Larenz Tate was born September 8, 1975 in Chicago, Ill. to the parents of Larry and Peggy Tate. He’s the youngest of three brother that include Larron and Lahmard.
When he was nine years old the family moved to California where he got involved in acting at the Inner City Cultural Center.
He and his brothers didn’t take acting seriously until NBC created the Cosby Show and cast classmate-Malcolm-Jamal Warner. After that Larenz and his brothers began hunting for acting gigs.
Larenz got a small role on the 1980’s version of The Twilight Zone in a Christmas Episode. In 1987 he got a cameo on the cult series-The Wonder Years (1987-1993) in an episode that featured Star Trek Voyager’s Robert Picardo and Thea’s Adam Jefferies.
1990 was when his career took off with a role on the syndicated series New Attitude (1990) with Morris Day and Sheryl Lee Ralph. The series didn’t last long, but lead to the role of Willie on the second longest running Black series-Family Matters (1989-1998) and may have lead to a reoccurring role, if CBS didn’t get him. CBS signed him to star on the Royal Family (1991-92) with the late great Redd Foxx. He was nominated for a Young Artist Ward for his role of Curtis on the series. He got another Young Artist Awards nomination for a guest spot on The Fresh Prince of Bel Air (1990-96), Larenz landed the role that put him on the map. Old Dawg in the movie Menace to Society put Larenz over the top.
He got a role in the movie The Inkwell and landed his third (and last) TV series in the cult classic South Central (1994). Critics and those that taped it loved the series, but it arrived right after Menace to Society was released. People compared Old Dawg and Andre of the series and felt Larenz had wimped out. They didn’t realize that they were two different characters.
His career took a sight deture with the movie The Postman with Kevin Costner. He made up for it by doing the classic movie Dead Presidents. He followed that up with an Acapulco Black Film Festival and NAACP Image Awards nominations for the movie Love Jones (1997). The Acapulco Black Film Festival awarded him the Best Actor award for Why Do Fools Fall In Love (1999).
In 2000 he starred and produced the movie-Love Come Down. He played the role of Neville Carter.
In 2003 he starred in Biker Boyz as Wood and Demtetrius Hick s in the movie A Man Apart.
He starred in the movie Ray as Quincy Jones and got nominated along with the cast for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture by The Screen Actors Guild.
In 2005 he did the voice of Buck in the lamented video game 187: Ride or Die
Larenz Link
Man Apart Interview
10 Questions
interview
