Roger Guenveur Smith
Encyclopedia
Roger Guenveur Smith is an American actor, director, and writer.
, the son of Helen Guenveur, a dentist
, and Sherman Smith, a judge
. He attended Occidental College
(American Studies) in Los Angeles and Yale University
in New Haven, Connecticut where he successfully auditioned for the Drama School, switching from his pursuit of a graduate degree in History. Additionally, Smith studied at the Keskidee Arts Centre in London, England.
for his signature solo performance in A Huey P. Newton Story
on stage. In film, Smith has had a successful collaboration with Spike Lee
on several works. He has appeared in films such as School Daze
, Do The Right Thing
, King of New York
with Christopher Walken
, Malcolm X
, Get On The Bus
, Eve's Bayou
, He Got Game
, and Summer of Sam
. During the 1990s, he had a recurring role on A Different World and Homicide: Life on the Street. In addition to his performances in major studio productions, Smith continues to work in and support independent film projects. In 2003, Smith 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 Narrative
s"; the film was based on interviews conducted by the WPA
in the 1930s with then-surviving former African American slaves. He was also the voice of Bao-Dur in video game Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II The Sith Lords. He portrayed 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 film Deep Cover
. He also played a villain in All About the Benjamins
with Ice Cube
. His latest major role was in the film American Gangster with Denzel Washington
and Russell Crowe
, in which he played the role of "Nate", Frank Lucas's
army connection in Vietnam.
. He also resides in New York City
and also appeared in the acclaimed HBO Series, OZ
, Season One, the film Tales from the Hood
with Corben Bernsen, Final Destination
, and a multitude of other film, television and stage appearances. He is also married to Carolina and has one grown daughter.
Early life
Smith was born in Berkeley, CaliforniaBerkeley, California
Berkeley is a city on the east shore of the San Francisco Bay in Northern California, United States. Its neighbors to the south are the cities of Oakland and Emeryville. To the north is the city of Albany and the unincorporated community of Kensington...
, the son of Helen Guenveur, a dentist
Dentist
A dentist, also known as a 'dental surgeon', is a doctor that specializes in the diagnosis, prevention, and treatment of diseases and conditions of the oral cavity. The dentist's supporting team aides in providing oral health services...
, and Sherman Smith, a judge
Judge
A judge is a person who presides over court proceedings, either alone or as part of a panel of judges. The powers, functions, method of appointment, discipline, and training of judges vary widely across different jurisdictions. The judge is supposed to conduct the trial impartially and in an open...
. He attended Occidental College
Occidental College
Occidental College is a private, coeducational liberal arts college located in the Eagle Rock neighborhood of Los Angeles, California. Founded in 1887, Occidental College, or "Oxy" as it is called by students and alumni, is one of the oldest liberal arts colleges on the West Coast...
(American Studies) in Los Angeles and Yale University
Yale University
Yale University is a private, Ivy League university located in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701 in the Colony of Connecticut, the university is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States...
in New Haven, Connecticut where he successfully auditioned for the Drama School, switching from his pursuit of a graduate degree in History. Additionally, Smith studied at the Keskidee Arts Centre in London, England.
Career
Smith received an Obie AwardObie Award
The Obie Awards or Off-Broadway Theater Awards are annual awards given by The Village Voice newspaper to theatre artists and groups in New York City...
for his signature solo performance in A Huey P. Newton Story
A Huey P. Newton Story
A Huey P. Newton Story is an American documentary directed by Spike Lee. The movie was created, written and performed, as a solo performance, by Roger Guenveur Smith at The Joseph Papp Public Theatre. In this performance, Smith creates a representation of the activist Huey P. Newton’s life and time...
on stage. In film, Smith has had a successful collaboration with Spike Lee
Spike Lee
Shelton Jackson "Spike" Lee is an American film director, producer, writer, and actor. His production company, 40 Acres & A Mule Filmworks, has produced over 35 films since 1983....
on several works. He has appeared in films such as School Daze
School Daze
School Daze is a 1988 American musical-drama film, written and directed by Spike Lee, and starring Laurence Fishburne, Giancarlo Esposito, and Tisha Campbell-Martin...
, Do The Right Thing
Do the Right Thing
Do the Right Thing is a 1989 American dramedy produced, written, and directed by Spike Lee, who is also a featured actor in the film. Other members of the cast include Danny Aiello, Ossie Davis, Ruby Dee, Richard Edson, Giancarlo Esposito, Bill Nunn, and John Turturro. It is also notably the...
, King of New York
King of New York
King of New York is a 1990 American crime drama film, starring Christopher Walken, Laurence Fishburne, David Caruso, Wesley Snipes, Victor Argo, and Giancarlo Esposito. It was directed by independent filmmaker Abel Ferrara and written by Nicholas St...
with Christopher Walken
Christopher Walken
Christopher Walken is an American stage and screen actor. He has appeared in more than 100 movies and television shows, including Joe Dirt, Annie Hall, The Deer Hunter, The Prophecy trilogy, The Dogs of War, Sleepy Hollow, Brainstorm, The Dead Zone, A View to a Kill, At Close Range, King of New...
, Malcolm X
Malcolm X (film)
Malcolm X is a 1992 biographical motion picture about the Muslim-American figure Malcolm X . It was co-written, co-produced, and directed by Spike Lee. It stars Denzel Washington as the titular character. It co-stars Angela Bassett, Albert Hall, Al Freeman, Jr., and Delroy Lindo...
, Get On The Bus
Get on the Bus
Get on the Bus is a 1996 film about a group of African-American men who are taking a cross-country bus trip in order to participate in the Million Man March. The film was directed by Spike Lee and premiered on the one-year anniversary of the march....
, Eve's Bayou
Eve's Bayou
Eve's Bayou is a 1997 American drama film written and directed by Kasi Lemmons, who made her directorial debut with this feature. Samuel L...
, He Got Game
He Got Game
He Got Game is a 1998 American sports-drama film written and directed by Spike Lee. It stars Denzel Washington as Jake Shuttlesworth, a prison inmate convicted for killing his wife...
, and Summer of Sam
Summer of Sam
Summer of Sam is a 1999 crime-drama based around the Son of Sam serial murders. It was directed and produced by Spike Lee.-Plot:Summer of Sam is the story of a group of people in New York City in the summer of 1977, a time when the headlines were dominated by the Son of Sam serial killer...
. During the 1990s, he had a recurring role on A Different World and Homicide: Life on the Street. In addition to his performances in major studio productions, Smith continues to work in and support independent film projects. In 2003, Smith had a starring role in the Steven Soderbergh
Steven Soderbergh
Steven Andrew Soderbergh is an American film producer, screenwriter, cinematographer, editor, and an Academy Award-winning film director. He is best known for directing commercial Hollywood films like Erin Brockovich, Traffic, and the remake of Ocean's Eleven, but he has also directed smaller less...
/George Clooney
George Clooney
George Timothy Clooney is an American actor, film director, producer, and screenwriter. For his work as an actor, he has received two Golden Globe Awards and an Academy Award...
TV series K-Street on HBO. Also in 2003, Smith read in the HBO documentary, "Unchained Memories: Readings from the Slave Narrative
Slave narrative
The slave narrative is a literary form which grew out of the written accounts of enslaved Africans in Britain and its colonies, including the later United States, Canada and Caribbean nations...
s"; the film was based on interviews conducted by the WPA
Works Progress Administration
The Works Progress Administration was the largest and most ambitious New Deal agency, employing millions of unskilled workers to carry out public works projects, including the construction of public buildings and roads, and operated large arts, drama, media, and literacy projects...
in the 1930s with then-surviving former African American slaves. He was also the voice of Bao-Dur in video game Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II The Sith Lords. He portrayed a corrupt detective in the martial arts/crime film Fist of the Warrior
Fist of the Warrior
Fist of the Warrior, formerly known as Lesser of Three Evils, is a martial arts/crime film directed by Wayne A. Kennedy in his feature film directorial debut. It stars Ho-Sung Pak, Peter Greene, Roger Guenveur Smith and Sherilyn Fenn, and features fight choreography by Ho-Sung Pak and Wayne A....
alongside Ho-Sung Pak and Sherilyn Fenn
Sherilyn Fenn
Sherilyn Fenn is an American actress and filmmaker. She came to international attention for her performance as Audrey Horne on the 1990 cult TV series Twin Peaks...
. Smith starred with Laurence Fishburne
Laurence Fishburne
Laurence John Fishburne III is an American film and stage actor, playwright, director, and producer. He is perhaps best known for his roles as Morpheus in the Matrix science fiction film trilogy, as Cowboy Curtis on the 1980's television show Pee-wee's Playhouse, and as singer-musician Ike Turner...
and Jeff Goldblum
Jeff Goldblum
Jeffrey Lynn "Jeff" Goldblum is an American actor. His career began in the mid-1970s and he has appeared in major box-office successes including The Fly, Jurassic Park and its sequel Jurassic Park: The Lost World, and Independence Day...
in the film Deep Cover
Deep Cover
Deep Cover is a 1992 crime thriller film starring Laurence Fishburne and Jeff Goldblum and directed by veteran actor Bill Duke. It is also notable for its theme song of the same name, composed by Dr...
. He also played a villain in All About the Benjamins
All about the Benjamins
All About the Benjamins is a 2002 action movie/comedy movie directed by Kevin Bray, and starring Ice Cube and Mike Epps as a bounty hunter and repeat offender who join forces to find a group of diamond thieves, the former for glory, and the latter to retrieve a winning lottery ticket.-Cast:*Ice...
with Ice Cube
Ice Cube
O'Shea Jackson , better known by his stage name Ice Cube, is an American rapper and actor. He began his career as a member of the hip-hop group C.I.A. and later joined the rap group N.W.A. After leaving N.W.A in December 1989, he built a successful solo career in music, and also as a writer,...
. His latest major role was in the film American Gangster with Denzel Washington
Denzel Washington
Denzel Hayes Washington Jr. is an American actor, screenwriter, director, and film producer. He first rose to prominence when he joined the cast of the medical drama, St. Elsewhere, playing Dr...
and Russell Crowe
Russell Crowe
Russell Ira Crowe is a New Zealander Australian actor , film producer and musician. He came to international attention for his role as Roman General Maximus Decimus Meridius in the 2000 historical epic film Gladiator, directed by Ridley Scott, for which he won an Academy Award for Best Actor, a...
, in which he played the role of "Nate", Frank Lucas's
Frank Lucas
Frank D. Lucas is the U.S. Representative for , serving since 1994. He is a member of the Republican Party. The district, the largest in the state and one of the largest in the country, stretches from the Panhandle to the fringes of the Tulsa suburbs—almost half of the state's land mass.-Early...
army connection in Vietnam.
Personal life
Smith works and resides in Los Angeles, CaliforniaLos Angeles, California
Los Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...
. He also resides in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
and also appeared in the acclaimed HBO Series, OZ
Oz (TV series)
Oz is an American television drama series created by Tom Fontana, who also wrote or co-wrote all of the series' 56 episodes . It was the first one-hour dramatic television series to be produced by premium cable network HBO. Oz premiered on July 12, 1997 and ran for six seasons...
, Season One, the film Tales from the Hood
Tales from the Hood
Tales From the Hood is a 1995 horror anthology film directed by Rusty Cundieff, and executive produced by Spike Lee. It presents four short African American-themed horror stories, presented within the frame story of three drug dealers buying some "found" drugs from an eccentric and story-prone...
with Corben Bernsen, Final Destination
Final Destination (film series)
The Final Destination series is a series of horror films based on an unproduced script written by Jeffrey Reddick for the X-Files television series. Distributed by New Line Cinema, all five films are centered on the themes of fatalism, predestination, and precognition, in relation to death...
, and a multitude of other film, television and stage appearances. He is also married to Carolina and has one grown daughter.