Early life and education

Rhames was born in Harlem, New York City, New York, the son of Reather, a homemaker, and Ernest Rhames, an auto mechanic. His parents were raised as sharecroppers in South Carolina. Named after the late NBC journalist, Irving R. Levine, Irving Rhames also grew up in Harlem.

He entered New York's High School of Performing Arts, where he discovered his love of acting. After high school, he studied drama at SUNY Purchase, where fellow acting student Stanley Tucci gave him his nickname "Ving". Rhames later transferred to the Juilliard School's Drama Division (Group 12: 1979-1983) where he graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in 1983.

Career

Rhames first appeared on Broadway in the play The Boys of Winter in 1984. He started out in film in Wes Craven's The People Under the Stairs as Leroy and played the role of Marsellus Wallace in Pulp Fiction (1994).

Rhames played Peter Benton's brother-in-law on the TV medical drama ER, a recurring role he filled for three seasons. He played ace computer hacker Luther Stickell, opposite Tom Cruise, in Brian De Palma's Mission: Impossible (1996). 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 - Miniseries or Television Film 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. The New York Times lauded Rhames for the act, writing that in doing so he "demonstrated his capacity for abundant generosity."

Rhames appeared in Striptease (1996) as the wisecracking bodyguard Shad, Bringing Out the Dead (1999), then reprised his Luther Stickell role for Mission: Impossible II (2000). He played Johnnie Cochran in American Tragedy (2000), the ex-con boyfriend of Jodie's mother in the John Singleton film Baby Boy, portrayed a gay drag queen in the television movie Holiday Heart, contributed his voice for the character of Cobra Bubbles in Lilo & Stitch (2002) and the subsequent TV series, and played a stoic cop fighting 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 voiced the part of Tobias Jones in the computer game Driv3r.

Rhames reprised his role in Mission: Impossible III (2006), had a cameo appearance in Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol (2011), and played a major role in the fifth film, Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation (2015). He is the only actor besides Tom Cruise to appear in all five Mission: Impossible films. It was announced that he would have a role in the Aquaman-based show Mercy Reef, however due to the integration of The WB and UPN for the new network, CW, Mercy Reef was not picked up. Rhames played a homosexual, possibly also homicidal, firefighter who comes out of the closet in I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry. He narrates the BET television series American Gangster.

In the 2008 film Saving God he played 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 stars in Phantom Punch, a biopic of boxer Sonny Liston released directly to DVD as well as The Tournament portraying a fighter out to win a no-rules tournament.

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.

In 2010 he filed a lawsuit against the producer of a film titled Red Canvas.

He filmed the movie Submission with Ernie Reyes, Jr. and UFC lightweight contender Gray Maynard and Randy Couture.

In 2015 he filmed a series of commercials for The ADT Corporation and Arby's.

Rhames is also one of the narrators for UFC.

Filmography

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1984	Go Tell It on the Mountain	Young Gabriel
1985	Miami Vice	Georges	Episode: "The Maze"
1985	American Playhouse	Hector Lincoln	Episode: "Abrams for the Defense"
1986	Native Son	Jack
1987	Miami Vice	Walker Monroe	Episode: "Child's Play"
1987	Tour of Duty	SP4 Tucker	Episode: "Burn Baby, Burn"
1988	Spenser: For Hire	Henry Brown	Episode: "McAllister"
1988	Patty Hearst	Cinque
1989	Men	Charlie Hazard	6 episodes
1989	Casualties of War	Lt. Reilly
1989	The Equalizer	Luther Paxton	Episode: "Suicide Squad"
1990	The Long Walk Home	Herbert Cotter
1990	Jacob's Ladder	George
1991	Flight of the Intruder	CPO Frank McRae
1991	Homicide	Robert Randolph
1991	The People Under the Stairs	Leroy
1992	Stop! Or My Mom Will Shoot	Mr. Stereo
1993	Blood in Blood Out	Ivan
1993	Dave	Duane Stevenson
1993	The Saint of Fort Washington	Little Leroy
1994	Pulp Fiction	Marsellus Wallace
1994	Drop Squad	Garvey
1994-1996	ER	Walter Robbins	8 episodes
1995	Ed McBain's 87th Precinct: Lightning	Detective Artie Brown	TV film
1995	New York Undercover	Max Villareal	Episode: "Olde Thyme Religion"
1995	Kiss of Death	Omar
1995	Deadly Whispers	Det. Jackson	TV film
1996	Mission: Impossible	Luther Stickell
1996	Striptease	Shad (bodyguard)
1997	Dangerous Ground	Muki
1997	Rosewood	Mann
1997	Con Air	Nathan 'Diamond Dog' Jones
1997	Don King: Only in America	Don King	TV film Golden Globe Award for Best Actor - Miniseries or Television Film Nominated—Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Miniseries or a Movie Nominated—Satellite Award for Best Actor - Miniseries or Television Film Nominated—Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Miniseries or Television Movie
1998	Body Count	Pike
1998	Out of Sight	Buddy Bragg
1999	Entrapment	Aaron Thibadeaux	Nominated—Blockbuster Entertainment Award for Best Supporting Actor - Action
1999	Bringing Out the Dead	Marcus	Nominated—Satellite Award for Best Supporting Actor
2000	Mission: Impossible II	Luther Stickell
2000	American Tragedy	Johnnie Cochran	TV film
2000	Holiday Heart	Holiday Heart	TV film Nominated—Black Reel Award for Best Actor on Television
2001	Baby Boy	Melvin	Nominated—Black Reel Award for Best Supporting Actor
2001	Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within	Ryan Whittaker
2001	UC: Undercover	Quito Real	3 episodes
2002	Sins of the Father	Garrick Jones	TV film Nominated—Black Reel Award for Best Actor on Television
2002	Little John	John Morgan	TV film
2002	Undisputed	George "Iceman" Chambers
2002	Lilo & Stitch	Cobra Bubbles	Voice only
2002	RFK	Judge Jones	TV film
2002	Dark Blue	Arthur Holland	Nominated—Black Reel Award for Best Supporting Actor
2002	The Proud Family	Garrett Krebs	Episode: "A Hero for Halloween"
2002-2003	The District	Attorney General Troy Hatcher	5 episodes
2003	Stitch! The Movie	Cobra Bubbles	Voice only
2003	Lilo & Stitch: The Series	Cobra Bubbles	Voice only
2003	Jimmy Neutron	Chief	Episode: "Operation: Rescue Jet Fusion"
2003	Mission: Impossible - Operation Surma	Luther Stickel	Video game (voice only)
2003	Sin	Eddie Burns
2004	Dawn of the Dead	Sgt. Kenneth Hall
2004	Driv3r	Tobias Jones	Video game (voice only)
2005	Back in the Day	Joseph "J-Bone" Brown
2005	Kojak	Theo Kojak	9 episodes Nominated—Black Reel Award for Best Actor on Television
2005	Animal	James "Animal" Allen
2005	Shooting Gallery	Cue Ball Carl Bridgers
2006	Aquaman	McCaffery	TV pilot
2006	Mission: Impossible III	Luther Stickell
2006	Idlewild	Spats
2007	Football Wives	Frank Wallingford	TV pilot
2007	I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry	Fred G. Duncan
2008	Animal 2	James "Animal" Allen
2008	A Broken Life	Vet
2008	Day of the Dead	Capt. Rhodes
2008	Saving God	Armstrong Cane
2008	Phantom Punch	Sonny Liston
2009	Echelon Conspiracy	Agent Dave Grant
2009	The Bridge to Nowhere	Drug-dealer Nate
2009	Evil Angel	Carruthers
2009	The Tournament	Joshua Harlow
2009	The Goods: Live Hard, Sell Hard	Jibby Newsome
2009	Surrogates	The Prophet
2009	Give 'Em Hell, Malone	Boulder
2010	Operation: Endgame	Judgement
2010	Gravity	Dogg McFee	TV series (10 episodes)
2010	Caged Animal	Miles "Cain" Skinner
2010	Master Harold...and the Boys	Sam
2010	Piranha 3D	Deputy Fallon
2010	Red Canvas	Himself
2011	Death Race 2	R.H. Weyland
2011	Soldiers of Fortune	Grimaud
2011	The River Murders	Captain Langley
2011	Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol	Luther Stickell	Cameo
2011	Zombie Apocalypse	Henry
2011	Mafia	Renzo Wes
2012	Seven Below	Jack
2012	Piranha 3DD	Deputy Fallon
2012	Won't Back Down	Principal Thompson
2013	Death Race 3: Inferno	R.H. Weyland
2013	Monday Mornings	Dr. Jorge Villanueva	10 episodes
2014	Jamesy Boy	Conrad
2013	Force of Execution	Ice Man
2015	Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation	Luther Stickell
2016	Bastards	Rod Hamilton	Filming

Awards and nominations

Year	Award	Category	Work	Result	Ref.
1998	Golden Globe Awards	Best Actor in Mini-Series or Motion Picture	Don King: Only in America	Won
	Primetime Emmy Awards	Best Actor in Mini-Series or Movie	Don King: Only in America	Nominated
	Acalpulco Black Film Festival	Best Actor	Rosewood	Nominated
	Image Awards	Outstanding Actor in Motion Picture	Rosewood	Nominated
		Outstanding Actor in Television or Mini-Series	Don King: Only in America	Nominated
	Satellite Awards	Best Actor - Mini-Series or TV Film	Don King: Only in America	Nominated
	Screen Actors Guild Awards	Best Actor - Mini-Series or TV Film	Don King: Only in America	Nominated
2000	Blockbuster Entertainment Awards	Best Supporting Actor - Action	Entrapment	Nominated
	Satellite Awards	Best Supporting Actor - Comedy or Music	Bringing out the Dead	Nominated
	ShoWest Convention	Best Supporting Actor		Won
2001	Black Reel Awards	Best Actor - Network	Holiday Heart	Nominated
	Image Awards	Best Supporting Actor - Motion Picture	Mission Impossible II	Nominated
	Locarno International Film Festival	Special Mention	Baby Boy	Won
2002	Black Reel Awards	Best Supporting Actor	Baby Boy	Nominated
	Image Awards	Outstanding Actor in a Drama Series	UC: Undercover	Nominated
		Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture	Baby Boy	Nominated
2003	Black Reel Awards	Best Actor - Mini-Series	Sins of the Father	Nominated
	Image Awards	Best Supporting Actor - Comedy	The Proud Family	Nominated
		Best Actor - Mini-Series or TV Film	Sins of the Father	Nominated
2004	Black Reel Awards	Best Supporting Actor	Dark Blue	Nominated
2006	Black Reel Awards	Best Actor - Television	Kojak	Nominated
2015	Black Reel Awards	Best Actor - Television	A Day Late and a Dollar Short	Pending
	Image Awards	Best Actor - Television		Nominated

[ Source: Wikipedia ]