James Avery

For other people named James Avery, see James Avery (disambiguation).

James Avery
Born	James L. Avery (1948-11-27) November 27, 1948 Atlantic City, New Jersey, U.S.
Occupation	Actor/Voice actor
Years active	1980–present
Height	Template:Ft in to cm
Spouse	Barbara Avery (1988–present)

James L. Avery, Sr. (born November 27, 1948) is an American actor, best known for his portrayal of the patriarch and attorney (later judge) Philip Banks, Will Smith's character's uncle, in the TV show The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. This character was ranked #34 in TV Guide's "50 Greatest TV Dads of All Time." He also provided the voice of Shredder in the original Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles television series, as well as War Machine in the animated series Iron Man and Junkyard Dog in Hulk Hogan's Rock 'n' Wrestling. He also played Michael Kelso's commanding officer at the police academy late in the series run of the popular sitcom That '70s Show.

Life and career

Avery was born in Atlantic City, New Jersey. An imposing figure standing at 6'5" (1.96 m), he often plays characters in legal or high-level professional fields. In addition to his fame in sitcoms, he did voice acting for many animated series, most notably the 1987 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles series (as the voice of The Shredder) and James Rhodes in the 1990s Iron Man series. He also performed in the single season production of Captain Simian and the Space Monkeys as "Gor-illa" a loveable, simple, and bi-polar gorilla. He has been the primary host of Going Places, a popular travel and adventure series on PBS. He also guest starred in That '70s Show as Officer Kennedy. In 2000, he guest starred in the "Unfriendly Skies" episode of CSI as Preston Cash, a legally-blind witness to a murder who assists the CSI team with a near-flawless verbal account of what he heard on board the flight. Avery recently played a Los Angeles County Medical Examiner, Dr. Crippen (who has recently appeared in a wheelchair), on the TNT series The Closer. In 2004, he guest starred on the television series That's So Raven where he played an entrepreneur. He also appeared in a 2005 episode of My Wife and Kids as Jay's reluctant professor. He was cast in the new sitcom Sherri, starring Sherri Shepherd, playing her father.

Most recently, Avery wrapped production on Valediction, which could begin its film festival circuit as early as October 2011. He plays the role of Edward, the husband of co-star Bonnie Bartlett. In addition, James recently starred in a 2012 role on the TV series Grey's Anatomy. He played a distraught spouse to his brain-dead partner who was a patient. Avery spends the majority of his time at his house in Longport, New Jersey.

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1980	The Blues Brothers	Man Dancing	Uncredited role
1980	The Stunt Man		Uncredited role
1985	Fletch	Detective #2
1985	Appointment With Fear	Connors
1986	Fist of the North Star	Fang	Voice Role
1986	The Eleventh Commandment	Larry
1986	8 Million Ways to Die	Deputy D.A.
1986	The Ladies Club	Joe
1986	Stoogemania	Gulch
1986	Extremities	Security Guard
1987	Deadly Daphne's Revenge	Det. Wood
1987	Three for the Road	Clarence
1987	Nightflyers	Darryl
1988	License to Drive	Les' DMV Examiner
1991	The Linguini Incident	Phil
1991	Beastmaster 2: Through the Portal of Time	Lt. Coberly
1991	Shout	Midnight Rider	Voice Role
1993	Little Miss Millions	Agent Noah Hollander
1995	The Brady Bunch Movie	Mr. Steve Yeager
1997	Spirit Lost	Dr. Glidden
1998	12 Bucks	Slow
1998	The Prince of Egypt	Additional Voices	Voice Role
1998	You Lucky Dog	Calvin Bridges
1999	After Romeo
1999	Out in Fifty	Cappy
2000	Dancing in September	Mr. Warner
2001	Chasing Sunsets	Mr. Burken
2001	Honeybee	Larry Dukes
2001	Dr. Dolittle 2	Eldon
2002	Wheelmen	Vice President
2004	Raise Your Voice	Mr. Gantry
2004	Hair Show	Seymour Gold
2005	Lethal Eviction	Gus
2005	The Third Wish	George
2005	A Christmas Wish	Saint	Short film
2006	Restraining Order	Judge Sanderson
2006	Think Tank	Uncle John
2006	Danika	Teddy Johnson
2007	Who's Your Caddy?	Caddy Mack
2007	Divine Intervention	Rev. Matthews
2008	His Good Will	Mr. Cooper	Short film
2008	Leave with It	Dr. Leon	Short film
2009	Let the Game Begin	Mark Hanley
2009	Steppin: The Movie	The Chancellor
2010	Stride	George
2010	The Grind	Modelo Snipes
2012	Valediction	Edward	post-production

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1983	Antony and Cleopatra	Mardian	Television film
1983	Tales of the Gold Monkey	Gabriel	Episode: "God Save the Queen"
1983	Newhart	Construction Guy	Episode: "Heaven Knows Mr. Utley"
1983	The Jeffersons	Coleman	"Episode: Father Christmas"
1983-84	Simon & Simon	Huey Roy	Episode: "Red Dog Blues" Episode: "Harm's Way"
1984	Hill Street Blues	Tolliver	"Episode: Ratman and Bobbin" "Episode: Nichols from Heaven" "Episode: Fuchs Me? Fuchs You!"
1984	Legmen	No Neck	Episode: "I Shall Be Re-Released"
1984	Hardcastle and McCormick		Episode: "Scared Stiff"
1984	Going Bananas	Hank
1984	Webster	Judge	Episode: "Webster Long (2)"
1984	Fist of the North Star	Fang	Voice Role
1984	The Dukes of Hazzard	Charlie	Episode: "Cool Hands, Luke & Bo"
1984-85	Brothers	Bubba Dean	Episode: "You Brought a New Kind of Love to Me" Episode: "The Strangers"
1985	Street Hawk	Councilman Waters	Episode: "Street Hawk" (Pilot)
1985	St. Elsewhere	Mental Patient	Episode: "Give the Boy a Hand"
1985	Cagney & Lacey		Episode: "Who Says It's Fair" (1)
1985	Kicks	Stanley	Television film
1985	Space	Jean-Marie	CBS Miniseries
1985	Scarecrow and Mrs. King	Nabuti	Episode: "Murder Between Friends"
1985	Hulk Hogan's Rock 'n' Wrestling	Junkyard Dog	Voice Role
1985	George Burns Comedy Week		Episode: "The Assignment"
1985	The A-Team		Episode: "The Heart of Rock n' Roll"
1985	Moonlighting	Reuben King	Episode: "Twas the Episode Before Christmas"
1986	Karate Kommandos	Additional Voices	Voice Role
1986	Amazing Stories	Chief Hansen	Episode: "Hell Toupee"
1986	Rambo and the Forces of Freedom	Turbo	Voice Role
1986	Samaritan: The Mitch Snyder Movie	Hank Dudney	Television film
1986	Condor	Cas	Television film
1986	Sunday Drive	Oliver	Television film
1986, 1989	The Real Ghostbusters	Killerwatt Additional Voices Judge	Voice Role Episode: "Killerwatt"/Episode: "Partners in Slime" Episode: "Jailbusters"
1986, 1988, 1989	Amen	Arnie Samples Rev. Crawford	5 episodes
1987	Jake's M.O.	Abel Barnes	Unsold pilot/Television film
1987	Timestalkers	Blacksmith	Television film
1987	Jake and the Fatman		Episode: Fatal Attraction
1987, 1989	Valerie	Judge N. Keller Mr. Erdman	Episode: "Hogan vs. Hogan" Episode: "License to Drive"
1987–1993	Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles	Shredder	Voice Role 103 episodes
1988	Dallas	Judge Fowler	Episode: "Malice in Dallas"
1988	Beauty and the Beast	Winslow
1988	227	Jo-Jo	Episode: "My Aching Back"
1988	Heart and Soul	Harlan Sinclair	Pilot
1988–1992	L.A. Law	Judge Michael Conover	9 episodes
1989	Full Exposure: The Sex Tapes Scandal	Earl	Television film
1989	Roe vs. Wade		Television film
1989	FM	Quentin Lamoreaux
1989	A Different World	The Pin Punisher	Episode: "To Have and Have Not"
1989	Turn Back the Clock	Physical Therapist	Television film
1990	Night Court	Judge Hopkins	Episode: "Wedding Bell Blues" (1)
1990	Capital News		Episode: Pilot
1990	To My Daughter		Television film
1990–1996	The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air	Philip Banks	141 episodes
1991	Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Planet of the Turtleoids	Shredder	Voice Role Television film
1991	The Legend of Prince Valiant	Sir Bryant	Voice Role 9 episodes
1992	Roc	Dale Hammers	Episode: "The Car Accident from Heaven"
1993	Without Warning: Terror in the Towers	Fred Ferby	Television film
1993-94	American Experience	Charles Hamilton Houston Narrator	Episode: "Simple Justice" Episode: "Midnight Ramble"
1994	Hart to Hart: Old Friends Never Die	Chess Player	Television film
1994	A Friend to Die For	Agent Gilwood	Television film
1994	Aladdin	Haroud Hazi Bin	Voice Role 9 episodes
1994–95	Iron Man	War Machine	Voice Role 7 episodes
1994, 1996	Duckman		Voice Role Episode: "It's the Thing of the Principal" Episode: "The Road to Dendron"
1995	ABC Weekend Special	Headman	Voice Role Episode: "Jirimpimbira - An African Folk Tale"
1995	Murder One	Judge Nathaniel Alexander	Episode: "Chapter Five"
1996	Gargoyles	The Shaman	Voice Role Episode: "Walk About"
1996	Captain Simian & the Space Monkeys	Gor-illa/Gor	Voice Role 26 episodes
1996	Spider-Man	War Machine	Voice Role Episode: "Sins of the Fathers Chapter 10 - Venom Returns" Episode: "Sins of the Fathers Chapter 11 - Carnage"
1996	Happy Gilmore	(Chubbs Peterson)	Voice Role <cp/>1 movie
1996–98	Sparks	Alonzo Sparks	40 episodes
1996, 1998	In the House	Mediator Sampson Stanton	Episode: "Love on a One-Way Street" Episode: "My Pest Friend's Wedding"
1997	Happily Ever After: Fairy Tales for Every Child	Father	Voice Role Episode: "The Golden Goose"
1997	Extreme Ghostbusters	Danny	Voice Role Episode: "Dry Spell"
1998	The Advanced Guard	Fred	Television film
1998	You Lucky Dog	Calvin	Television film
1998	The Wild Thornberrys	Gorilla	Voice Role Episode: "Valley Girls"
1999	Vengeance Unlimited	Judge Christopher Washington	Episode: "Legalese"
1999	King's Pawn	Cecil	Pilot
1999	For Your Love	Rev. Hicks	Episode: "Mother Load"
1999	Family Law		Episode: "Damages"
1999, 2000	Pepper Ann	Mr. Clapper	Episode: "Beyond Good and Evel..." Episode: "Unhappy Campers..." Episode: "The Finale"
2000	Bull	Prof. Gilbert Granville	Episode: "What the Past Will Bring"
2000	One World	William Richard	Episode: "Guess Who's Coming to Dinner"
2000	CSI: Crime Scene Investigation	Preston Cash	Episode: "Unfriendly Skies"
2000	Two Guys and a Girl	Judge	Episode: "Rescue Me"
2000, 2002	Dharma & Greg	Walter	Episode: "Love, Honor & Olé!" Episode: "Mission - Implausible"
2001	Epoch	Dr. Solomon Holt	Television film
2001	The Jamie Foxx Show	Reverend	Episode: "Always and Forever"
2001	Strong Medicine	Harold Jenkins	Episode: "Wednesday Night Fever"
2001	The Legend of Tarzan	Chief Keewazi	Voice Role Episode: "Tarzan and the Poisoned River" (1) Episode: "Tarzan and the Poisoned River" (2) Episode: "Tarzan and the Eagle's Feather"
2001	The Proud Family	Crandall Smythe	Voice Role Episode: "Spelling Bee"
2001-03	Soul Food	Walter Carter	Episode: "Nice Work If You Can Get It" Episode: "Life Lessons" Episode: "This Must Be Love" Episode: "All Together Alone"
2002	Philly	Dean Mark Clivner	Episode: "Here Comes the Judge"
2002	Judging Amy	Mr. Ruff	Episode: "Damage Control"
2002	Nancy Drew	Prof. Shifflin	Television film
2002–03	The Division	Charles Haysbert	9 episodes
2003	Reba	Judge Samuel Bennett	Episode: "The Feud"
2003	Crossing Jordan	Dr. Erkhart	Episode: "Conspiracy"
2003	Street Smarts	Contestant	Episode: "May 16, 2003"
2003	All About the Andersons	Roscoe	Episode: "Flo's Dream"
2003-04	All of Us	Lucas	Episode: "I Saw Tia Kissing Santa Claus" Episode: "Parents Just Don't Understand"
2004	That '70s Show	Officer Kennedy	Episode: "Young Man Blues" Episode: "A Legal Matter" Episode: "Happy Jack"
2004	Charmed	Zola	Episode: "A Call to Arms"
2004	NYPD Blue	Steve Pines	Episode: "Great Balls or Ire"
2004	Girlfriends	Dr. Couch	Episode: "Maybe Baby"
2004	That's So Raven	Presto Jones	Episode: "Opportunity Shocks"
2005–2007	The Closer	Dr. Crippen	11 episodes
2005	My Wife and Kids	Professor Tillman	Episode: "Study Buddy"
2005	Star Trek: Enterprise	General K'Vagh	Episode: "Affliction" Episode: "Divergence"
2005	Living With Fran	Mr. Bryant	Episode: "Learning with Fran"
2006	Take 3	Judge Sanderson	Episode: "Study Buddy"
2008	Eli Stone	Mason Andrews	Episode: "Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go"
2009	Sherri	Redmond	4 episodes
2012	Grey's Anatomy	Sam	Episode: "One Step Too Far"
2012	The Young and the Restless	Judge Roy Daley	2 episodes

Video games

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1989	Splash Mountain	Br'er Frog
1995	Animated Storybook: The Lion King	Narrator
2011	Kinect Disneyland Adventures	Br'er Bear

External links

• James Avery at IMDb
• James Avery at AllMovie
• James Avery at Memory Alpha
• The HistoryMakers Biography, photos and video clips