Mark Christopher Lawrence

Mark Christopher Lawrence (born May 22, 1964) is an American character actor, stand-up comedian and voice-over artist. He is known for his role as esoteric D.J., Tone Def, in the 1994 satirical rap mockumentary, Fear of a Black Hat. He has appeared in popular films such as Terminator 2: Judgment Day, Tales From the Hood, Planet of the Apes, Lost Treasure and The Pursuit of Happyness.

Mark Christopher Lawrence
Lawrence at the 2011 Comic Con in San Diego
Born (1964-05-22) May 22, 1964
Los Angeles, California, U.S.
OccupationCharacter actor, stand-up comedian, voice-over artist
Years active1988-present
Websitemarkchristopherlawrence.com

Lawrence is best known for his role as Big Mike on the NBC series Chuck. He has made guest appearances on many television programs, most notably Heroes, My Name Is Earl, Crossing Jordan, Dharma & Greg, Malcolm in the Middle, Touched by an Angel, Malcolm & Eddie, Men Behaving Badly, Seinfeld, Murphy Brown, Good Luck Charlie and Martin. He is also featured on the Radio Series Adventures in Odyssey as "Ed Washington".[1]

Early life and education

Lawrence grew up in Compton, California. He and his two siblings were raised by a single mother. In tenth grade, he became involved with his high school's debate team—immersing himself in forensics competitions and theater. After winning his school district's Literary Olympiad competition, Lawrence went on to compete at the state and national levels as a member of the Cerritos Community College forensics squad. There he went on to capture the collegiate Bovero-Tabor Award, awarded to the top junior college speaker in the country. Lawrence gained the attention of the University of Southern California’s debate team coaches, and was awarded a full scholarship to attend the university. While at USC, he traveled the nation competing in tournaments. Meanwhile, he was gaining valuable experience in his craft by moonlighting at the Los Angeles Theater Center. There, a Hollywood talent agent noticed his skill and landed Lawrence his first job in television, a role on Hill Street Blues.

After graduation from USC, he worked with the San Francisco Mime Troupe while also performing standup comedy throughout the United States, Australia, and Canada, opening for major acts, such as Jerry Seinfeld and Rodney Dangerfield. Lawrence's work in live theater led to a Dramalogue Award for his performance in Reza Abdoh’s, Minimanta. He won an NAACP award for his work in Ken Davis' The Glass House in 1990. It was this role which attracted the attention of director, James Cameron, who then cast him as the "burly insane asylum attendant" in Terminator 2: Judgment Day.

Filmography
Year Title Role Notes
1988 Caddyshack II Construction Worker #4
1989 Listen to Me Attila
1991 Terminator 2: Judgment Day Burly Attendant
Child's Play 3 Cop
1993 Fear of a Black Hat Tone Def
1995 Crimson Tide Rono, Chief Culinary Specialist
Tales from the Hood Prison Guard
1997 That Darn Cat Rollo
Sprung Brotha #3
1998 Senseless Wig Shop Owner
1999 Molly Angels' Manager
Shake, Rattle and Roll: An American Love Story Fats Domino
2001 Planet of the Apes Friend at Leo's Party
Two Can Play That Game Lying Man #4
K-PAX Simms
2003 Lost Treasure Danny G.
2004 Garfield: The Movie Christopher Mello
Christmas with the Kranks Wes Trogden
Tiger Cruise Pop
2005 Fair Game Wesley
The Island Construction Worker
2006 The Pursuit of Happyness Wayne
Weeds (TV series) 02x02 Mike
2007 My Name Is Earl Jack Knox
2007–2012 Chuck Big Mike
2009 Halloween II Deputy Fred King
2010 Speed-Dating Dr. Petesmith
2013 Amazing America with Sarah Palin Co-Host
2015 Murder? [2] Jason 2 episodes
2016 Pitch Russell
2017 Stage Fright TV film

References
  1. "Cast & Crew: Mark Christopher Lawrence". The Odyssey Scoop. Retrieved 2013-06-06.
  2. "bio" (PDF). mildlyfearsomefilms.com. Retrieved 2019-05-25.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.