Roger Guenveur Smith (; born July 27, 1955) is an American actor, director, and writer best known for his collaborations with Spike Lee.

Early life Roger Guenveur Smith was born on July 27, 1955, in Berkeley, California, the son of Helen Guenveur, a dentist, and Sherman Smith, a judge. He attended Loyola High School in Los Angeles, Beverly Hills High School in Beverly Hills, and graduated from Occidental College with a degree in American Studies. He then studied at Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut, where he successfully auditioned for the Drama School and switched his pursuit of a graduate degree in history. Additionally, Smith studied at the Keskidee Arts Centre in London.

Career

Smith has appeared in films such as School Daze, Do the Right Thing, King of New York, Panther, Malcolm X, Poetic Justice, Get on the Bus, Eve's Bayou, He Got Game, and Summer of Sam. Several of these films were with director Spike Lee. During the 1990s, he had a recurring role on A Different World.

In 1996, Smith starred in the self-written and produced A Huey P. Newton Story, a one-man theatre performance based on the life of Black Panther Party founder Huey P. Newton. Smith received an Obie Award, and a performance was later filmed by Spike Lee and released in 2001.

In addition to his performances in major studio productions, Smith continues to work in and support independent film projects. In 2003, he had a starring role in the Steven Soderbergh/George Clooney TV series K-Street on HBO. Also in 2003, Smith read in the HBO documentary, Unchained Memories: Readings from the Slave Narratives; the film, based on interviews conducted by the WPA in the 1930s with formerly enslaved African Americans, is a compilation of slave narratives with actors emulating the original conversation with the interviewer.

Smith was also the voice of Bao-Dur in the video game Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords. He portrayed Craig Barnes, a corrupt detective in the martial arts/crime film Fist of the Warrior, alongside Ho-Sung Pak and Sherilyn Fenn. Smith starred with Laurence Fishburne and Jeff Goldblum in the 1992 cult crime film Deep Cover. He also played a villain in All About the Benjamins (2002) with Ice Cube.

In 2000, he portrayed Agent Schreck in the first installment of the Final Destination horror films. In 2006, he played the main villain in the straight-to-video actioner Mercenary for Justice, opposite Steven Seagal. Smith was in the 2007 film American Gangster with Denzel Washington and Russell Crowe, in which he played the role of Nate, Frank Lucas (Washington)'s army connection in Vietnam. He also played the role of Isaiah in the 2016 film The Birth of a Nation, a film about the life of Nat Turner. Smith also had a recurring role in the hit HBO series Oz.

Juan and John, written and performed by Smith, is based on baseball's most famous fight—San Francisco Giants pitcher Juan Marichal clubbing John Roseboro of the Los Angeles Dodgers with his bat during a 1965 battle for the pennant at Candlestick Park—which traumatized the playwright as a child. Smith portrayed American black leader Booker T. Washington in the 2020 Netflix miniseries Self Made, based on the life of Madame C. J. Walker (Octavia Spencer). Smith wrote, directed, and performed the solo show In Honor of Jean-Michel Basquiat, a tribute to Jean-Michel Basquiat, whom he was friends with.

Personal life Smith is divorced from Carolina Smith, the mother of his adult daughter. He and his wife, LeTania Kirkland Smith, have three children.

Filmography Year Title Role 1988 School Daze Yoda 1989 Do the Right Thing Smiley 1990 King of New York Tanner 1992 Deep Cover Eddie Malcolm X Rudy 1993 Poetic Justice Heywood 1995 Panther Pruitt Tales from the Hood Rhodie 1996 Get on the Bus Gary 1997 Eve's Bayou Lenny Mereaux 1998 He Got Game Big Time Willie 1999 Summer of Sam Detective Curt Atwater Facade Henson 2000 Final Destination Agent Schreck 2001 A Huey P. Newton Story Huey P. Newton 2002 All About the Benjamins Julian Ramose 2003 Shade Marlo 2004 Justice Carter Joy Road Charles Blocker 2006 Fatwa Samir Al-Faied Mercenary for Justice Anthony Chapel Confessions Father Jeffrey God's Waiting List Solomon Corbin 2007 Fist of the Warrior Det. Craig Barnes I Believe in America Cesar The Take Dr. Phineas American Gangster Nate Cover Kevin Wilson 2009 Fighting Jack Dancing The Rothstein Diamond Walter 2010 Caller ID Blake Mooz-Lum Hassan Mahdi Better Mus' Come Prime Minister 2011 The Son of No One Hanky CornerStore Earl Abduction Mr. Miles Lost Revolution Cesar 2012 In the Hive Paris 2013 Water & Power Turnvill They Die by Dawn Jourdon Anderson 2015 Dope Austin Jacoby Dutch Book Cornelius Parks But Not for Me Raymond Little Supermodel Max Chi-Raq Red, White, and Blue Insurance Salesman 2016 The Birth of a Nation Isaiah 2016 Dirty Detective Berg Why Lie? Beer, Woman, Chicken Wings Dubs Miguel 2017 Bitch Steven Sheriff The Queen of Hollywood Blvd. Duke The Clapper Dr. Rogers B. Hay Rodney King Rodney King Dr. Brinks & Dr. Brinks Paul Sydney Marshall Walter White 2018 The Choir Director Trustee Jonathan Smith No More Mr Nice Guy El Gato The Other Side Martin Burning Shadow Mr. Jones I'll See You Around Michael Gomez Behind the Movement Rosa Parks husband2020Carl Weber's Influence Bradley Hudson 2022 Till Dr. T.R.M. HowardIn productionRemote

Television +YearTitleRoleNotes1990A Different WorldProfessor Howard Randolph5 episodes1991Murphy BrownMan in GalleryEpisode: "Eldin Imitates Life"1995Fallen Angels Johnny TrueloveEpisode: "Fearless"1997New York UndercoverForbesEpisode: "The Last Hurrah"OzHuseni Mershah2 episodes1997-1998All My ChildrenMiles Christopher6 episodes2000City Of Angels Terry PenningtonEpisode: "A Farewell to Arm"2002The Guardian Reginald HarrisEpisode: "The Next Life"2003K StreetFrancisco Dupre10 episodes2005Third WatchOfficer Ty Davies Sr.Episode: "Forever Blue"2008Terminator: The Sarah Connor ChroniclesSac FedericiEpisode: "Samson & Delilah"2009KingsBelialEpisode: "Brotherhood"2011Eagleheart VargasEpisode: "Get Worse Soon"The Whole TruthEpisode: "Lost in Translation"2017Queen SugarQuincyEpisode: "Heritage"2019Black Jesus CardinalEpisode: "Vatican Guys"2020Self MadeBooker T. WashingtonEpisode: "Bootstraps"2022–2023All RiseJudge Marshall Thomas8 episodes

Video games +YearTitleRole2004Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith LordsBao-Dur

References

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