Clifton Powell

1956-03-16 · Washington, District of Columbia, USA

Clifton Powell (born 16 March 1956 in Washington, D.C., USA) – American actor and comedian, who grew up in the Mayfair Mansions housing project in Northeast D.C. and graduated from the Duke Ellington School of the Arts before studying at Emerson College in Boston. He is married with two children and two grandchildren. His most notable film roles include Menace II Society (1993), Dead Presidents (1995), Rush Hour (1998) as Luke, Next Friday (2000) and Friday After Next (2002) as Pinky, Ray (2004) as Jeff Brown (NAACP Image Award nomination for Outstanding Supporting Actor), Norbit (2007), Street Kings (2008), and All Eyez on Me (2017). He also provided the voice of Big Smoke in Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas (2004). On television he is best known for Rex Fisher in Saints & Sinners (2016–2022, 48 episodes), Uncle Lou in The Family Business (2018–2022), Reverend Jeremiah Holt in Black Lightning (2018–2019), and for portraying Martin Luther King Jr. in the TV movie Selma, Lord Selma (1999).