Chico Benymon (born August 7, 1974) is an American actor, singer, musician, and fashion designer best known for his role as Andre "Spencer" Williams on the UPN comedy Half & Half. He also starred in the Nickelodeon TV series The Haunted Hathaways.

Career 
Chico began his career in 1999 as part of a R&B/Hip hop vocal trio named Trā-Knox, who were Will Smith's protégé and appeared on his studio albums Willennium and Born to Reign as well as the Wild Wild West and Men In Black II soundtracks. Their most notable featured single Black Suits Comin' (Nod Ya Head) peaked at number 77 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in June 2002. Trā-Knox was signed to Will Smith label Overbrook Entertainment/Westbrook in 2000 with Chico Benymon, Ramon Adams and Tony Brisby who completed the vocal group. The band was short lived as the members decided to separate and venture off into other endeavors before the EP album production was to be completed.

Before the group's disbandment, he sought opportunity into television and film, making a brief appearance on Moesha before his most notable his role on the sitcom Half & Half. Benymon then furthered his career into television films and starred alongside Fantasia playing her boyfriend in the 2006 television biopic film Life Is Not a Fairytale: The Fantasia Barrino Story based on the memoir of the same name. He soon began to return back to music in the early 2010s as he began writing and producing his own music releasing music as singles on over the internet with hopes of releasing a studio album. In 2013 he became part of the cast of the Nickelodeon's family series The Haunted Hathaways for two season playing a father of two children who are all haunted ghosts residing where new tenants moved in. Years later, he teamed with Redman to collaborate on a single titled "Good Time" and after a long process of finding a platform to release his music, he distributed his debut independent album Don't Talk, Just Listen in 2019 on streaming platforms, from his previous recordings.

Filmography
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Year !! Title !! Role !! Notes
|-
| 2000, 2001 || Moesha || Lamont || Episodes: "Paying the Piper", "The Player"
|-
| 2001 || Ali || Hampton House Announcer || Credited as Theron Benymon
|-
| 2002–06 || Half & Half || Spencer Williams || Main role
|-
| 2005 || Love on Layaway || Reggie || 
|-
| rowspan=2|2006 || Where Is Love Waiting || James || 
|-
| Life Is Not a Fairytale: The Fantasia Barrino Story || Rodney Birks || TV movie
|-
| 2007 || The Game || Damon Ainsley || Episodes: "Media Blitz", "The Truth Hurts"
|-
| rowspan=2|2008 || Cuttin Da Mustard || Jury ||
|-
| Nite Tales: The Movie || Mitch || "Storm" role
|-
| rowspan=2|2009 || See Dick Run || Bash || 
|-
| Steppin: The Movie || Bryan || 
|-
| rowspan=2|2010 || Perfect Combination || Suave || 
|-
| Speed-Dating || Dog || 
|-
| rowspan=2|2011 || The Trap Door || Bruce || 
|-
| Streets || Detective Alba ||
|-
| rowspan=6|2012 || Let's Stay Together || Bakari || Episode: "U Say He's Just a Friend"
|-
| House Arrest || Chris || 
|-
| Guardian of Eden || Rahim || 
|-
| Because I Love You || Adam || TV Movie
|-
| In Sickness and in Health || Norman || TV movie
|-
| Hollywood Heights || Rick || Episodes: "The Text Spoof", "Loren Talks Business"
|-
| rowspan=2|2013 || 24 Hour Love || Chance || 
|-
| Act Like You Love Me || Russell || 
|-
| 2013–15 || The Haunted Hathaways || Ray Preston || Main role
|-
| rowspan=3|2014 || The Thundermans || Ray Preston || Crossover episode: "The Haunted Thundermans"
|-
| Blood Lines || Stanley ||
|-
| One Love || Nate Winters || 8 episodes
|-
| rowspan=2|2015 || Death's Door || Bruce ||
|-
| The Cheater || John || Short film
|-
| 2016 || Soul Ties || Anthony || 
|-
| rowspan=2|2018 || Do's and Don't's of Dating || Scott Hall ||
|-
| When It Comes Around || Randal ||
|-
| 2019 || Bunk'd || Randy || Episode: "Lake Rancid"
|-
| 2019 || A Second Chance (2019 film)|A Second Chance || Darius Cole ||Tubi original film
|-
|2020
|The Perfect Mate|Jesse James
|
|-
|2021
|Lazarus|Twitch
|
|}

Music

 Studio album 
 Don't Talk, Just Listen (Finao Music Group, 2019)

 Unreleased singles 
as solo artist
 "I Need Your Love" - (single produced by Tim & Bob)
 "Good Time" - (single featuring Redman)
 "Want It" - (single featuring Fabolous)
 "Weakness" "Mixed Up" :"All of It"*All selected tracks appear on YouTube, but didn't make the final official album release, majority of songs from the debut album also appear on the unofficial "Good Time" EP

as Trā-Knox 

 "All I Do" (cover)
 "Special" (written by Wanya Morris)
 "A Lil' While" "Something's Got To Give" "Believe N My Love" "Goodbye" (a father's dedication to Trā-Knox members, written by Chico Benymon)

*All selected track were unreleased, featured on Chico Benymon's official YouTube channel

 Vocal appearances Featured as Trā-Knox 

 "I'm Comin' (featuring Trā-Knox) - Album: Willennium, Will Smith
 "Black Suits Comin' (Nod Ya Head)" (featuring Trā-Knox) - Albums Born to Reign, Will Smith / Men in Black II Soundtrack "Lucky Day" (featuring Trā-Knox) - Album: Wild Wild West Soundtrack
Featured as solo artist

 "Stay the Night" -  K. Smith featuring Chico Benymon
 "Streets" - Naam Brigade  featuring Chico Benymon (appeared in the film "Streets" soundtrack - 2011)
 "You're All I Want" Maurice Benymon featuring Chico Benymon - 2019 (Music video appearance and background vocals)

 Tours and appearances 

 The Love Again Tour (featuring Soul For Real & Hi Five, w/ opening acts Intro & Chico Benymon) - 2018
 NYC International Ball (featuring Slick Rick w/ Allure & special guest Chico Benymon) - 2017
 The R&B Extravaganza (featuring Carl Thomas, Case, Lil Mo', Intro & Chico Benymon) - 2017

 Music Videos as independent artist''

References

External links

Chico Benymon on Myspace

1974 births
Living people
African-American male actors
American male film actors
American male television actors
Male actors from New York (state)
People from Amityville, New York
21st-century African-American people
20th-century African-American people