Biography
Avery has been a familiar face since the mid-1980s as a frequent TV guest star usually playing a cop, judge or clergyman. He had recurring roles on shows as diverse as "L.A. Law", "Beauty and the Beast", and "Amen". Avery is best known as Phillip Banks, the uncle of Will Smith on the hit sitcom "The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air" (NBC, 1990-96). His character was a proud self-made success story who skillfully walks the delicate line between being a …
Latest Tv Credits
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Career Milestones
| After graduating from college, awarded a fellowship to study in London | ||
| Attended high school in his native Atlantic City, New Jersey | ||
| Awarded scholarship to the University of California at San Diego, where he intended to study philosophy and English literature | ||
| Cast as Phillip Banks, a regular on the popular NBC sitcom, "The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air" | ||
| Debut as a live-action TV series regular, "FM", an NBC sitcom in which he played the role of Quentin Lamoreaux | ||
| Enlisted in the Navy upon graduation | ||
| Moved to L.A. | ||
| Moved to Oregon; worked with the Oregon Shakespeare Festival in Ashland | ||
| Played a recurring role on the NBC drama series, "L.A. Law" | ||
| Played the recurring role of Reverend Crawford on the NBC sitcom, "Amen" | ||
| Provided a voice for "Scooby's Mystery Funhouse" | ||
| Provided the voice of Junkyard Dog for "Hulk Hogan's Rock'N' Wrestling" cartoon series | ||
| Settled in San Diego | ||
| Starred as patriarch of a family of lawyers on the UPN sitcom "Sparks" | ||
| Tried out for a school play on the suggestion of an English teacher | ||
| Voiced the villainous Shredder on the popular syndicated cartoon series "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" | ||
| Wrote poetry and TV scripts for public TV | ||
1968 | Served in Vietnam | |
1980 | Feature debut, "The Stunt Man" | |
1984 | TV series debut, a voice on the animated children's series "Going Bananas" | |
1985 | TV miniseries debut, "James A. Michener's 'Space'" | |
1985 | TV-movie debut, "Kicks" | |
1986 | Provided a voice for the animated "Rambo" series | |
1987 | Returned to features for his second screen credit, "Three for the Road" | |
1988 | Played a recurring role on the CBS fantasy romance series, "Beauty and the Beast" | |
1991 | Provided the voice of Midnight Rider for the failed John Travolta rock'n'roll vehicle, "Shout" | |
1991 | Reprised the role of Shredder for the animated special, "Planet of the Turtleoids" | |
1994 | Did narration for "Midnight Ramble", a documentary special on PBS's "The American Experience" about the African-American independent film movement between 1910 and 1940 | |
1998 | Hosted the PBS series "Going Places" | |