Clifton Powell

Clifton Powell
Powell in 2007
Born	(1956-03-16) March 16, 1956 Washington, D.C., U.S.
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1981–present
Spouse	Kimberly Powell
Children	2

Clifton Powell (born March 16, 1956) is an American actor who primarily plays supporting roles in films, such as in Ray (2004), for which he received an NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture nomination.

Career

Powell has appeared in more than one hundred films, beginning in the 1980s. His credits include Menace II Society (1993), Dead Presidents (1995), Why Do Fools Fall in Love (1998), Rush Hour (1998), Next Friday (2000), and its 2002 sequel, Friday After Next, Woman Thou Art Loosed (2004), and Ray (2004). He played Martin Luther King Jr. in the 1999 television film Selma, Lord, Selma. Powell also has had many supporting roles in smaller direct-to-video films in 2000s and 2010s.

On television, Powell had the recurring roles on Roc, South Central, and Army Wives, and well as guest-starred on In the Heat of the Night, Murder, She Wrote, NYPD Blue, CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, and House. In 2016, Powell was cast as main antagonist in the Bounce TV first prime time soap opera, Saints & Sinners opposite Vanessa Bell Calloway and Gloria Reuben.

Powell is also known for his voice acting role as Big Smoke in the 2004 video game Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas.

In 2017, Powell appeared in the second season of My Step Kidz.

Personal life

Powell was born in Washington, D.C., and grew up in Mayfair Mansions in Northeast D.C. He attended HD Woodson Senior High School, before he transferred and graduated from the Duke Ellington School of the Arts. He is the uncle of famed sports broadcaster, James Brown. Powell is married to Kimberly, with whom he has two children.

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1981	Ephraim McDowell's Kentucky Ride	Tyrone	TV movie
1984	Alphabet City	Ramon
1990	House Party	Sharane's Brother
	Heat Wave	Rioter 1	TV movie
1992	Deep Cover	Officer Leland
	3 Ninjas	FBI Agent Kurl
1993	Conflict of Interest	Detective Oakes
	Menace II Society	Chauncy
1994	Green Dolphin Beat	Armstrong	TV movie
	Nowhere to Hide	Braddock	TV movie
1995	Divas	Bobby	TV movie
	Dead Presidents	Cutty
1997	Riot	Steve	TV movie
	First Time Felon	King	TV movie
	Buffalo Soldiers	-	TV movie
1998	Phantoms	General Leland Copperfield
	Deep Rising	Mason
	Caught Up	Herbert / Frank Lowden
	The Pentagon Wars	Sergeant Benjamin Dalton	TV movie
	Why Do Fools Fall in Love	Lawrence Roberts
	Rush Hour	Luke
1999	Safe House	Detective Horace Williams
	The Breaks	Cosmo
	Foolish	Everette Washington
	Having Our Say: The Delany Sisters' First 100 Years	Frazier Johnson	TV movie
	No Tomorrow	Styles
2000	Next Friday	Pinky
	Hot Boyz	Saint	Video
	A Private Affair	Isaiah	TV movie
	Lockdown	Malachi Young
2001	The Brothers	Fred Smith
	Bones	Jeremiah Peet
2002	Civil Brand	Captain Alan Deese
	Ticker	FBI Agent	Short
	Friday After Next	Pinky
	Play'd: A Hip Hop Story	Oz	TV movie
2003	Crime Partners	Kenyatta
	Love Chronicles	Thomas
	Tapped Out	Detective Blackman
2004	Never Die Alone	Moon
	Woman Thou Art Loosed	Reggie
	Ray	Jeff Brown
	Roscoe's House of Chicken n Waffles	Mo Fro	Video
	Sugar Valentine	Joshua Valentine
	Da Block Party	Action Jackson	Video
	Pryor Offenss	Bucky	TV movie
	He Say... She Say... But What Does GOD Say?	Satin Jones	Video
	Choices 2	-	Video
2005	Rhythm City Volume One: Caught Up	Big Man	Video
	White Men Can't Rap	DaRon
	Golden Empire	Old School
	The Fabric of a Man	Blair	Video
	Brothers in Arms	Doc
	The Gospel	Bishop Fred Taylor
	Knights of the South Bronx	Cokey	TV movie
2006	Confessions of a Call Girl	Chauncey
	Who Made the Potato Salad?	Mr. Jenkins
	It Ain't Easy	Fish	Video
	Faceless	Langdon Fox	TV movie
2007	Norbit	Earl Latimore
	Da Block Party 2	Action Jackson	Video
	Gangsta Rap: The Glockumentary	Tommy Guns
	Young Cesar	Ali Dean
	Father of Lies	Bishop Calvin Jacobs	Video
2008	First Sunday	Officer Eddie King
	R&B Chick	Benjamin	Video
	Show Stoppers	Coach
	Street Kings	Sergeant Green
	Love for Sale	Cinque
	Block Party Madness	Action Jackson	Video
	Vicious Circle	Freddy
	3 Dimensions of a Man	Spencer	Video
	The Rimshop	Joe Joe's Father
	Internet Dating	Leroy 'The Pimp'	Video
	Jazz in the Diamond District	Blair Morgan
	Jada	Terrance
	American Dream	Old Skool
2009	Man of Her Dreams	Senator Marcus Gordon
	There's a Stranger in My House	Mr. John Moore
	God Send Me a Man	Bishop
	Steppin: The Movie	Detective Lewis
	Just Another Day	Bowman
	Before I Self Destruct	Sean	Video
	Busted	Leroy
	Contradictions of the Heart	Damien	Video
2010	Preacher's Kid	Ike
	Let God Be the Judge	Gabriel
	When The Lights Go Out	Freddy	Video
	Heaven Ain't Hard to Find	Big Bill Herod
	Trapped: Haitian Nights	Mike
	Vigilante: The Hayward Brown Story	Henry Brown
	Chain Letter	Coach
	Love Me or Leave Me	Cecil	TV movie
	Something Like a Business	Sexy Silk
2011	The Ideal Husband	Daniel	TV movie
	Street Kings 2: Motor City	Detective Tyrone Fowler	Video
	35 and Ticking	Zane
	She's Not Our Sister	Rev. Beckley	TV movie
	The Perfect Gift	Michael Sr.
	He's Mine Not Yours	Walter
	The Saints of Mt. Christopher	Donald Ray Williams
	23rd Psalm: Redemption	Lester Wayne
2012	Dead Money	Leon
	The Marriage Chronicles	Robert McDaniel
	Nicki: A Hip Hop Love Story	Mr. Jamison
	Supernatural Swamp Slaughter	-
	Womack	Gilly Smalls	Short
	Note to Self	Coach Gerald Woodson
	C'mon Man	Rooselvelt Steele
	Interludes	Blake
	Somebody's Child	Dr. Sperry	TV movie
	The House of Malik	Uncle Kyle
	The Undershepherd	Deacon Roberts
	One Blood	Winston
2013	Coffin Baby	Detective S. Jackson
	Criminal Behavior	Cedric
	They Die by Dawn	Deputy Sheriff
	The Dempsey Sisters	Theo Dempsey
	Shake	Red
	Mutumbo the Lost Prince	Oscer
	God's Precious Jewels	Joe Thomas
	Forbidden Woman	Randall Trace
2014	Blood Ransom	Detective Hobbs
	99 North	Uncle P
2015	Fear Files	Detective Owen Marsh	TV movie
	A Baby for Christmas	Gavin	TV movie
	The Freight Rider	William	Short
	Love Won't Let Me Wait	Bishop Buckworth
2016	The North Star	Mr. Lee
	A Weekend with the Family	Dingo Stankershet
	Guns and Grams	Mr. Marshall
	Banger	Chief Crans
	Where Hearts Lie	Carl
	Hunting Season	Thomas Curry
	Flowers Movie	Mr. Waldell
	Merry Ex-Mas	Pastor Jordan	TV movie
	King of Newark	Juice
2017	Mountain Top	Larry Fletcher
	The Preacher's Son	Bishop T.K. Wilson
	The Cheaters Club	Marvin
	Misguided Behavior	Captain Rogers
	Love by Chance	Donald
	The Hills	Captain Pearson
	Schooling Life	President Adams	Short
	All Eyez on Me	Floyd
	Chasing Titles Vol. 1	T Parker	Short
2018	Fade Away	Eazy
	The Choir Director	Bishop T.K. Wilson
	Easy Money	Mr. Miller
	Couples' Night	Rich
	Dogstar: High School 2	- (voice)
	Sinners Wanted	One Eye
	A Talent for Trouble	Mr. Wellington
	5K1	Barry
	Worth	Tony
	Fatima's Revenge	Lt. Earl Garrison
	Juug Gone Wrong	Mr. Johnson
	Everything That Glitters	Fram
	Sliders	Mr. Miller
	Gangland: The Musical	Pastor Earl
2019	Prodigal	Censear
	Sins of the Father	Kevin	TV movie
	I Got the Hook Up 2	Tony Smooth
	Diamond in the Rough	Pastor Davis
	The Lick Movie	Richard Jacobson
	Let Go and Let God	Donald
	The Probe	Commissioner Davis	TV movie
2020	The Available Wife	Mitchell
	Guns and Grams	Mr. Marshall
2021	Saints & Sinners Judgment Day	Rex	TV movie
	Fruits of the Heart	Marcus
	Seven Deadly Sins: Envy	-	TV movie
	The House Next Door: Meet the Blacks 2	Angry Cop
	Moonlight Soul	Greg Monaghan
2022	Chocolate City 3: Live Tour	Mr. James Williams
	Boxed In	Witt 'Pa' Scandrick
	The Next 24 Hours	Max
2023	The Dirty 3rd: Next Generation	Sugar Slim
	The In Law Gang!	John Sr.
	Recession Proof	Jackson Holloway
	Player	Donti Player
	Sebastian	Captain Harris
	Boxed In 2	Witt 'Pa' Scandrick
	Gangster's Daughter 2	-
2024	Skeletons in the Closet	Father Francisco

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1990	Tour of Duty	Luther Fraction	Episode: "Payback"
	Cop Rock	Cop	Episode: "Potts Don't Fail Me Now"
	Equal Justice	Mugger	Episode: "Promises to Keep"
1991	Gabriel's Fire	Admitting Clerk	Episode: "The Great Waldo"
	Matlock	Security Guard	Episode: "The Trial: Part 1"
	Jake and the Fatman	Director	Episode: "Nevertheless"
	Equal Justice	Jermaine Watkins	Episode: "Opening Farewell"
1992	Martin	Younger Cop	Episode: "The Great Payne Robbery"
1992–94	Roc	Andre Thompson	Recurring cast
1993	In the Heat of the Night	Henry Cowen	Episode: "Leftover Man: Part 1 & 2"
	Thea	Ray Singer	Episode: "Dirty Laundry"
	Murder, She Wrote	Detective Eddie Flowers	Episode: "Lone Witness"
	NYPD Blue	Lewis Futrel	Episode: "Oscar, Meyer, Weiner"
1993–94	The Sinbad Show	Eddie	Recurring cast
1994	South Central	Bobby Deavers	Recurring cast
	Renegade	J.J. Corvell	Episode: "Way Down Yonder in New Orleans"
1995	Simon	John Doe	Recurring cast
	Murder She Wrote	Ralph Danton	Episode: "Big Easy Murder"
1996	Pacific Blue	Captain Brooks	Episode: "Pilot" & "First Shoot"
	Sports Theater with Shaquille O'Neal	Bob Williams	Episode: "4 Points"
1997	High Incident	-	Episode: "Black & Blue"
	Touched by an Angel	Mr. Burns	Episode: "Last Call"
	New York Undercover	Elvin Barnes	Episode: "Is It a Crime?"
	The Jamie Foxx Show	Mazi	Episode: "The Employee Formerly Known as Prince"
	NYPD Blue	Gerald / Frankie	Episode: "As Flies to Careless Boys..."
	Moesha	Harold Moss/Ray Stokes	Episode: "Mentor" & "Rhythm and Dues"
1998	In the House	Eddie	Episode: "Working Overtime: Part 1 & 2"
1999	The Wonderful World of Disney	Martin Luther King Jr.	Episode: "Selma, Lord, Selma"
	Ryan Caulfield: Year One	Lt. Keith Vaughn	Recurring cast
2000	Walker, Texas Ranger	James Jackson	Episode: "Thunderhawk"
	Linc's	Suntza	Episode: "East Meets West"
	The Parkers	Mr. Alexander	Episode: "A Simple Plan"
2001	Moesha	R.C.	Episode: "Run, Mo, Run" & "Scary Marriage"
2002	One on One	Coach Guillory	Episode: "I Believe I Can Fly: Part 2"
	The Practice	Earl Johnson	Episode: "The Good Fight"
2003	Third Watch	Joy's Father	Episode: "10-13"
	Law & Order: Criminal Intent	Dempsey Powers	Episode: "Cuba Libre"
2005	House	Ken Hall	Episode: "Daddy's Boy"
2006	Eve	Yusef	Episode: "Daddy's Home" & "Daughter Don't Preach"
	CSI: Crime Scene Investigation	Terrance Crowley	Episode: "Burn Out"
	Day Break	Lt. Romero	Episode: "What If They're Stuck?"
2007	Shark	Ray Tillman	Episode: "Backfire"
	Numb3rs	Max Devane	Episode: "Chinese Box"
2008	Cold Case	Tom Bernard '08	Episode: "Glory Days"
2009–10	Army Wives	Terrence Price	Recurring cast: Season 3, Guest: Season 4
2010	The Boondocks	1st Prisoner (voice)	Episode: "A Date with the Booty Warrior"
2011	The Mentalist	C.O. Earls	Episode: "Like a Redheaded Stepchild"
	She's Still Not Our Sister	Rev. Beckley	Main cast
2011–12	Black Dynamite	Black Dynamite's Daddy (voice)	Recurring cast: Season 1
2012	Awake	John Cooper	Episode: "Guilty"
	For Richer or Poorer	Mason	-
	The Garage	Marty P. Silverstein	Recurring cast
	Unsupervised	Coach Durham (voice)	Recurring cast
2013	JD Lawrence's Community Service	Bishop Nixon	Main cast
2015	The Soul Man	Gooch	Episode: "Tell It Like It Isn't"
	Murder in the First	Ethan Rydel	Episode: "Schizofrenzy"
	Black Jesus	-	Episode: "False Witness"
2016	Mann & Wife	Bernard	Episode: "Miracle Mann"
2016–22	Saints & Sinners	Rex Fisher	Main cast
2017	My Step Kidz	Mr. Stan Miller	Episode: "Pilot"
	Tales	Bob Davis	Episode: "F*ck the Police"
2018	Brockmire	Charles Sr.	Episode: "Platoon Player"
2018–19	Hawaii Five-O	Percy Grover Jr.	Episode: "Lele pu na manu like" & "Hewa ka lima"
	Black Lightning	Reverend Jeremiah Holt	Guest: Season 1, Recurring cast: Season 2-3
2018–22	The Family Business	Uncle Lou	Recurring cast: Season 1 & 4
2019	American Soul	Herschel	Recurring cast: Season 1
2020	Chase Street	Earl	Main cast
2020–21	The Last O.G.	Big Mike	Recurring cast: Season 3, Guest: Season 4
2021	The Urbans	DJ Frankie Snow	Episode: "The Good Broccoli Part 1 & 2"
2022	Mortal Truth	Sheriff McFadden	Episode: "Pilot"
2023	Legacy	Willy	Main cast
2024	Fight Night: The Million Dollar Heist		Upcoming miniseries

Video games

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2004	Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas	Melvin "Big Smoke" Harris	Voice
2021	Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy – The Definitive Edition		Voice Archival recordings Remaster of Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas only

External links

Media related to Clifton Powell at Wikimedia Commons

• Clifton Powell at IMDb