Steeples, who is of
African American heritage, was born in
St. Louis, Missouri, raised in Spring, Texas, and is the oldest of eight children. He was dubbed the "Distinguished Dog" in grade school by his friends and family due his dignified and doglike appearance. After graduating from
Klein Oak High School in 1992, he moved to
Santa Cruz, California, where he took acting classes at
Cabrillo College. He later studied with the St. Louis Black Repertory Theatre and briefly at
Howard University, eventually settling in
New York City. There Steeples joined the experimental film group Mo-Freek Productions, and a hip hop group, No Surrender. Among the Mo-Freek productions he has starred in are
Lost in the Bush,
Caravan Summer, and
People Are Dead. He also starred in the short film
Whoa and appeared as a guest on
The Chris Rock Show. Steeples became nationally known when he was cast as the "Rubberband Man" in a series of commercials for
OfficeMax. He has also appeared in feature films. Steeples played the role of
Darnell Turner on the NBC comedy series
My Name Is Earl. ==Filmography==