Reginald VelJohnson
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| Reginald VelJohnson | |
|---|---|
| Born | August 16, 1952 Queens, New York, U.S. |
| Occupation | Actor, writer |
| Years active | 1979 – present |
Contents[hide] |
[edit] Early life
VelJohnson was born in Queens, New York,[1] the son of Eve, a nurse, and Adam Johnson, a hospital attendant.[2] His father left the family when VelJohnson was 13 years old and his mother subsequently married John Reilly.[1] In high school, he was classmates with George Tenet and porn star Ron Jeremy.[3] VelJohnson obtained a Bachelor of Arts from New York University.[1][edit] Career
VelJohnson is known for playing police officers in films and on television. In Ghostbusters, he had a brief appearance as a jail guard, and in Crocodile Dundee, he plays a limo driver. VelJohnson played Sgt. Al Powell in the 1988 hit Die Hard and later reprised the character in the 1990 sequel Die Hard 2, albeit in a much smaller role. He also portrayed a yelling apartment resident for promoting Instant Lottery games for a Michigan Lottery commercial in 1988. VelJohnson also played a police officer alongside Tom Hanks in Turner & Hooch (1989). Johnson was cast as Carl Winslow in the sitcom Family Matters alongside Jo Marie Payton, who played his wife Harriette Winslow, a recurring character on that series, which he starred in until 1998. He also had a minor role in the 2002 film Like Mike. VelJohnson replayed his role of Sgt. Al Powell in the Gamecube video game title, Die Hard: Vendetta, also in 2002. In 2004, he took the title role in the off-Broadway show She all Dat! (playing "she"). Since the end of Family Matters, besides making a few guest appearances on TV shows, VelJohnson has done mostly theater work. He wrote a critically acclaimed series of short stories called Division Street.[citation needed] One of them, called Sunday Evening Haircut, was made into a short film in 2005, which starred VelJohnson himself, alongside Kiki Shepard.VelJohnson has also made guest appearances in several TV shows, including The Equalizer, Diagnosis: Murder, Twice in a Lifetime, Will & Grace, Monk, CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, Eve, Crossing Jordan, The Parkers, That's So Raven, Chuck, in which he reprises his role as Al Powell, and Bones.
In 2007, he appeared in the short films Reverse, Nerve Endings, and Time Upon A Once which were made during the reality show On the Lot.[4] The following year he appeared as the "Sgt. Al Powell" character from the Die Hard series in an episode of NBC's Chuck entitled "Chuck Versus the Santa Claus", as the cousin of Big Mike (Mark Christopher Lawrence).[5]
In 2010, VelJohnson started a recurring role as the principal on the Disney sitcom I'm in the Band and also Funnyordie.com's mini HBO show entitled Just 3 Boyz starring Tim Heidecker, Eric Wareheim, and Zack Galifianakis. He also appeared in Tyler Perry's Meet the Browns as Cora's (Tamela Mann) possible father.
[edit] Selected filmography
| Year | Film | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1981 | Wolfen | Morgue Attendant | Credited as Reginald Vel Johnson |
| 1984 | Ghostbusters | Jail Guard | Credited as Reggie Vel Johnson |
| 1985 | Remo Williams: The Adventure Begins | Ambulance Driver | |
| 1986 | Crocodile Dundee | Gus | |
| 1988 | Plain Clothes | Captain Graff | |
| Die Hard | Sgt. Al Powell | ||
| 1989 | Turner & Hooch | Det. David Sutton | |
| 1990 | Die Hard 2 | Sgt. Al Powell | |
| 1991 | A Fond Little Memory | Short film | |
| 1993 | Posse | Preston | |
| 2000 | Ground Zero | Burt Green | |
| 2002 | Like Mike | Mr. Boyd | |
| 2005 | Sunday Evening Haircut | O.C. | Short film Producer, writer |
| Suits on the Loose | Brother Steedman | ||
| Death to the Supermodels | Tom | Direct-to-video release | |
| 2006 | Hidden Secrets | Norman Wexler | |
| 2007 | Three Days to Vegas | Johnny | |
| 2009 | Steppin: The Movie | Mr. Shavers | |
| 2010 | Jelly | Joe Woods | Awaiting release |
| You Again | Himself |
- Television
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1985–1988 | The Equalizer | N/A (1985) Harmon Hunter (1986) Arthur Williams (1988) | Episode: "Lady Cop" Episode: "Dead Drop" Episode: "Sea of Fire" |
| 1988 | 227 | The Santa Thief | Episode: "The Night They Arrested Santa Claus" |
| 1989 | Perfect Strangers | Carl Winslow | Episode: "Crimebusters" |
| 1989–1998 | Family Matters | Carl Winslow | 215 episodes |
| 1992 | Tales from the Crypt | Hotel Guest | Episode: "Werewolf Concerto" |
| 1993 | Dream On | Santa | Episode: "Silent Night, Holy Cow: |
| 1994 | A Cool Like That Christmas | Dad (Voice) | Television movie |
| One of Her Own | Det. Bob Hymes | Television movie | |
| 1996 | Deadly Pursuits | Ed Conroy | Television movie |
| 1998 | Diagnosis: Murder | Dr. David Sinclair | Episode: "The Last Resort" |
| 1999 | The Hughleys | Rev. Bennett | Episode: "Daddy's Going to Hell" |
| 2000 | Twice in a Lifetime | Dr. David Bryant | Episode: "Whistle Blower" |
| 2001 | The Fugitive | Maurice Beaumont | Episode: "Lagniappe" |
| 2002 | CSI: Crime Scene Investigation | Dr. Phillip Kane | Episode: "Face Lift" Episode: "Gentle, Gentle" |
| Crossing Jordan | Mr. Holden | Episode: "Someone to Count On" | |
| Will & Grace | Dr. Kaplan | Episode: "It's the Gay Pumpkin, Charlie Brown" | |
| 2003 | The Parkers | Sterling Oglevee | Episode: "A Sterling Relationship" |
| 2005 | That’s So Raven | Dikembe, The Ambassador | Episode: "The Royal Treatment" |
| Ghost Whisperer | Danny Small | Episode: "Undead Comic" | |
| 2006 | Eve | Rev. Everett | Episode: "Oh, Brother" |
| Monk | Todd | Episode: "Mr. Monk and the Class Reunion" | |
| 2007 | On the Lot | Neighbor in 'Time Upon A Once' | Episode: "11 Cut to 10 & 10 Directors Complete" |
| Bones | Dale Owens | Episode: "The Santa in the Slush" | |
| 2008 | Chuck | Sgt. Al Powell | Episode: "Chuck versus Santa Claus" |
| 2009 | The Three Gifts | Rodney Smith | Television movie |
| 2010 | I'm in the Band | Principal Cornelius Strickland | Recurring role |
| 2010 | Funny or Die Presents | Christopher | Episode: "Just 3 Boyz" |
| 2010 | The Bold and the Beautiful | Ed | 2 episodes |
[edit] References
- ^ a b c "Reginald Veljohnson Biography – Yahoo! Movies". Movies.yahoo.com. 1952-08-16. Retrieved 2010-06-07.
- ^ "Reginald VelJohnson Biography (1952–2008)". Filmreference.com. 1952-08-16. Retrieved 2010-06-07.
- ^ "Queens Tribune Online, QConfidential". Queenstribune.com. Retrieved 2010-06-07.
- ^ http://www.thelot.com/episodes/?ep=2&vd=26
- ^ http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1185869/fullcredits#cast
[edit] External links
- Reginald VelJohnson at the Internet Movie Database
- Reginald VelJohnson at Yahoo TV