Roger Guenveur Smith

Roger Guenveur Smith (born July 27, 1955 in Berkeley, California)[1] is an American actor, director, and writer.[2]
== Early life ==
Smith was born in 1955 in Berkeley, California, the son of Helen Guenveur, a dentist, and Sherman Smith, a judge. He attended Loyola high school in Los Angeles, Occidental College (American Studies) in Los Angeles and Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut, where he successfully auditioned for the Drama School, switching from his pursuit of a graduate degree in History. Additionally, Smith studied at the Keskidee Arts Centre in London, England.
== Career ==
In film, Smith has collaborated with Spike Lee on several works. He has appeared in films such as School Daze,[2] Do the Right Thing,[2] King of New York, Deep Cover, Panther, Malcolm X, Poetic Justice, Get On The Bus, Eve's Bayou, He Got Game, and Summer of Sam. During the 1990s, he had a recurring role on A Different World.
In 1996, he starred in the self-written and produced A Huey P. Newton Story, a one-man theatre performance based on the life of Black Panther Party founder Huey P. Newton, for which Smith received an Obie Award, a performance was later filmed by Spike Lee and released in 2001.
In addition to his performances in major studio productions, Smith continues to work in and support independent film projects. In 2003, he had a starring role in the Steven Soderbergh/George Clooney TV series K-Street on HBO. Also in 2003, Smith read in the HBO documentary, Unchained Memories: Readings from the Slave Narratives; the film, based on interviews conducted by the WPA in the 1930s with formerly enslaved African Americans, is a compilation of slave narratives with actors emulating the original conversation with the interviewer. Smith was also the voice of Bao-Dur in the video game Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II The Sith Lords. He portrayed a corrupt detective in the martial arts/crime film Fist of the Warrior, alongside Ho-Sung Pak and Sherilyn Fenn. Smith starred with Laurence Fishburne and Jeff Goldblum in the 1992 film Deep Cover. He also played a villain in All About the Benjamins (2002) with Ice Cube. In 2000, he portrayed Agent Screck in the first installment of the Final Destination horror films. In 2006, he played the main villain in the straight-to-video actioner Mercenary for Justice, opposite Steven Seagal. Smith was in the 2007 film American Gangster with Denzel Washington and Russell Crowe, in which he played the role of "Nate", Frank Lucas's army connection in Vietnam. Most recently he played the role of "Isaiah" in the 2016 film The Birth of a Nation, a film about the life of Nat Turner.
Smith also had a recurring role in the hit HBO series Oz.
Juan and John, written and performed by Guenveur Smith, is based on baseball's most famous fight—San Francisco Giants pitcher Juan Marichalclubbing Johnny Roseboro of the Los Angeles Dodgers with his bat during a 1965 battle for the pennant at Candlestick Park—which traumatized the playwright as a child.[3]
== Personal life ==
Smith works and resides in Los Angeles, California. He also resides in New York City. He is divorced from Carolina Smith, the mother of his adult daughter. He and his wife, LeTania Kirkland Smith, have three children.[4]
== Filmography ==
Year	Title 	Role 	Notes
1988	School Daze 	Yoda 	
1989	Do the Right Thing 	Smiley 	
1990	King of New York 	Tanner 	
1992	Deep Cover 	Eddie 	
1992	Malcolm X 	Rudy 	
1993	Poetic Justice 	Heywood 	
1995	Panther 	Pruitt 	
1995	Tales from the Hood 	Rhodie 	
1996	Get on the Bus 	Gary 	
1997	Eve's Bayou 	Lenny Mereaux 	
1998	He Got Game 	Big Time Willie 	
1999	Summer of Sam 	Detective Curt Atwater 	
1999	Facade 	Henson 	
2000	Final Destination 	Agent Schreck 	
2001	A Huey P. Newton Story 	Huey P. Newton 	TV movie
2002	All About the Benjamins 	Julian Ramose 	
2003	Shade 	Marlo 	
2004	Justice 	Carter 	
2004	Joy Road 	Charles Blocker 	
2006	Fatwa 	Samir Al-Faied 	
2006	Mercenary for Justice 	Anthony Chapel 	Video
2006	Confessions 	Father Jeffrey 	
2006	God's Waiting List 	Solomon Corbin 	
2007	Fist of the Warrior 	Det. Craig Barnes 	
2007	I Believe in America 	Cesar 	
2007	The Take 	Dr. Phineas 	
2007	American Gangster 	Nate 	
2007	Cover 	Kevin Wilson 	
2009	Fighting 	Jack Dancing 	
2009	The Rothstein Diamond 	Walter 	
2010	Caller ID 	Blake 	
2010	Mooz-Lum 	Hassan Mahdi 	
2010	Better Mus' Come 	Prime Minister 	
2011	The Son of No One 	Hanky 	
2011	CornerStore 	Earl 	
2011	Abduction 	Mr. Miles 	
2011	Lost Revolution 	Cesar 	
2012	In the Hive 	Paris 	
2013	Water & Power 	Turnvill 	
2013	They Die by Dawn 	Jourdon Anderson 	
2015	Dope 	Austin Jacoby 	
2015	Dutch Book 	Cornelius Parks 	
2015	But Not for Me 	Raymond Little 	
2015	Supermodel 	Max 	
2015	Chi-Raq 	Red, White, and Blue Insurance Salesman	
2016	The Birth of a Nation 	Isaiah 	
2016	Dirty 	Detective Berg 	
2016	Why Lie? Beer, Woman, Chicken Wings	Dubs Miguel 	
2017	Bitch 	Steven Sheriff 	
2017	The Queen of Hollywood Blvd 	Duke 	
2017	The Clapper 	Dr. Rogers B. Hay 	
2017	Rodney King 	Rodney King 	
2017	Dr. Brinks & Dr. Brinks 	Paul Sydney 	
2017	Marshall 	Walter White 	
2018	The Choir Director 	Trustee Jonathan Smith 	
2018	No More Mr Nice Guy 	El Gato 	
2018	The Other Side 	Martin 	
2018	Burning Shadow 	Mr. Jones 	
2018	I'll See You Around 	Michael Gomez 	
Category:1955 births