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J. August Richards

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J. August Richards
J. August Richards at Dragon*Con,
August 31, 2012.
Born (1973-08-28) August 28, 1973 (age 51)
Washington, D.C., USA
OccupationActor
Years active1988–present

Jaime Augusto Richards III[1][2] (born August 28, 1973)[1] commonly known as J. August Richards is an American actor. He is best known for his portrayal of vampire hunter Charles Gunn on the WB television series Angel and Mike Peterson/Deathlok in Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.

Early life and education

Richards is of Afro-Panamanian descent.[2][3] He grew up in Bladensburg, Maryland.[3] Richards attended the Visual and Performing Arts program at Suitland High School in Suitland, Maryland and graduated in 1991. He attended the USC School of Dramatic Arts on a scholarship.[3]

Career

Richards's acting career began when he was spotted by a casting director. This resulted in him getting a guest star role on The Cosby Show as Vanessa's boyfriend Roy in the season 5 episode "Out of Brooklyn". Other guest appearances would come later on shows such as The Practice, Chicago Hope, Any Day Now, and Nash Bridges. Playing a rapping bike messenger who believes he is an alien abductee, it was the role of Taj Mahal in the Mark Taper Forum production of Tina Landau's play Space that first brought recognition.

Richards with Amy Acker at a 2004 John Kerry fund raiser.

Richards has appeared in feature films Why Do Fools Fall in Love and Good Burger. He starred in the television movies Critical Assembly and Mutiny, and appeared as singer Richard Street in the NBC miniseries The Temptations. Richards has also guest-starred on The West Wing and The 4400.

Richards gained a starring role beginning in the first season of Angel as Charles Gunn, a street-wise vampire hunter.  He remained a member of the cast throughout all five seasons.

Richards has so far been featured in four series as an attorney:  Beginning in the first episode of season five of Angel, "Conviction," Gunn becomes a lawyer after having his brain upgraded with a comprehensive knowledge of the law (both human and dæmonic) by the international and interdimensional law firm Wolfram & Hart.  In 2006, Richards joined the cast of NBC's Law & Order spin-off Conviction as Billy Desmond, an undefeated New York City Assistant District Attorney with political aspirations.  He has also been featured in CBS's CSI: Miami as the Floridian attorney Bob Villa, and portrayed attorney Marcus McGrath in the TNT series Raising the Bar until its cancellation.

Richards portrayed a young Richard Webber in two Grey's Anatomy episodes: "The Time Warp" in season six, and "Only Mama Knows" in season eleven.  He also appeared in an episode of The Mentalist.  Richards had played the part of Damon in "Just Say Yes", a 1998 episode of the science fiction television series Sliders.  Richards also guest-starred in an episode of Syfy's Warehouse 13.

On 5 April 2013, TVLine confirmed that Richards had been given an unspecified role in ABC's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.[4]  The character was later revealed to be a character named Mike Peterson, a human being with implants for injections of Super-serum (similar to those of Captain America) known as Deathlok.

Also in 2013, Richards created his own sci-fi web series called The Hypnotist.[5]

Filmography

Richards in 2014

Film

Year Film Role Notes
1995 OP Center FBI van tech TV film
1997 Good Burger Griffen
1998 Why Do Fools Fall in Love Sherman
1998 The Temptations Richard Street TV film
1999 Mutiny Reece Johnson TV film
2000 Running Mates Randall's aide TV film
2003 Critical Assembly Allan Marshall TV film
2006 Paved with Good Intentions Travis Balden

Television

Year Show Role Notes
1988 The Cosby Show Roy "Out of Brooklyn"
1993 Family Matters Guy at mall #2 "Scenes From a Mall"
1995 Space: Above and Beyond Lt. Thomas "The River of Stars"
1996 Diagnosis Murder Troy Sommers "The Pressure to Murder"
1997 JAG Seaman Bernard "Rendezvous"
1997 Good News John Braxton "Try a Little Tenderness"
1997 Players Sam Bodie "Contact Sport"
1998 Chicago Hope Eric Lane "Bridge over Troubled Waters"
1998 Clueless Stewey "Friends"
1998 Sliders Damon "Just Say Yes"
1999 The Practice Former boyfriend "Do Unto Others"
1999 The West Wing Bill "Post Hoc, Ergo Propter Hoc"
1999 Nash Bridges Ernie Vesper "Rip Off"
2000 Moesha Sean "Family Affair"
2000 Undressed Bryce 3 episodes
2000 Any Day Now Billy "It's a Good Thing I'm Not Black"
2000–04 Angel Charles Gunn 91 episodes
2004 CSI: Miami S.A. Bob Villa "Hell Night"
2006 Conviction A.D.A. Billy Desmond 13 episodes
2006 The 4400 John Shaffner "The Starzl Mutation"
2008–09 Raising the Bar Marcus McGrath 25 episodes
2010, 2014 Grey's Anatomy Young Richard Webber "The Time Warp", "Only Mama Knows"
2010 The Defenders ADA Bracken 2 episodes
2011 The Mentalist Dr. Vernon Watson "Bloodstream"
2011 Warehouse 13 Zach Adanto "Past Imperfect"
2013 Emily Owens, M.D. George Morgan "Emily... and the Leap"
2013 Arrow Mr. Blank "Home Invasion"
2013–present Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Michael Peterson / Deathlok 9 episodes
2014 The Lottery Deputy Secretary of State Nathan Mitchell 3 episodes
2014 Girlfriends' Guide to Divorce Ford Recurring character

References

  1. ^ a b "J. August Richards Biography (1973-)". filmreference.com. Retrieved August 18, 2009.
  2. ^ a b Bonin, Liane (2000-09-26). "Touched by an Angel". EW.com. Retrieved August 18, 2009.
  3. ^ a b c "Raising the Bar: J. August Richards". TNT. Archived from the original on February 19, 2009. Retrieved August 18, 2009. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  4. ^ Ausiello, Michael (April 5, 2013). "New S.H.I.E.L.D. mystery: Joss Whedon casts Angel alum in pilot — but as who?!". TVLine. Archived from the original on April 5, 2013. Retrieved April 5, 2013. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  5. ^ Obenson, Tambay A. (4 June 2013). "J. August Richards Launches New Sci-Fi Web Series 'The Hypnotist' Starring LisaGay Hamilton". Indiewire. Retrieved 8 April 2015.
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