Biography
With his successful run playing a brash attorney on the popular Stephen Bochco legal drama "L. A. Law" (NBC, 1986-1994), actor Blair Underwood carved out a niche for himself portraying highly educated authority figures on scores of television series and in feature films. Underwood did all this by managing to avoid negative typecasting of African-American men often seen in Hollywood; earning NAACP Image awards for offering audiences …
Blair Underwood SlideShow
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Career Milestones
1985 | First speaking role on TV in episode of "The Cosby Show" (NBC) |
1985 | Made feature film debut in "Krush Groove" |
1986 | Had a short-lived role the ABC soap opera "One Life to Live" |
1987 | Cast as lawyer Jonathan Rollins on the NBC series "L.A. Law"; received a Golden Globe nomination in 1990 |
1989 | Made TV-movie debut in "The Cover Girl and the Cop" |
1995 | Played villain in "Just Cause" |
1996 | Joined the cast of ABC police drama "High Incident" |
1996 | Played Jackie Robinson in "Soul of the Game" (HBO) |
1997 | Had small role as a geneticist in "Gattaca" |
1999 | Starred in (also executive produced) the romantic thriller, "Assunder" |
2000 | Had featured role in "Rules of Engagement" |
2000 | Returned to TV series work as co-star of the CBS medical drama "City of Angels" |
2002 | Starred opposite Julia Roberts in "Full Frontal" |
2003 | Cast in the comedy feature "Malibu's Most Wanted" |
2003 | Had a recurring role as Miranda's boyfriend in the HBO hit series "Sex and the City" |
2004 | Starred in the short-lived drama "LAX" (NBC) |
2005 | Cast as a hip-hop mogul in "G" (filmed in 2001); loosely based on "The Great Gatsby" |
2006 | Co-starred in Tyler Perry's "Madea's Family Reunion" |
2007 | Co-authored the fiction novel Casanegra: A Tennyson Hardwick Novel with husband-and-wife team Steven Barnes and Tananarive Due |
2008 | Cast as the recurring character Alex in the HBO series "In Treatment"; earned a Golden Globe nomination in 2009 for Supporting Actor |
2008 | Played the recurring role of billionaire Simon Elder on ABC's "Dirty Sexy Money" |
2010 | Cast as the President of the United States in NBC's "The Event" |
Awards
1990 | Golden Globe Award for Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Series, Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for Television in L.A. Law |
2008 | Golden Globe Award for Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Series, Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for Television in In Treatment |