James Avery

Avery was born on November 27, 1945, in Pughsville, Virginia (present-day Suffolk, Virginia), to mother Florence J. Avery. He graduated from Atlantic City High School in 1963. He served in the U.S. Navy in the Vietnam War from 1968 to 1969, Avery's first acting role was playing God in the play J.B. in 1971 at San Diego Community College. He won an Emmy for production of "Ameda Speaks: Poet James Avery". He then received a scholarship to UC San Diego, where he attended Thurgood Marshall College (then Third College), earning a Bachelor of Arts degree in drama and literature in 1976. ==Career==

Avery began his career in the 1980s with appearances in television series such as NBC's Hill Street Blues, Showtime sitcom Brothers as Bubba Dean, Amen, FM and L.A. Law. In the 1990s, he achieved prominence for his role as Philip Banks in The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, a character that was ranked number 34 in TV Guides "50 Greatest TV Dads of All Time". After The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air ended, he played the lead role of Alonzo Sparks in the UPN comedy series Sparks that lasted for two seasons. Other notable roles in television included Dr. Crippen in The Closer, Charles Haysbert in The Division, and Michael Kelso's commanding officer at the police academy late in the series run of ''That '70s Show''. Among his most notable voice credits are the voices of Shredder in the first Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles animated series, Br'er Bear in the Walt Disney World version of Splash Mountain and Kinect: Disneyland Adventures and James Rhodes/War Machine in the 1990s Iron Man series. He also lent his powerful bass voice as Junkyard Dog in ''Hulk Hogan's Rock 'n' Wrestling (1985–1986), Turbo in Rambo and the Forces of Freedom (1986), and Haroud Hazi Bin in Aladdin'' (1994). In 1997, Avery hosted the travel series "Going Places" on PBS. ==Personal life==

In 1988, Avery married Barbara. Barbara was later dean of student life at Loyola Marymount University. He had no biological children, but was a stepfather to Barbara's son, Kevin Waters. ==Death==

On December 31, 2013 (New Year's Eve), Avery died at the age of 68 at Glendale Memorial Medical Center following complications from open heart surgery. Will Smith, Alfonso Ribeiro, In April 2020, Will Smith reunited with the cast of The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air on a video conference honoring Avery's best moments on the show. ==AveryFest==

AveryFest is an annual African-American cultural and music festival held every September or October since 2023 in Suffolk, Virginia, near Avery's birthplace. Featured at the 2023 festival were Barbara Avery, his TV wife from The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, actress Daphne Maxwell Reid, and a special jazz spotlight in memory of Avery, who loved jazz music. ==Filmography==

Film Television Video games/Other ==References==