ANTHONY ANDERSON
Date of Birth: August 15, 1970
The acting bug bit Anthony Anderson when he was just a toddler. His mother, a career film extra, took the little boy with her to film sets. Born in Augusta, Maine, Anderson was raised in the Los Angeles area and began appearing in commercials when he was just five years of age. He attended a performing arts high school, where he earned first place in the NAACP's ACTSO Awards. His talent and hard work landed him a dramatic arts scholarship to Howard University.
Anderson's first role after graduation was as a series regular in NBC's Hang Time. He spent two years portraying Teddy on the long-running series, while adding to his resumé by appearing on other shows such as NYPD Blue and In the House.
He made the move to the big screen in 1999 with a lead role in the feature Life, starring alongside Eddie Murphy and Martin Lawrence. More features, such as Romeo Must Die (2000) with Jet Li, and guest appearances on shows such as Ally McBeal and My Wife and Kids followed.
Since then, Anderson has worked steadily on a number of major Hollywood features. He joined up with Martin Lawrence again in Big Momma's House(2000), starred with Jim Carrey and Renée Zellwegger in Me, Myself and Irene(2000) and provided the comic relief in Steven Seagalâs Exit Wounds (2001).
The personality-plus actor continues to be in demand, showing his tremendous versatility as he works in a number of genres, including action flicks such as Cradle 2 the Grave(2003) and Transformers (2007) and comedies such as King's Ransom (2005) and The Back-up Plan (2010).
He is married to his college sweetheart, Alvina, and they have two children.