Larenz Tate

Born: 1975-09-08

Larenz Tate (born September 8, 1975) is an American film and television actor. Tate was born on the west side of Chicago, Illinois. He is the youngest of three siblings whose family moved to California when he was nine years old. Convinced by their parents to enter a drama program at the Inner City Cultural Center, the trio did not take the lessons seriously until classmate Malcolm-Jamal Warner's ascent to fame after being cast on the sitcom The Cosby Show. Subsequently realizing that they could parlay their efforts into a tangible form of success, the siblings began to receive small roles and in 1985, Tate made his small-screen debut in an episode of The New Twilight Zone series. Following appearances in such television series as 21 Jump Street and The Wonder Years, Tate was cast in the television movie The Women of Brewster Place before receiving the recurring role of Steve Urkel's nemesis, Willie Fuffner, in the family comedy series Family Matters (1989). He was also a cast member on the CBS series The Royal Family, starring Redd Foxx and Della Reese, which ended prematurely when Redd Foxx suddenly died. In the video game 187 Ride or Die, Tate voices the main character, Buck. Following numerous small-screen roles, offers began pouring in for Tate, and in late 1992, collaborative filmmaking siblings Albert and Allen Hughes approached him to star in their debut feature Menace II Society. A jarring vision of inner-city desperation and decay, the film found Tate channeling his substantial energy into creating "O-Dog", a trigger-happy teenager. Following up with the little-seen but often-praised television series South Central, Tate would later appear in the family comedy-drama The Inkwell (1994) before re-teaming with the Hughes brothers for Dead Presidents (1995) and taking on the role of a love-stricken young poet in the romantic drama Love Jones (1997). Larenz Tate also played the role of Kenny in The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air in the episode "That's no Lady That's my Cousin". There followed roles in The Postman (as the automotively monikered Ford Lincoln Mercury), the Frankie Lymon biopic Why Do Fools Fall in Love (1998, with Tate as Lymon), and 2000's Love Come Down. Though a big theatrical release had eluded Tate for the first few years of the millennial turnover, Tate would soon turn up opposite Laurence Fishburne in the high-octane but critically derided Biker Boyz (2003), A Man Apart (2003), Crash (2004), as music legend Quincy Jones in Ray (2004), and Waist Deep (2006). Larenz was also featured in R&B singer Ashanti's 2003 released music video Rain on Me, where he played the jealous, abusive spouse of Ashanti. The video touched on the subject of domestic abuse. He can be seen in the latest season of FX Network's Rescue Me. Tate is married to Tomasina 'Geneva' Parrott. They have two sons together named Myles and Zander.


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Crash

as Peter Waters
Released: 2005-05-06

In post-Sept. 11 Los Angeles, tensions erupt when the lives of a Brentwood housewife, her...

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Menace II Society

as Kevin 'O-Dog'
Released: 1993-05-26

A young street hustler attempts to escape the rigors and temptations of the ghetto in a quest...

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Ray

as Quincy Jones
Released: 2004-10-29

Born on a sharecropping plantation in Northern Florida, Ray Charles went blind at seven....

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as Anthony Curtis
Released: 1995-09-29

On the streets they call cash dead presidents. And that's just what a Vietnam veteran is after...

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Don't See

The Postman

as Ford
Released: 1997-12-25

In 2013, there are no highways, no I-ways, no dreams of a better tomorrow, only scattered...

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Girls Trip

as Julian Stevens
Released: 2017-07-21

Four girlfriends take a trip to New Orleans for an annual festival and, along the way,...

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as Demetrius Hicks
Released: 2003-04-04

When Vetter's wife is killed in a botched hit organized by Diablo, he seeks revenge against...

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See!

Biker Boyz

as Wood
Released: 2003-01-31

A mythic motorcycle tale of father and son", this is the story of Manuel Galloway, also known as...

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Waist Deep

as Lucky
Released: 2006-06-23

An ex-convict gets tangled up with a gang after his car is hijacked with his son inside.

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Beta Test

as Max
Released: 2016-07-22

While testing the latest first person shooter from global game developer, Sentinel, video game...

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Michael

as Berry Gordy
Released: 2025-10-01

An in-depth portrayal of Michael Jackson, a complicated man, who became the King of Pop. The...

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Los Angeles Plays Itself

as Frankie Lymon in Why Do Fools Fall In Love (archive footage)
Released: 2004-07-28

From its distinctive neighborhoods to its architectural homes, Los Angeles has been the backdrop...

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Love Jones

as Darius Lovehall
Released: 1997-03-14

Darius Lovehall is a young black poet in Chicago who starts dating Nina Moseley, a beautiful and...

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Why Do Fools Fall In Love

as Frankie Lymon
Released: 1998-08-28

In the mid-80s, three women (each with an attorney) arrive at the office of New York...

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Unity

as Narrator (voice)
Released: 2015-08-12

Despite the advent of science, literature, technology, philosophy, religion, and so on -- none...

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The Women of Brewster Place

as Sammy
Released: 1989-03-19

A multigenerational story of the lives of several black women who call an inner-city tenement home.

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The Inkwell

as Drew Tate
Released: 1994-04-22

The Inkwell is about a 16-year-old boy coming of age on Martha's Vineyard in the summer of 1976.

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Gun Hill

as Bird Stevens
Released: 2014-07-02

A con man, Bird Stevens, assumes the identity of his cop twin brother, Trane, after his death;...

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Deuces

as Deuces
Released: 2017-04-01

Assigned to go undercover to take down an impenetrable crime ring, a detective finds himself...

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Business Ethics

as Zachery Cranston
Released: 2020-10-23

Fresh out of business school, Zachery Cranston seems to have all the tools necessary to succeed...

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Love Come Down

as Neville Carter
Released: 2000-08-02

Two brothers in their early 20s, one black, one white, each the other's keeper since their...

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Seeds of Tragedy

as Cornelius
Released: 1991-06-15

Coca leaves making their way from Peru to Downtown Los Angeles.

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White Water

as Terrance
Released: 2015-02-07

White Water is the story of a 7 year-old black kid in segregated 1963 Opelika, Alabama who...

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Gangsta Vision: Making ‘Menace 2 Society’

as uncredited
Released: 2009-09-08

Documentary about the making of "Menace 2 Society."

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Bill Bellamy's Ladies Night Out Comedy Tour

as Himself
Released: 2013-02-22

Bill Bellamy's groundbreaking comedy tour brings together some of today's hottest male comics on...

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Justified

as Clinton Moss
First aired: 2010-03-16

A character drama based on the 2001 Elmore Leonard short story "Fire in the Hole." Leonard's...

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The Wonder Years

as Basketball Team Captain
First aired: 1988-01-31

The story of Kevin Arnold facing the trials and tribulations of youth while growing up during...

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The Twilight Zone

as uncredited
First aired: 1985-09-27

This 1980s revival of the classic sci-fi series features a similar style to the original...

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Hell's Kitchen

as Self - Restaurant Patron
First aired: 2005-05-30

Aspiring restaurateurs brave Ramsay and his fiery command of the kitchen as he puts the...

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21 Jump Street

as Young Adam Fuller
First aired: 1987-04-12

21 Jump Street revolves around a group of young cops who would use their youthful appearance to...

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Power

as Rashad Tate
First aired: 2014-06-07

A successful New York entrepreneur lives a double life as the head of a drug empire that serves...

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The Jennifer Hudson Show

as uncredited
First aired: 2022-09-12

Talented entertainer and newly-minted EGOT Jennifer Hudson takes on the daytime talk show landscape.

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The Mindy Project

as Tracy
First aired: 2012-09-25

Obstetrician/gynecologist Mindy Lahiri tries to balance her personal and professional life,...

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Family Matters

as uncredited
First aired: 1989-09-22

A long-running dramedy centering on the Winslow family, a middle-class African American family...

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Rescue Me

as Bart 'Black Shawn' Johnston
First aired: 2004-07-21

Rescue Me revolves around the lives of the men in a New York City firehouse, the crew of 62...

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Rescue Me

as Bart Johnston
First aired: 2004-07-21

Rescue Me revolves around the lives of the men in a New York City firehouse, the crew of 62...

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Matlock

as uncredited
First aired: 1986-03-03

Matlock is an American television legal drama, starring Andy Griffith in the title role of...

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Power Book II: Ghost

as Councilman Tate
First aired: 2020-09-06

Picking up just days after the “Power” finale, this sequel series follows Tariq navigating his...

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The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air

as Kenny
First aired: 1990-09-10

Will, a street-smart teenager, moves from the tough streets of West Philly to posh Bel-Air to...

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Hunter

as Sporty's Nephew
First aired: 1984-09-18

Hunter is an American police drama television series created by Frank Lupo, and starring Fred...

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Sherri

as Self - Guest
First aired: 2022-09-12

Sherri Shepherd, actress, comic, and Emmy Award-winning longtime co-host of "The View", appears...

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Rush

as Dr. Alex Burke
First aired: 2014-07-17

Dr. William Rush is not your average on-call doctor. He's not attached to any hospital, he's...

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Beat Shazam

as Self
First aired: 2017-05-25

Game show in which teams of two race against the clock and each other as they attempt to...

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Game of Silence

as Shawn Polk
First aired: 2016-04-12

A successful Atlanta attorney's long-lost childhood friends unexpectedly reappear after 25...

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The Royal Family

as Curtis Royal
First aired: 1991-09-18

A soon-to-be divorced woman moves back home with her three kids.

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Love Monkey

as Shooter Cooper
First aired: 2006-01-17

Thirty-something, single, record executive Tom Ferrell navigates the tumultuous and highly...

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South Central

as Andre Mosely
First aired: 1994-04-05

South Central is an American comedy-drama series that aired on the Fox network from April 5,...

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New Attitude

as Chilly D
First aired: 1990-08-08

New Attitude is an American sitcom that aired on ABC in from August to September 1990. Based on...

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