBS dramatic movie helmed by Bruce Pittman and starring Louis Gossett Jr., "Captive Heart: The James Mink Story."

White was set to appear as Jax in New Line's movie based on the popular "Mortal Kombat" fighting game series, “Mortal Kombat Annihilation” (1997), but New Line put him in the movie “Spawn” instead. In “Spawn,” a film adaptation of the cult comic book of the same name, White took on the title role of a double-crossed military soldier/assassin who seeks vengeance. The film, directed and co-written by Mark Dippé, was released in the United States on August 1, 1997. White's performance later earned him a Blockbuster Entertainment Award nomination for Favorite Male Newcomer.

Following his first feature starring role, White portrayed Demond, Wendy Raquel Robinson's boyfriend, in Neil Abramson's comedy film starring Jerry Springer, "Ringmaster" (1998). He then appeared opposite Alec Baldwin in Scott Sanders' crime film adapted from a novel by Patrick Quinn, "Thick as Thieves" (1998), which debuted at the Sundance Film Festival.

In 1999, White was reunited with Van Damme for "Universal Soldier: The Return" (1999), the second theatrical film in the “Universal Soldier” series. This time, he played the significant role of S.E.T.H. (short for Self Evolving Thought Helix), the military's supercomputer and the chief antagonist of the film. He also starred as Ben Cooper in "Mutiny" (1999), an NBC movie executive produced by Morgan Freeman which was based on the factual story about 300 sailors who were killed during WW II while loading munitions on a ship in San Francisco.

Entering the new millennium, White became a series regular on the short-lived, controversial ABC drama depicting daily life in a mental institution, "Wonderland," and costarred with Danny Glover in the critically acclaimed TV movie "Freedom Song." He was also seen in Eugene Williams' 8-minute comedy film "The Bus Stop."

White continuing to add to his resume roles in films like Andrzej Bartkowiak's adaptation of John Westermann's novel, "Exit Wounds" (2001; starring frequent collaborator Steven Seagal), Rob Hardy's thriller "Pandora's Box" (2002), and writer/director Evan Oppenheimer's comedic drama "Justice" (2003; starring Erik Palladino), Michael also appeared in Quentin Tarantino's epic-length revenge drama "Kill Bill" trailer when the film was still due to be released as one movie. However, he did not appear in either volume 1 or 2 of the theatrical version. He also supported Michelle Yeoh in a Hong Kong movie directed by Jingle Ma, "Fei ying" (2004; aka "Silver Hawk"), and shared the screen with Carmen Electra, Vivica A. Fox, Bill Bellamy and Stacey Dash in writer/director David Silberg's romantic comedy "Getting Played" (2005).

Meanwhile, TV viewers could catch him guest starring in Fox’s drama series "Boston Public," Showtime’s popular television drama "Soul Food," CBS’ "CSI: Miami" and Kids' WB animated television series "Static Shock." He then acted in the novel-based TV movie “Hotel” (2003) and had the recurring role of Doomsday in Cartoon Network's animated television series based on comic book characters, "Justice League." Michael next received a costarring role in CBS’ short-lived drama series starring Jeremy Sumpter, "Clubhouse" (2004-2005), and appeared in Busta Rhymes and Mariah Carey’s music video for "I Know What You Want."

In 2006, White starred as Heavyweight Champ George "Iceman" Chambers in the direct-to-video sequel to the 2002 action film, "Undisputed II: Last Man Standing," and was spotted as a guest in an August episode of NBC’s short-lived drama series “Windfall.”

White next starred as Marcus in Tyler Perry's film adaptation of his hit stage play, "Why Did I Get Married," which was released in the U.S. on October 12, 2007, and was seen in "The Dark Knight" (starring Christian Bale and Heath Ledger), in which he portrayed the role of Gamble, a crime lord attempting to gain power in Gotham. He then starred as Bone in Ben Ramsey's action titled "Blood and Bone."

As for TV, White will provide his voice in a new series called "Spawn: The Animation" and will star alongside Mark Dacascos in a TV series about the legendary martial artist/actor, "The Legend of Bruce Lee."

Awards:
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