Age: 63
Birthplace: Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
Kenneth "Chi" McBride (born September 23, 1961) is an American actor. He starred as high school principal Steven Harper on the series Boston Public, as Emerson Cod on Pushing Daisies, as Detective Laverne Winston on the Fox drama Human Target, and more recently as Detective Don Owen in the short-lived CBS crime drama Golden Boy. He currently has a main role as Five-0 officer Lou Grover in the CBS drama Hawaii Five-0. He has also appeared in films such as Gone in 60 Seconds, The Terminal, I, Robot, Roll Bounce, and Draft Day.
McBride was born in Chicago, Illinois, from which his nickname, Chi, derives. He was raised in the Seventh-day Adventist religion and attended Shiloh Academy, now known as Chicago SDA Academy, a Seventh-day Adventist school. He graduated from high school at the age of 16. McBride originally planned to pursue a career in music. After studying several instruments and singing with gospel choirs in his native Chicago, he relocated to Atlanta in 1986 to work for AT&T as a billing clerk.
His first success in show business came with the hit song "He's the Champ", which parodied the marriage of boxer Mike Tyson and actress Robin Givens. Based on the tune's success, McBride was signed by Esquire Records and he joined the rhythm and blues band Covert. Convinced he should try his hand in front of the camera, the singer moved to Los Angeles and, billed as "Chi", landed guest spots on Fox's In Living Color and NBC's The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air as well as a featured role in the TV movie Revenge of the Nerds III: The Next Generation.
In 1998, he was a co-star of Mercury Rising, alongside Bruce Willis. He was later given the role of Principal Steven Harper on the series Boston Public. Much of McBride's work sees him playing right-hand man to the hero, as in the films Mercury Rising and The Terminal. He is notable for his television roles on Boston Public, The John Larroquette Show, House, The Secret Diary of Desmond Pfeiffer, Killer Instinct and Pushing Daisies.
McBride's film credits include Cradle 2 the Grave, The Distinguished Gentleman, Gone in 60 Seconds, The Frighteners, Narc, The Terminal, I, Robot, Roll Bounce, Annapolis, Hoodlum, Undercover Brother, Let's Go to Prison and The Brothers Solomon. McBride portrayed eight different characters in the play Nagataki Sake, directed by Robert Downey, Sr.
He starred in Human Target as Winston, business partner of Christopher Chance (the protagonist). The show premiered on January 17, 2010, on the Fox Broadcasting Company. He appeared on an episode of "Celebrity Ghost Stories", depicting an incident during 1988 before his acting career in which he was subconsciously led to the Lorraine Motel while stopped over in Memphis, and experienced psychic visions of Martin Luther King, Jr.'s assassination on the 20th anniversary of the event.
Year | Title | Role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
1992 | Revenge of the Nerds III: The Next Generation | Malcolm Pennington III | |
1992 | The Distinguished Gentleman | Homer | |
1993 | What's Love Got to Do with It | Fross | |
1996 | The Frighteners | Cyrus | |
1997 | Hoodlum | Illinois Gordon | |
1998 | Mercury Rising | FBI Agent Thomas "Bizzi" Jordan | |
2000 | Magicians | Tom | |
2000 | Gone in 60 Seconds | Donny Astricky | |
2000 | Disney's The Kid | Kenny | |
2002 | Narc | Captain Cheevers | |
2002 | Undercover Brother | The Chief | |
2002 | Paid in Full | Pip | |
2003 | Cradle 2 the Grave | Jump Chambers | Uncredited |
2003 | Delusion | John | Short film |
2004 | The Terminal | Joe Mulroy | |
2004 | I, Robot | Lt. John Bergin | |
2005 | Roll Bounce | Curtis Smith | |
2005 | Waiting... | Bishop | |
2006 | Annapolis | McNally | |
2006 | Ultimate Avengers 2 | Elder Chief | Voice role; Direct-to-video |
2006 | Let's Go to Prison | Barry | |
2007 | The Brothers Solomon | James Coolwell | |
2008 | American Son | Eddie | |
2008 | First Sunday | Pastor Arthur Mitchell | |
2008 | Who Do You Love | Willie Dixon | |
2009 | Still Waiting... | Bishop | |
2011 | Fruit of Labor | Mr. Hoffman | Short film |
2011 | The Family Tree | Simon Krebs | |
2013 | Pawn Shop Chronicles | Johnson | Direct-to-video |
2014 | Draft Day | Walt Gordon | |
2014 | Home Sweet Hell | Police Officer | Uncredited |
Year | Title | Role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
1992 | The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air | Ed Barker | Episode: "Boyz in the Woods" |
1994 | Cosmic Slop | T-Bone | TV film; Segment: "Tang" |
1994 | Married... with Children | Dexter | Episode: "Nooner or Later" |
1996 | Nash Bridges | Luscious | Episode: "The Great Escape" |
1993-96 | The John Larroquette Show | Heavy Gene | Main role (84 episodes) |
1998 | The Secret Diary of Desmond Pfeiffer | Desmond Pfeiffer | Main role (9 episodes; 5 unaired) |
1999 | The Parkers | Cliff Rogers | Episodes: "Betting on Love" |
2000 | King of the World | Drew Bundini Brown | TV film |
2000 | Dancing in September | Security Guard | TV film |
2001 | The Practice | Steven Harper | Episode: "The Day After" |
2000-04 | Boston Public | Steven Harper | Main role (81 episodes) |
2000-02 | Max Steel | Jefferson Smith | Voice role/Main role (22 episodes) |
2005 | Boston Legal | Steven Harper | Episode: "Let Sales Ring" |
2005 | House | Edward Vogler | Recurring role (5 episodes) |
2005-2006 | Killer Instinct | Lt. Matt Cavanaugh | Main role (13 episodes) |
2006 | Monk | Mayor Ray Nicholson | Episode: "Mr. Monk and the Garbage Strike |
2006-07 | The Nine | Malcolm Jones | Main role (13 episodes) |
2007-09 | Pushing Daisies | Emerson Cod | Main role (22 episodes) |
2010 | Psych | Craig Snowden | Episode: "Ferry Tale" |
2010-11 | Human Target | Detective Laverne Winston | Main role (25 episodes) |
2011 | God, the Devil and Bob | Unknown (voice) | Episode: "God's Favorite" |
2011 | How I Met Your Mother | Rod | Episode: "Challenge Accepted" |
2011 | HawthoRNe | Garland Brice | Recurring role (4 episodes) |
2011, 2015 | Suits | District Attorney Terrence Wolf | 2 episodes |
2012-present | Ultimate Spider-Man | Nick Fury (voice) | Additional voices |
2013 | Golden Boy | Detective Don Owen | Main role |
2013-present | Avengers Assemble | Nick Fury (voice) | Additional voices |
2013 | Phineas and Ferb: Mission Marvel | Nick Fury (voice) | Additional voices |
2013 | Lego Marvel Super Heroes: Maximum Overload | Nick Fury, Red Skull (voices) | |
2013-present | Hawaii Five-0 | SWAT Captain Lou Grover | Main Role |
2014 | Murder Police | Randall Hickox (voice) | Mid-season replacement series |