Larenz Tate

Personal Info

Known For Actor

Gender Male

Birthday 1975-09-08 (49 years old)

Place of Birth Chicago, Illinois, USA

Also Known As Ларънс Тейт

Larenz Tate

Biography

Larenz Tate (born September 8, 1975) is an American film and television actor. Tate was born on the west side of Chicago, Illinois. He is the youngest of three siblings whose family moved to California when he was nine years old. Convinced by their parents to enter a drama program at the Inner City Cultural Center, the trio did not take the lessons seriously until classmate Malcolm-Jamal Warner's ascent to fame after being cast on the sitcom The Cosby Show. Subsequently realizing that they could parlay their efforts into a tangible form of success, the siblings began to receive small roles and in 1985, Tate made his small-screen debut in an episode of The New Twilight Zone series. Following appearances in such television series as 21 Jump Street and The Wonder Years, Tate was cast in the television movie The Women of Brewster Place before receiving the recurring role of Steve Urkel's nemesis, Willie Fuffner, in the family comedy series Family Matters (1989). He was also a cast member on the CBS series The Royal Family, starring Redd Foxx and Della Reese, which ended prematurely when Redd Foxx suddenly died. In the video game 187 Ride or Die, Tate voices the main character, Buck. Following numerous small-screen roles, offers began pouring in for Tate, and in late 1992, collaborative filmmaking siblings Albert and Allen Hughes approached him to star in their debut feature Menace II Society. A jarring vision of inner-city desperation and decay, the film found Tate channeling his substantial energy into creating "O-Dog", a trigger-happy teenager. Following up with the little-seen but often-praised television series South Central, Tate would later appear in the family comedy-drama The Inkwell (1994) before re-teaming with the Hughes brothers for Dead Presidents (1995) and taking on the role of a love-stricken young poet in the romantic drama Love Jones (1997). Larenz Tate also played the role of Kenny in The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air in the episode "That's no Lady That's my Cousin". There followed roles in The Postman (as the automotively monikered Ford Lincoln Mercury), the Frankie Lymon biopic Why Do Fools Fall in Love (1998, with Tate as Lymon), and 2000's Love Come Down. Though a big theatrical release had eluded Tate for the first few years of the millennial turnover, Tate would soon turn up opposite Laurence Fishburne in the high-octane but critically derided Biker Boyz (2003), A Man Apart (2003), Crash (2004), as music legend Quincy Jones in Ray (2004), and Waist Deep (2006). Larenz was also featured in R&B singer Ashanti's 2003 released music video Rain on Me, where he played the jealous, abusive spouse of Ashanti. The video touched on the subject of domestic abuse. He can be seen in the latest season of FX Network's Rescue Me. Tate is married to Tomasina 'Geneva' Parrott. They have two sons together named Myles and Zander.

Known For

Actor

2025
Michael

as Berry Gordy

2022
Sherri

as Self - Guest

2020
Business Ethics

as Zachery Cranston

2020
Power Book II: Ghost

as Councilman Tate

2017
Girls Trip

as Julian Stevens

2017
Deuces

as Deuces

2017
Beat Shazam

as Self

2016
Beta Test

as Max

2016
Game of Silence

as Shawn Polk

2015
Unity

as Narrator (voice)

2015
White Water

as Terrance

2014
Gun Hill

as Bird Stevens

2014
Rush

as Dr. Alex Burke

2014
Power

as Rashad Tate

2012
2010
Justified

as Clinton Moss

2006
Waist Deep

as Lucky

2006
Love Monkey

as Shooter Cooper

2005
Crash

as Peter Waters

2005
Hell's Kitchen

as Self - Restaurant Patron

2004
Ray

as Quincy Jones

2004
Los Angeles Plays Itself

as Frankie Lymon in Why Do Fools Fall In Love (archive footage)

2004
Rescue Me

as Bart 'Black Shawn' Johnston

2004
Rescue Me

as Bart Johnston

2003
A Man Apart

as Demetrius Hicks

2003
Biker Boyz

as Wood

2000
Love Come Down

as Neville Carter

1998
Why Do Fools Fall In Love

as Frankie Lymon

1997
The Postman

as Ford

1997
Love Jones

as Darius Lovehall

1995
Dead Presidents

as Anthony Curtis

1994
The Inkwell

as Drew Tate

1994
South Central

as Andre Mosely

1993
Menace II Society

as Kevin 'O-Dog'

1991
Seeds of Tragedy

as Cornelius

1991
The Royal Family

as Curtis Royal

1990
New Attitude

as Chilly D

1988
The Wonder Years

as Basketball Team Captain

1987
21 Jump Street

as Young Adam Fuller

1984
Hunter

as Sporty's Nephew

Director

2005
The Hot Spot

as Director

Producer

2016
Beta Test

as Producer

Writer

2005
The Hot Spot

as Writer