LT
Photo of Larenz Tate

Larenz Tate

Actor, Producer, Director, WriterBorn September 8, 1975 (49 years)
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.

Movies & Shows on Plex

  • Crash
  • Beta Test
  • 21 Jump Street
  • Hunter
  • White Water
  • The Women of Brewster Place

Known For

  • Menace II Society
  • The Postman
  • Dead Presidents
  • A Man Apart
  • Beta Test
  • Girls Trip
  • Love Jones
  • Why Do Fools Fall in Love
  • Waist Deep
  • Rush (2014)
  • The Inkwell
  • Biker Boyz
  • Deuces
  • Game of Silence
  • Love Come Down
  • Gun Hill
  • South Central
  • Love Monkey
  • Business Ethics
  • Seeds of Tragedy

Featured Videos

    Filmography

    2026
    Michael · as Berry Gordy
    2022
    2020
    Power Book II: Ghost (TV Series) · as Councilman Tate
    2019
    Business Ethics · as Zachery Cranston
    2017
    Girls Trip · as Julian Stevens
    2016
    Deuces · as Deuces
    2016
    2016
    Game of Silence (TV Series) · as Shawn Polk
    2015
    Unity · as Narrator (voice)
    2015
    White Water · as Terrance
    2014
    Rush (2014) (TV Series) · as Dr. Alex Burke
    2014
    Gun Hill · as Bird Stevens
    2014
    Power (TV Series) · as Rashad Tate
    2012
    The Mindy Project (TV Series) · as Tracy
    2012
    House of Lies (TV Series) · as Malcolm Kaan
    2011
    Sacks West · as Larenz
    2010
    Justified (TV Series) · as Clinton Moss
    2010
    2008
    Blue Blood · as Cast
    2006
    Waist Deep · as Lucky
    2006
    Love Monkey (TV Series) · as Shooter Cooper
    2004
    Ray · as Quincy Jones
    2004
    Crash · as Peter Waters
    2004
    Rescue Me (TV Series) · as Bart 'black Shawn' Johnston
    2003
    Los Angeles Plays Itself · as Frankie Lymon In Why Do Fools Fall In Love (archive Footage)
    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 (TV Series) · as Andre Mosely
    1993
    Harts of the West (TV Series) · as Marcus
    1993
    Menace II Society · as Kevin 'o-Dog'
    1991
    The Royal Family (TV Series) · as Curtis Royal
    1991
    Seeds of Tragedy · as Cornelius
    1990
    You Take the Kids (TV Series) · as Kenny
    1990
    The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air (TV Series) · as Kenny
    1990
    New Attitude (TV Series) · as Chilly D
    1989
    Family Matters (TV Series)
    1989
    1989
    The Women of Brewster Place (TV Series) · as Sammy
    1988
    Sonny Spoon (TV Series) · as Cast
    1988
    The Wonder Years (TV Series) · as Basketball Team Captain
    1987
    Frank's Place (TV Series) · as Other Boy
    1987
    21 Jump Street (TV Series) · as Young Adam Fuller
    1986
    Amen (TV Series) · as Leshawn
    1986
    Matlock (TV Series)
    1985
    The Twilight Zone (1985) (TV Series) · as (segment "night Of The Meek")
    1984
    Hunter (TV Series) · as Sporty's Nephew

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