Omar Epps
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| Omar Epps | |||||||
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| Born | Omar Hashim Epps July 23, 1973 Brooklyn, New York |
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| Spouse(s) | Keisha Spivey Epps (2 children) | ||||||
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Omar Hashim Epps (born July 23, 1973) is an American actor and musician. Since 2004, he has played the role of Dr. Eric Foreman on the Fox medical drama series House.
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[edit] Biography
[edit] Early life
Epps was born in Brooklyn, New York 1974 to a single mother who was a school principal.[1] Before he started acting, he belonged to a rap group called Wolfpak which he formed with his brother in 1991. He began writing screenplays at the age of ten and attended the Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts.
[edit] Career
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Early in Omar's career, he was most often cast in the roles of troubled teen and/or athlete. Epps made his film debut with rapper Tupac Shakur as the star of Juice, cinematographer Ernest Dickerson's directorial debut, a violent and tragic story of four young men growing up in Harlem. He followed up his performance in Juice as a running back in the college football drama The Program alongside James Caan.
The following year, he switched to baseball as co-star of Major League II, taking over the role of Willie Mays Hayes from originator Wesley Snipes. His next athletic endeavor was playing a runner in John Singleton's Higher Learning, a look at the politics and racial tensions of college life.
Omar landed a role on the hit TV drama ER for several episodes portraying Dr. Dennis Gant, a troubled surgical intern on the television drama . After his television work on ER, Epps returned to the big screen in 1997 with a brief turn as a giddy moviegoer on a date with a woman played by Jada Pinkett, who ends up an early victim of a psycho slasher in the blockbuster sequel Scream 2. Also in 1997 Epps was the star of the fact-based HBO movie First Time Felon a movie he produced. Epps played a small-time criminal who goes through Chicago's boot camp reform system and undertakes a heroic flood rescue, only to then be faced with the adjustment of re-entering society with the mark of ex-con. In 1999 Epps was cast as Linc in The Mod Squad, the feature adaptation of the dated TV series most memorable for placing Epps in attractive but uncomfortable and decidedly unfashionable tight pants, a subject frequently raised by the actor in interviews promoting the film.
While The Mod Squad proved a critical and box office bust, Epps later 1999 effort The Wood offered him a serious and multi-dimensional role. Following a group of middle-class African-Americans from youth to adulthood, The Wood, the debut effort from director-screenwriter Rick Fumuyiwa, co-starred Richard T. Jones and Taye Diggs and received a push from co-producers MTV Films that ensured turnout of a sizable youth audience. Also in 1999, Epps was featured alongside Stanley Tucci and LL Cool J, playing an undercover detective who finds himself dangerously caught up in the illegal goings-on he is investigating in In Too Deep. 1999 also saw him lens the 1950s set murder mystery When Willows Touch, with James Earl Jones and Jada Pinkett Smith.
In 2000 Epps starred in Love and Basketball, featuring Alfre Woodard & Sanaa Lathan. He portrayed Quincy, the NBA hopeful who has a stormy relationship with an equally adept female basketball star Monica (Sanaa Lathan). The actor held supporting roles in a series of films including Dracula 2000, Big Trouble, and the telepic Conviction. In 2004, Epps landed the role of drug-dealer-turned-prizefighter Luther Shaw who falls under the tutelage of boxing promoter Jackie Kallen (Meg Ryan) in the biopic Against the Ropes.
Epps returned to television medical drama with his role as Dr. Eric Foreman on the American television series House alongside Hugh Laurie, Lisa Edelstein, Robert Sean Leonard, Jennifer Morrison & Jesse Spencer. House first aired in 2004. The role earned him a NAACP Image Award in 2007 for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series. Also in 2004, Epps was a character in the video game Def Jam Fight for NY.
Epps is often noted for his strong resemblance to Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin.[2][3] Epps has directed videos for artists including Heather B. and Special Ed.
[edit] Personal life
Epps is married to Keisha from the R&B group Total. He was previously involved with actress Sanaa Lathan.
[edit] Filmography
| Year | Title | Role |
|---|---|---|
| 1992 | Juice | Quincy 'Q' Powell |
| 1994 | Daybreak | Hunter |
| The Program | Darnell Jefferson | |
| 1994 | Major League II | Willie Mays Hayes |
| 1995 | Higher Learning | Malik Williams |
| 1996 | Deadly Voyage | Kingsley Ofusu |
| Don't Be a Menace to South Central While Drinking Your Juice in the Hood | Malik | |
| ER (TV series) (1996 - 1997) | Dr. Dennis Gant | |
| 1999 | Blossoms and Veils | Thee |
| First Time Felon | Greg Yance | |
| Scream 2 | Phil Stevens | |
| 2001 | In Too Deep | Jeff Cole--J Reid |
| The Wood | Mike | |
| The Mod Squad | Linc Hayes | |
| Breakfast of Champions | Wayne Hoobler | |
| 2000 | Brother | Denny |
| Love & Basketball | Quincy McCall | |
| Wes Craven Presents: Dracula 2000 | Marcus | |
| 2002 | Big Trouble | Seitz |
| Conviction | Carl Upchurch | |
| Perfume | J B | |
| 2004 | House (TV series) (2004 - present) | Dr. Eric Foreman |
| Against the Ropes | Luther Shaw | |
| Alfie | Marlon |
[edit] References
- ^ Omar Epps Biography (1974-)
- ^ Hickey, Patrick (2008-01-04), NFL Picks from "A Mush", Telegram & Gazette, <http://www.telegram.com/article/20080104/CHEAPSEATS/163025830>. Retrieved on 12 January 2008
- ^ Simmons, Bill (2007-10-27), Perfection, triple negatives ... and free tacos!, ESPN, <http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/print?id=3080187&type=story>. Retrieved on 12 January 2008
[edit] External links
- Omar Epps at the Internet Movie Database
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