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Reginald VelJohnson

 
Actor: Reginald VelJohnson
  • Born: Aug 16, 1952 in Queens, New York City, New York
  • Occupation: Actor
  • Active: '80s-2000s
  • Major Genres: Comedy, Mystery
  • Career Highlights: Turner and Hooch, Die Hard, Grass Roots
  • First Major Screen Credit: Die Hard (1988)

Biography

African-American actor Reginald VelJohnson is the ideal choice for "urban everyman" roles: his sour-apple facial expression, bald pate, and chubby frame are perfectly suited for the many policemen and blue-collar workers he has played over the years. Beginning in small parts in films like Ghostbusters (1984), VelJohnson gained a following with supporting roles in Crocodile Dundee (1986) and Die Hard (1988). A guest spot as an undercover cop on a 1989 episode of TV's Perfect Strangers led to VelJohnson's longest professional engagement to date. In the company of former Perfect Strangers regular Jo-Marie Payton-France, Reginald VelJohnson, since the fall of 1989, starred as Chicago cop Carl Winslow on the weekly comedy series Family Matters. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
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Reginald VelJohnson
Born August 16, 1952 (1952-08-16) (age 57)
Queens, New York, U.S.
Occupation Actor
Years active 1979 – present

Reginald VelJohnson (born August 16, 1952) is an American actor of film, stage and television, best known for his role as Carl Winslow on the sitcom Family Matters, where he was the only cast member to appear in every single episode. He was also LAPD Sgt. Al Powell in the film Die Hard (1988) and its sequel Die Hard 2 (1990).

Contents

Early life

VelJohnson was born in Queens, New York,[1] the son of Eve, a nurse, and Adam Johnson, a hospital attendant.[2] His father left the family when VelJohnson was 13 years old and his mother subsequently married John Reilly. [1] In high school, he was classmates with George Tenet and porn star Ron Jeremy.[3] VelJohnson obtained a Bachelor of Arts from New York University.[1]

Career

VelJohnson was known for playing police officers in movies and on television. In Ghostbusters, he had a brief appearance as a jail guard, and in Crocodile Dundee, he plays a limo driver. VelJohnson played Sgt. Al Powell in the 1988 hit Die Hard and later reprised the character in the 1990 sequel Die Hard 2, albeit in a much smaller role. VelJohnson also played a police officer alongside Tom Hanks in Turner and Hooch (1989). Johnson was cast as Carl Winslow in the sitcom Family Matters in 1989, a role that he played until 1998. He also had a minor role in the 2002 film Like Mike. VelJohnson replayed his role of Sgt. Al Powell in the Gamecube video game title, Die Hard: Vendetta, also in 2002. In 2004 he took the title role in the off-Broadway show She all Dat! (playing "she"). Since the end of Family Matters, besides making a few guest appearances on TV shows, VelJohnson has done mostly theater work. He wrote a critically acclaimed series of short stories called Division Street.[citation needed] One of them, called Sunday Evening Haircut, was made into a short film in 2005, which starred VelJohnson himself, alongside Kiki Shepard.

VelJohnson has also made guest appearances in several TV shows, including The Equalizer, Diagnosis Murder, Twice in a Lifetime, Will & Grace, Monk, CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, Eve, Crossing Jordan, The Parkers, That's So Raven, Chuck, in which he reprises his role as Al Powell, and Bones.

In 2007, he appeared in the short films Reverse, Nerve Endings, and Time Upon A Once which were made during the reality show On the Lot.[4] The following year he appeared as the "Sgt. Al Powell" character from the Die Hard series in an episode of NBC's Chuck entitled "Chuck Versus the Santa Claus", as the cousin of Big Mike (Mark Christopher Lawrence). [5]

Filmography

Film
Year Film Role Notes
1981 Wolfen Morgue Attendant
1984 Ghostbusters Jail Guard
1985 Remo Williams: The Adventure Begins Ambulance Driver
1986 Crocodile Dundee Gus
1987 Magic Sticks Licorice
1988 Plain Clothes Captain Graff
Die Hard Sgt. Al Powell
1989 Turner & Hooch Det. David Sutton
1990 Die Hard 2 Sgt. Al Powell
1991 A Fond Little Memory Short film
1993 Posse Preston
2000 Ground Zero Burt Green
2002 Waitin' to Live Willard Loggins
Like Mike Mr. Boyd
The King Slutzky Short film
2005 Sunday Evening Haircut O.C. Short film
Producer, writer
Suits on the Loose Brother Steedman
Death to the Supermodels Tom Direct-to-Video Release
2006 Hidden Secrets Norman Wexler
2007 Three Days to Vegas Johnny
Out at the Wedding Dexter
2009 Steppin: The Movie Mr. Shavers
Jelly Joe Woods awaiting release
Television
Year Title Role Notes
1985-1988 The Equalizer N/A (1985)
Harmon Hunter (1986)
Arthur Williams (1988)
Episode: Lady Cop
Episode: Dead Drop
Episode: Sea of Fire
1986 Doing Life Taylor NBC TV-Movie
1988 227 The Santa Thief Episode: The Night They Arrested Santa Claus
Quiet Victory: The Charlie Wedemeyer Story CBS TV-Movie
1989 Perfect Strangers Carl Winslow Episode: Crimebusters
19891998 Family Matters Carl Winslow 214 episodes
1990 Jury Duty: The Comedy Judge ABC TV-Movie
The Bride in Black Barry Gates ABC TV-Movie
1992 Grass Roots Mickey Henderson NBC TV-Movie
Tales from the Crypt Hotel Guest Episode: Werewolf Concerto
1993 Dream On Santa Episode: Silent Night, Holy Cow
1994 A Cool Like That Christmas Dad Voice Role
TV-Movie
One of Her Own Det. Bob Hymes ABC TV-Movie
1996 Deadly Pursuits Ed Conroy NBC TV-Movie
1998 Diagnosis: Murder Dr. David Sinclair Episode: The Last Resort
1999 The Hughleys Rev. Bennett Episode: Daddy's Going to Hell
2000 Twice in a Lifetime Dr. David Bryant Episode: Whistle Blower
2001 The Fugitive Maurice Beaumont Episode: Lagniappe
2002 CSI: Crime Scene Investigation Dr. Phillip Kane Episode: Face Lift
Episode: Gentle, Gentle
Crossing Jordan Mr. Holden Episode: Someone to Count On
In-Laws Chester - The Mattress King Episode: The Mattress Kings
Will & Grace Dr. Kaplan Episode: It's the Gay Pumpkin, Charlie Brown
2003 The Parkers Sterling Oglevee Episode: A Sterling Relationship
2005 That’s So Raven Ambassador Episode: The Royal Treatment
Ghost Whisperer Danny Small Episode: Undead Comic
2006 Eve Rev. Everett Episode: Oh, Brother
Monk Todd Episode: Mr. Monk and the Class Reunion
2007 On the Lot Neighbour in 'Time Upon A Once' Episode: 11 Cut to 10 & 10 Directors Complete
Bones Dale Owens Episode: The Santa in the Slush
2008 Chuck Sgt. Al Powell Episode: Chuck versus Santa Claus

References

External links


 
 

 

Copyrights:

Actor. Copyright © 2009 All Media Guide, LLC. All rights reserved.  Read more
Wikipedia. This article is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Reginald VelJohnson" Read more