Irving Rameses "Ving" Rhames (born
May 12 1959) is a
Golden Globe-winning
American actor best known for his work in
Pulp Fiction,
Don King: Only in America, and the
Mission: Impossible film series.
Biography
Early life
Rhames was born in
New York City,
New York to Reatha, a homemaker, and Ernest Rhames, an auto mechanic.
[Ving Rhames Biography (1959?-)] He was named after the now deceased
NBC journalist,
Irving R. Levine,
[Newsmakers - Newsweek Entertainment - MSNBC.com] and grew up in
Harlem, Manhattan. A good student, Ving entered New York's
School of Performing Arts, where he discovered his love of acting. After high school he studied drama at
SUNY Purchase where he met fellow actor
Stanley Tucci, who gave him his nickname "Ving". He later transferred to
Juilliard, where he began his career in New York theater.
[Ving Rhames]
Career
Rhames first appeared on
Broadway in the play
The Winter Boys in 1984. Ving continued his rise to fame through his work in soap operas. He found work as a supporting actor, and came to the attention of the general public by playing the role of
Marsellus Wallace in
Pulp Fiction (1994). Rhames also was getting public exposure on television as Peter Benton's brother-in-law on the medical drama
ER, a recurring role he filled for 3 seasons. Not long after, Rhames was cast with
Tom Cruise as the ace computer hacker Luther Stickell in
Brian De Palma's
Mission: Impossible (1996). With solid performances in two of these highly popular productions, his face was now known to moviegoers, and the work offers began rolling in more frequently. In
1997, Rhames portrayed the Character of Nathan 'Diamond Dog' Jones in the popular film
Con Air.
Rhames won a
Golden Globe in 1998 for best actor in a TV miniseries for his performance in
HBO's
Don King: Only in America. At the ceremony Rhames gave his award to fellow nominee
Jack Lemmon, saying
"I feel that being an artist is about giving, and I'd like to give this to you." Lemmon was clearly touched by the gesture as was the celebrity audience who gave Lemmon a standing ovation. Lemmon, who tried unsuccessfully to give the award back to Rhames said it was
"...one of the sweetest moments I've ever known in my life." The
Hollywood Foreign Press Association announced later that they would have a duplicate award prepared for Rhames. That moment was #98 on E!'s 101 Awesome Moments in Entertainment.
Rhames contributed attention-grabbing performances in
Striptease (1996 as the wisecracking bodyguard Shad),
Bringing Out the Dead (1999), reprised his Luther Stickell role for
Mission: Impossible II (2000), playing
Johnnie Cochran in
American Tragedy (2000), portraying a
gay drag queen in the television movie
Holiday Heart, contributed his deep bass voice for the character of
Cobra Bubbles in
Lilo & Stitch (2002) and the subsequent TV series, and played a stoic cop fighting cannibal zombie hordes in
Dawn of the Dead (2004) and the
Day of the Dead 2008 "remake." Rhames has also appeared in a series of television commercials for
RadioShack, usually performing with
Vanessa L. Williams.
In March 2005, Rhames played the lead role on a new "
Kojak" series, on the
USA Network cable channel (and on ITV4 in the UK). The bald head, lollipops, and "Who loves ya, baby?" catchphrase remained intact, but little else remained from the Savalas original.
Rhames also voiced the part of Tobias Jones in the
computer game Driv3r. In 2006, Rhames reprised his role in
Mission: Impossible III, making him the only actor besides Tom Cruise to appear in all three
Mission: Impossible films, and was announced that he would have a role in the
Aquaman based show
Mercy Reef. In the integrating of
The WB and
UPN for the new network,
CW,
Mercy Reef was not picked up. It is an early contender for a midseason replacement, but currently no plans to air the series have been announced. Rhames played a homosexual, possibly also homicidal, firefighter who comes out of the closet in
I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry. He also narrates the
BET television series
American Gangster.
Rhames will star in
Phantom Punch, a biopic of boxer
Sonny Liston. He also will star as Pastor Armstrong in the 2008 film
Saving God. In the film, he plays an ex-con who is released from prison a changed man looking to take over his father's former church congregation in a deteriorating neighborhood.
Rhames makes an appearance in
Ludacris's song "Southern Gangstas" on his album
Theater of the Mind. Rappers
Playaz Circle and
Rick Ross are also featured on the track.
The Tournament featured Ving Rhames as Joshua Harlowe, an ex-tournament winner.
Selected filmography
