Lester Speight
Encyclopedia
Lester Rasta Speight is a former American football
player who has had subsequent careers as a professional wrestler
and then actor
. Speight achieved significant recognition for his portrayal of Terry Tate: Office Linebacker
in a series of Reebok
commercials that first debuted during Super Bowl XXXVII
.
as a Division 1 All American Linebacker. In 1985 he signed with the Baltimore Stars
of the USFL. The USFL, however, folded before he even played one season. He never made it into the NFL.
Speight moved on to professional wrestling working for Global Wrestling Federation
and Catch Wrestling Association
as "Rasta the Voodoo Man". It was not long, however, before he quit wrestling in 1997, to pursue an acting career.
, 13 Moons
and as the club doorman, in Cradle 2 the Grave
. Speight has also appeared in many television shows such as Malcolm in the Middle
, NYPD Blue
, Arli$$, Prison Break
and My Wife and Kids
.
In 2003, Speight appeared in a Reebok
commercial that aired during the Super Bowl. The role was based on a character that Speight had played in a short independent film in 2000. In the commercial, Speight plays Terry Tate, an office linebacker
charged with the enforcement of office policies. For example, when one employee finishes the office's coffee and fails to begin brewing more, he is quickly tackled
by Tate, who stands over the man, screaming "You kill the joe
, you make some mo'!" Within the commercials, Speight promotes recycling, dutiful work, and several other courteous actions. The commercials received critical acclaim, and according to The Hollywood Reporter
was the most watched part of the Super Bowl by TiVo
viewers. The Office Linebacker spots recently returned as part of a campaign in support of voting. They feature several notable shorts of Terry Tate tackling a blind-sided Sarah Palin
, leaving her moaning in pain on the ground. Tate emphasizes the importance of reading and providing lucid responses during media interviews.
Speight also had a recurring role on Damon Wayan's ABC series My Wife and Kids as Calvin Scott. For the 2006 Xbox 360
game Gears of War
, Speight voiced the role of former "Thrashball" player Augustus Cole (a.k.a. Cole Train), humorously re-using some of his characteristic lines. He won the G-Phoria '07 award for Best Voiceover. Speight later reprised the role for both Gears of War 2
in 2008, and Gears of War 3
in 2011.
Speight guest-starred as prison inmate Banks on the show Prison Break
. Speight also had a role in the 2007 Eddie Murphy
motion picture Norbit
as Blue, one of the three brothers of Rasputia. He also appeared in Harold & Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay, as a character who is interrogated using racist methods. He then had a small role in the film Bachelor Party Vegas
, as Gold Tooth, a prison rapist.
Speight appeared in an episode of ESPN's Mayne Street comedy short. In the 2008 TV film Ring of Death
, Speight played convict "Milton Kennedy", a feared and revered gang boss (nicknamed "The President"), and undefeated champion of an underground fighting tournament in a notorious prison.
In 2009, Speight appeared in an episode of Bones
, "Double Trouble in the Panhandle", which aired on the Fox Broadcasting Company. He played the Traveling Circus's strong man "Magnum".
He played Hardcore Eddie in Transformers: Dark of the Moon.
American football
American football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...
player who has had subsequent careers as a professional wrestler
Professional wrestling
Professional wrestling is a mode of spectacle, combining athletics and theatrical performance.Roland Barthes, "The World of Wrestling", Mythologies, 1957 It takes the form of events, held by touring companies, which mimic a title match combat sport...
and then actor
Actor
An actor is a person who acts in a dramatic production and who works in film, television, theatre, or radio in that capacity...
. Speight achieved significant recognition for his portrayal of Terry Tate: Office Linebacker
Terry Tate: Office Linebacker
Terry Tate: Office Linebacker was a series of short comedy television commercials created by Rawson Marshall Thurber, for Reebok, based on a short film pilot he created in 2000; Tate was first shown at Super Bowl XXXVII in 2003...
in a series of Reebok
Reebok
Reebok International Limited, a subsidiary of the German sportswear company Adidas since 2005, is a producer of Athletic shoes, apparel, and accessories. The name comes from the Afrikaans spelling of rhebok, a type of African antelope or gazelle...
commercials that first debuted during Super Bowl XXXVII
Super Bowl XXXVII
Super Bowl XXXVII was an American football game played on January 26, 2003 at Qualcomm Stadium in San Diego, California to decide the National Football League champion following the 2002 regular season...
.
Football and professional wrestling
Speight spent time at Morgan State UniversityMorgan State University
Morgan State University, formerly Centenary Biblical Institute , Morgan College and Morgan State College , is a historically black college in Baltimore, Maryland, United States. Morgan is Maryland's designated public urban university and the largest HBCU in the state of Maryland...
as a Division 1 All American Linebacker. In 1985 he signed with the Baltimore Stars
Baltimore Stars
The Philadelphia/Baltimore Stars were a professional American football team which played in the United States Football League in the mid-1980s. They were owned by real estate magnate Myles Tanenbaum. They were the league's dominant team, playing in all three championship games and winning two of...
of the USFL. The USFL, however, folded before he even played one season. He never made it into the NFL.
Speight moved on to professional wrestling working for Global Wrestling Federation
Global Wrestling Federation
Global Wrestling Federation was a professional wrestling promotion based in Dallas, Texas. It started in June 1991 and folded in September 1994. At one time its shows were presented on the ESPN television network. On many weeks, the promotion provided programming five days a week airing at 4 p.m...
and Catch Wrestling Association
Catch Wrestling Association
The Catch Wrestling Association was a professional wrestling organization based in Austria and Germany and was founded in 1973. It was formerly run by famous AWA champion Otto Wanz. The CWA featured a traditional brand of mat wrestling mixed with various “Strong Man” competitions...
as "Rasta the Voodoo Man". It was not long, however, before he quit wrestling in 1997, to pursue an acting career.
Acting
From there he went on to appear in other minor roles in many films including Any Given SundayAny Given Sunday
Any Given Sunday is a 1999 American drama film directed by Oliver Stone depicting a fictional professional American football team. The film features an ensemble cast, consisting of Al Pacino, Cameron Diaz, Dennis Quaid, Jamie Foxx, James Woods, LL Cool J, Matthew Modine, John C...
, 13 Moons
13 Moons
13 Moons is a 2002 comedy-drama film by director Alexandre Rockwell. The title is a reference to the saying of a minor character's mother, who suggested that if nights of the full moon are strange, then "this must be the night of thirteen moons."- Plot :...
and as the club doorman, in Cradle 2 the Grave
Cradle 2 the Grave
Cradle 2 the Grave is a 2003 American action film directed by Andrzej Bartkowiak featuring martial artist Jet Li and rapper DMX.-Plot:...
. Speight has also appeared in many television shows such as Malcolm in the Middle
Malcolm in the Middle
Malcolm in the Middle is an American television sitcom created by Linwood Boomer for the Fox Network. The series was first broadcast on January 9, 2000, and ended its six-and-a-half-year run on May 14, 2006, after seven seasons and 151 episodes...
, NYPD Blue
NYPD Blue
NYPD Blue is an American television police drama set in New York City, exploring the internal and external struggles of the fictional 15th precinct of Manhattan...
, Arli$$, Prison Break
Prison Break
Prison Break is an American television serial drama created by Paul Scheuring, that was broadcast on the Fox Broadcasting Company for four seasons, from 2005 until 2009. The series revolves around two brothers; one has been sentenced to death for a crime he did not commit, and the other devises an...
and My Wife and Kids
My Wife and Kids
My Wife and Kids is an American television family sitcom that ran on ABC from March 28, 2001 until May 17, 2005. Produced by Touchstone Television , it starred Damon Wayans and Tisha Campbell-Martin, and centers on the character of Michael Kyle, a loving husband and modern-day patriarch who rules...
.
In 2003, Speight appeared in a Reebok
Reebok
Reebok International Limited, a subsidiary of the German sportswear company Adidas since 2005, is a producer of Athletic shoes, apparel, and accessories. The name comes from the Afrikaans spelling of rhebok, a type of African antelope or gazelle...
commercial that aired during the Super Bowl. The role was based on a character that Speight had played in a short independent film in 2000. In the commercial, Speight plays Terry Tate, an office linebacker
Linebacker
A linebacker is a position in American football that was invented by football coach Fielding H. Yost of the University of Michigan. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and line up approximately three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage, behind the defensive linemen...
charged with the enforcement of office policies. For example, when one employee finishes the office's coffee and fails to begin brewing more, he is quickly tackled
Tackle (football move)
Most forms of football have a move known as a tackle. The primary purposes of tackling is to disposses an opponent of the ball, to stop the player from gaining ground towards goal or to stop them from carrying out what they intend....
by Tate, who stands over the man, screaming "You kill the joe
Coffee
Coffee is a brewed beverage with a dark,init brooo acidic flavor prepared from the roasted seeds of the coffee plant, colloquially called coffee beans. The beans are found in coffee cherries, which grow on trees cultivated in over 70 countries, primarily in equatorial Latin America, Southeast Asia,...
, you make some mo'!" Within the commercials, Speight promotes recycling, dutiful work, and several other courteous actions. The commercials received critical acclaim, and according to The Hollywood Reporter
The Hollywood Reporter
Formerly a daily trade magazine, The Hollywood Reporter re-launched in late 2010 as a unique hybrid publication serving the entertainment industry and a consumer audience...
was the most watched part of the Super Bowl by TiVo
TiVo
TiVo is a digital video recorder developed and marketed by TiVo, Inc. and introduced in 1999. TiVo provides an on-screen guide of scheduled broadcast programming television programs, whose features include "Season Pass" schedules which record every new episode of a series, and "WishList"...
viewers. The Office Linebacker spots recently returned as part of a campaign in support of voting. They feature several notable shorts of Terry Tate tackling a blind-sided Sarah Palin
Sarah Palin
Sarah Louise Palin is an American politician, commentator and author. As the Republican Party nominee for Vice President in the 2008 presidential election, she was the first Alaskan on the national ticket of a major party and first Republican woman nominated for the vice-presidency.She was...
, leaving her moaning in pain on the ground. Tate emphasizes the importance of reading and providing lucid responses during media interviews.
Speight also had a recurring role on Damon Wayan's ABC series My Wife and Kids as Calvin Scott. For the 2006 Xbox 360
Xbox 360
The Xbox 360 is the second video game console produced by Microsoft and the successor to the Xbox. The Xbox 360 competes with Sony's PlayStation 3 and Nintendo's Wii as part of the seventh generation of video game consoles...
game Gears of War
Gears of War
Gears of War is a military science fiction third-person shooter video game developed by Epic Games and published by Microsoft Game Studios...
, Speight voiced the role of former "Thrashball" player Augustus Cole (a.k.a. Cole Train), humorously re-using some of his characteristic lines. He won the G-Phoria '07 award for Best Voiceover. Speight later reprised the role for both Gears of War 2
Gears of War 2
Gears of War 2 is a third-person shooter video game developed by Epic Games with lead design by Cliff Bleszinski, and published by Microsoft Game Studios for the Xbox 360. It is the second installment of the Gears of War series. The game was officially released in North America, Europe and...
in 2008, and Gears of War 3
Gears of War 3
Gears of War 3 is a third-person shooter video game developed by Epic Games and published by Microsoft Studios exclusively for the Xbox 360. Originally due for release in April 2011, the game was delayed and eventually released on September 20, 2011....
in 2011.
Speight guest-starred as prison inmate Banks on the show Prison Break
Prison Break
Prison Break is an American television serial drama created by Paul Scheuring, that was broadcast on the Fox Broadcasting Company for four seasons, from 2005 until 2009. The series revolves around two brothers; one has been sentenced to death for a crime he did not commit, and the other devises an...
. Speight also had a role in the 2007 Eddie Murphy
Eddie Murphy
Edward Regan "Eddie" Murphy is an American stand-up comedian, actor, writer, singer, director, and musician....
motion picture Norbit
Norbit
Norbit is a 2007 American comedy film directed by Brian Robbins and starring Eddie Murphy and Thandie Newton. Produced by Davis Entertainment and Tollin/Robbins Productions, the film also stars Terry Crews, Clifton Powell, Lester "Rasta" Speight, Eddie Griffin, Katt Williams, Marlon Wayans, and...
as Blue, one of the three brothers of Rasputia. He also appeared in Harold & Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay, as a character who is interrogated using racist methods. He then had a small role in the film Bachelor Party Vegas
Bachelor Party Vegas
Bachelor Party Vegas is a comedy film that was released in 2006 starring Kal Penn, Jonathan Bennett, Charlie Spiller, Diora Baird and Donald Faison...
, as Gold Tooth, a prison rapist.
Speight appeared in an episode of ESPN's Mayne Street comedy short. In the 2008 TV film Ring of Death
Ring of Death (2008 film)
Ring of Death is a television movie created for Spike TV in 2008, which stars Johnny Messner, Stacy Keach and Charlotte Ross.- Plot :Burke Wyatt is a hardened ex-cop with a seasoned history of extreme and over-the-top methods during his time with the police, but having been dismissed for the past...
, Speight played convict "Milton Kennedy", a feared and revered gang boss (nicknamed "The President"), and undefeated champion of an underground fighting tournament in a notorious prison.
In 2009, Speight appeared in an episode of Bones
Bones (TV series)
Bones is an American crime drama television series that premiered on the Fox Network on September 13, 2005. The show is based on forensic anthropology and forensic archaeology, with each episode focusing on an FBI case file concerning the mystery behind human remains brought by FBI Special Agent...
, "Double Trouble in the Panhandle", which aired on the Fox Broadcasting Company. He played the Traveling Circus's strong man "Magnum".
He played Hardcore Eddie in Transformers: Dark of the Moon.