Chi McBride

Chi McBride
McBride at San Diego Comic-Con in July 2010
Born	Kenneth "Chi" McBride September 23, 1961 (1961-09-23) Chicago, Illinois, USA
Occupation	Actor, singer-songwriter
Years active	1992–present

Kenneth "Chi" (pronounced "shy") McBride (born September 23, 1961) is an American actor. He starred as Steven Harper on the series Boston Public, as Emerson Cod on Pushing Daisies, and recently appeared in Fox's drama Human Target.

Early life

Kenneth McBride was born in Chicago, Illinois, from which his nickname, Chi, derives. He was raised in the Seventh-day Adventist church and attended Shiloh Academy, now known as Chicago SDA Academy, a Seventh-day Adventist school. He graduated from high school at the age of 16. McBride originally planned to pursue a career in music. After studying several instruments and singing with gospel choirs in his native Chicago, he relocated to Atlanta in 1986 to work for AT&T as a billing clerk.

Career

His first success in show business came with the hit song "He's the Champ", which parodied the marriage of boxer Mike Tyson and actress Robin Givens. Based on the tune's success, McBride was signed by Esquire Records and he joined the rhythm and blues band Covert. Convinced he should try his hand in front of the camera, the singer moved to Los Angeles and, billed as "Chi", landed guest spots on Fox's In Living Color and NBC's The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air as well as a featured role in the TV movie Revenge of the Nerds III: The Next Generation.

In 1998, he was a co-star of Mercury Rising, alongside Bruce Willis. He was later given the role of Principal Steven Harper on the series Boston Public. Much of McBride's work sees him playing right-hand man to the hero, as in the films Mercury Rising and The Terminal. McBride is unusual among actors in that he did not begin his acting career until the age of 30. He is notable for his television roles on Boston Public, The John Larroquette Show, House, The Secret Diary of Desmond Pfeiffer, Killer Instinct and Pushing Daisies.

McBride's film credits include Cradle 2 the Grave, The Distinguished Gentleman, Gone in 60 Seconds, The Frighteners, Narc, The Terminal, I, Robot, Roll Bounce, Annapolis, Hoodlum, Undercover Brother, Let's Go to Prison and The Brothers Solomon. McBride portrayed eight different characters in the play Nagataki Sake, directed by Robert Downey, Sr.

He starred in Human Target as Winston, business partner of Christopher Chance (the protagonist). The show premiered on January 17, 2010, on the Fox Broadcasting Company.

Chi has also appeared on an episode of "Celebrity Ghost Stories", depicting an incident during 1988 before his acting career in which he was subconsciously led to the Lorraine Motel while stopped over in Memphis, and experienced psychic visions of Martin Luther King's assassination on the 20th anniversary of the event.

Filmography

• Ultimate Spider-Man (2012) .... Nick Fury
• Human Target (2010–2011) .... Winston
• Still Waiting... (2009) .... Bishop
• First Sunday (2008) .... Pastor Arthur Mitchell
• American Son (2008) .... Eddie
• Pushing Daisies (2007) .... Emerson Cod
• Brothers Solomon (2007) .... James
• Let's Go to Prison (2006) .... Barry
• The Nine (2006–2007)... Malcolm Jones
• Annapolis (2006) .... McNally
• Roll Bounce (2005) .... Curtis Smith
• Waiting... (2005) .... Bishop
• House, M. D. .... Edward Vogler
• Boston Legal (2005) TV Episode .... Steven Harper
• Killer Instinct (2005) .... Lt. Matt Cavanaugh
• Boston Public... Steven Harper
• I, Robot (2004) .... Lt. John Bergin
• The Terminal (2004) .... Mulroy
• Delusion (2003) .... John
• Cradle 2 the Grave (2003) (uncredited) .... Jump Chambers
• Paid in Full (2002) .... Pip
• Undercover Brother (2002) .... The Chief
• Narc (2002) .... Captain Cheevers
• The Practice (2001) TV series .... Episode 'The Day After'... Steven Harper
• Disney's The Kid (2000) .... Kenny
• Max Steel (2000) TV Series .... Jefferson Smith
• Gone in 60 Seconds (2000) .... Donny Astricky
• God, the Devil and Bob (2000) TV series
• Dancing in September (2000) .... Security Guard
• King of the World (2000) (TV) .... Drew 'Bundini' Brown
• Magicians (2000) .... Tom
• The Parkers (1999) .... Cliff Rogers
• The Secret Diary of Desmond Pfeiffer (1998) TV Series .... Desmond Pfeiffer
• Mercury Rising (1998) .... FBI Agent Thomas 'Bizzi' Jordan
• Hoodlum (1997) .... Illinois Gordon
• Nash Bridges (1996) .... Luscious
• The Frighteners (1996) .... Cyrus
• Married... with Children.... Dexter
• Cosmic Slop (1994) (TV) .... T-Bone (segment "Tang")
• The John Larroquette Show (1993) TV Series .... Heavy Gene
• What's Love Got to Do with It (1993) (as Chi) .... Fross
• The Distinguished Gentleman (1992) (as Chi).... Homer
• The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air (1992) .... Ed Barker
• Revenge of the Nerds III: The Next Generation (1992) (TV) (as Chi).... Malcolm Pennington III

Guest appearances

• Suits (2011)....District Attorney Wolf
• HawthoRNe (2011)....Interim COO of James River - Garlan Brice
• How I Met Your Mother (2011)....Rod
• Psych (2010)....Craig
• Jimmy Kimmel Live .... Himself
• Monk (2006)....Mayor of San Francisco
• House, M. D. (2005)....Edward Vogler
• Day Out of Days: The 'I, Robot' Production Diaries (2004)... Himself
• Inside 'The Terminal' (2004) .... Himself
• HBO First Look
• The N-Word (2004) .... Himself
• Robot Revolution: The Making of 'I, Robot' (2004) (TV).... Himself
• Watch the Making of Mercury Rising (1999).... Himself
• The Making of 'The Frighteners' (1998).... Himself
• Married... with Children (1994) .... Dexter

Productions

• Delusion (2003) (producer)

External links

• Chi McBride at the Internet Movie Database
• Chi McBride at MTV.com