Ving Rhames

Irving Rameses Rhames (/ˈreɪmz/; born May 12, 1959) is an American actor. He is best known for portraying IMF Agent Luther Stickell in the Mission: Impossible film series (1996–present) and crime boss Marsellus Wallace in Pulp Fiction (1994).

Ving Rhames
Rhames in 2010
Born	Irving Rameses Rhames (1959-05-12) May 12, 1959 (age 65) New York City, U.S.
Alma mater	Juilliard School (BFA)
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1984–present
Spouses	Valerie Scott ​ ​ (m. 1994; div. 1999)​ Deborah Reed ​ ​ (m. 2000)​
Children	3[citation needed]

Early life and education

Rhames was born and raised in Harlem, New York City.^[1] He was named "Irving" after NBC journalist Irving R. Levine.^[2]

Rhames entered New York's High School of Performing Arts, where he developed his love of acting. After high school, he studied drama at SUNY Purchase, where fellow acting student Stanley Tucci gave him his nickname "Ving". Rhames later transferred to the Juilliard School's Drama Division (Group 12: 1979–1983)^[3] where he graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in 1983.^[4]

Career

Rhames first appeared on Broadway in the play The Boys of Winter in 1984. He started out in film in Wes Craven's The People Under the Stairs (1991) as Leroy, watched over Kevin Kline as Secret Service agent Duane Stevensen in Dave (1993), and played Marsellus Wallace in Pulp Fiction (1994). He also played Buddy Bragg in Out of Sight (1998).

Rhames played Dr. Peter Benton's brother-in-law on the TV medical drama ER, a recurring role he filled for three seasons. He played ace computer hacker Luther Stickell opposite Tom Cruise in Brian De Palma's Mission: Impossible (1996). In 1997, Rhames portrayed the character of Nathan 'Diamond Dog' Jones in the popular film Con Air, and Muki in the Ice Cube film Dangerous Ground.

Rhames won a Golden Globe in 1998 for Best Actor – Miniseries or Television Film in HBO's Don King: Only in America. At the ceremony he gave his award to fellow nominee Jack Lemmon, saying, "I feel that being an artist is about giving, and I'd like to give this to you." Lemmon was clearly touched by the gesture as was the celebrity audience who gave Lemmon a standing ovation. Lemmon, who tried unsuccessfully to give the award back to Rhames, said it was "one of the nicest, sweetest moments I've ever known in my life." The Hollywood Foreign Press Association announced later that they would have a duplicate award prepared for Rhames. That moment was #98 on E!'s 101 Awesome Moments in Entertainment.^[5][6][7] The New York Times lauded Rhames for the act, writing that in doing so he "demonstrated his capacity for abundant generosity."^[7]

Rhames appeared in Striptease (1996) as the wisecracking bodyguard Shad, Jesus-praising paramedic Marcus in Bringing Out the Dead (1999), and reprised his Luther Stickell role for Mission: Impossible 2 (2000). He played Johnnie Cochran in American Tragedy (2000), the ex-con boyfriend of Jody's mother in the John Singleton film Baby Boy, portrayed a gay drag queen in the television film Holiday Heart, contributed his voice for the character of Cobra Bubbles in Lilo & Stitch (2002) and the subsequent TV series, and played a stoic cop fighting zombie hordes in Dawn of the Dead (2004) and Day of the Dead (2008) remakes. Rhames has also appeared in a series of television commercials for RadioShack, usually performing with Vanessa L. Williams.

In March 2005, Rhames played the lead role on a new Kojak series, on the USA Network cable channel (and on ITV4 in the UK). The bald head, lollipops, and "Who loves ya, baby?" catchphrase remained intact, but little else remained from the Telly Savalas-starring original.

Rhames voiced the part of Tobias Jones in the video game Driver 3.

Reprising his Luther Stickell role, Rhames co-starred in Mission: Impossible III (2006), had a cameo appearance in Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol (2011), and played a major role in Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation (2015), Mission: Impossible – Fallout (2018) and Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One (2023), the fifth, sixth and seventh installments in the Mission Impossible film series, respectively.^[8] He is the only actor besides Tom Cruise to appear in all seven Mission: Impossible films. It was announced that he would have a role in the Aquaman-based show Mercy Reef; however, due to the integration of The WB and UPN for the new network, CW, Mercy Reef was not picked up. Rhames played a gay – and possibly also homicidal – firefighter who comes out of the closet in I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry. He narrates the BET television series American Gangster.

In the 2008 film Saving God, he played an ex-con who is released from prison a changed man, looking to take over his father's former church congregation in a deteriorating neighborhood. Rhames stars in Phantom Punch, a biopic of boxer Sonny Liston, released directly to DVD, as well as The Tournament, portraying a fighter out to win a no-rules tournament.

Rhames makes an appearance in Ludacris's song "Southern Gangstas" on his album Theater of the Mind. Rappers Playaz Circle and Rick Ross are also featured on the track.

He filmed the film The Red Canvas with Ernie Reyes Jr., UFC lightweight contender Gray Maynard, and Randy Couture. In 2010, he filed a lawsuit against the film's producer,^[9] claiming that he had only been paid $175,000 of a $200,000 contract.

In 2015, he filmed a series of commercials for The ADT Corporation.^{[citation needed]}

Rhames is one of the narrators for UFC.

Rhames narrated the team introductions for the New England Patriots and Atlanta Falcons in Super Bowl LI in February 2017.^{[citation needed]}

Since 2014, Rhames has provided the narration for numerous Arby's commercials, with the slogan "Arby's: We have the meats!"^[10]

Personal life

Rhames is a Christian.^[11][12] As of 2018, he resides in Santa Monica, California. He has been married to Deborah Reed since 2000.^[13]

Filmography

Key

†	Denotes works that have not yet been released

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes	Ref.
1986	Native Son	Jack
1988	Patty Hearst	Cinque Mtume
1989	Casualties of War	Lieutenant Reilly
1990	The Long Walk Home	Herbert Cotter
	Jacob's Ladder	George
1991	Flight of the Intruder	Chief Petty Officer Frank McRae
	Homicide	Robert Randolph
	The People Under the Stairs	Leroy
1992	Stop! Or My Mom Will Shoot	"Mr. Stereo"
1993	Blood In Blood Out	Ivan
	Dave	Duane Stevenson
	The Saint of Fort Washington	Leroy "Little Leroy"
1994	Pulp Fiction	Marsellus Wallace
	Drop Squad	Garvey
1995	Kiss of Death	FBI Agent Omar
1996	Mission: Impossible	Luther Stickell
	Striptease	"Shad"
1997	Dangerous Ground	Muki
	Rosewood	Mann
	Con Air	Nathan "Diamond Dog" Jones
1998	Body Count	Pike
	Out of Sight	Buddy Bragg
1999	Entrapment	FBI Agent Aaron Thibadeaux
	Bringing Out the Dead	Marcus
2000	Mission: Impossible 2	Luther Stickell
2001	Baby Boy	Melvin
	Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within	Ryan Whittaker	[14]
2002	Undisputed	George "The Iceman" Chambers
	Lilo & Stitch	Cobra Bubbles (voice)	[14]
	Dark Blue	Deputy Chief Arthur Holland
2003	Stitch! The Movie	Cobra Bubbles (voice)	Direct-to-video[14]
	Sin	Eddie Burns
2004	Dawn of the Dead	Sergeant Kenneth Hall
2005	Back in the Day	Joe "J-Bone" Brown
	Animal	James "Animal" Allen	Video
	Shooting Gallery	Carl "Cue Ball Carl" Bridgers	Video
2006	Mission: Impossible III	Luther Stickell
	Leroy & Stitch	Cobra Bubbles (voice)	Direct-to-video
	Idlewild	"Spats"
2007	Ascension Day	Hark	Video
	I Now Pronounce You Chuck & Larry	Fred G. Duncan
	A Broken Life	Vet
2008	Animal 2	James "Animal" Allen
	Day of the Dead	Captain Kenneth Rhodes	Video
	Phantom Punch	Sonny Liston
	Saving God	Armstrong Cane
2009	Echelon Conspiracy	FBI Agent Dave Grant
	Give 'Em Hell, Malone	"Boulder"
	The Goods: Live Hard, Sell Hard	"Jibby" Newsome
	The Bridge to Nowhere	Nate
	The Tournament	Joshua Harlow
	Surrogates	The Prophet
	Evil Angel	Detective Carruthers
2010	Master Harold...and the Boys	Sam
	Love Chronicles: Secrets Revealed	Mike	Video
	Operation: Endgame	"Judgement"
	Piranha 3D	Deputy Fallon
	King of the Avenue	Norman De'Sha
	The Wrath of Cain	Miles "Cain" Skinner
	Red Canvas	Himself
	Death Race 2	R. H. Weyland	Video
2011	The River Murders	Captain Art Langley
	Pimp Bullies	Miguel
	Julia X	The Man
	Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol	Luther Stickell	Uncredited cameo
2012	Seven Below	Jack
	Piranha 3DD	Deputy Fallon
	Soldiers of Fortune	Grimaud "Grim Reaper" Tourneur
	Art of Submission	Gene
	Won't Back Down	Principal Thompson
	Mafia	Renzo Wes
	Btd	Ken	Short
2013	Death Race 3: Inferno	R. H. Weyland	Video
	Armed Response	Officer Hall
	Force of Execution	"Ice Man"	Video
2014	Jamesy Boy	Conrad
2015	Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation	Luther Stickell
	Operator	Richard	[15]
2016	A Sunday Horse	Mr. Valentine
2017	Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2	Charlie-27	[16]
	The Star	Thaddeus (voice)	[14]
	Father Figures	Rod Hamilton	[17]
2018	Con Man	"Peanut"	[18]
	Mission: Impossible – Fallout	Luther Stickell	[19]
2022	Wendell & Wild	Buffalo Belzer (voice)	[20]
2023	The Locksmith	Frank	[21]
	Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One	Luther Stickell
2024	The Garfield Movie	Otto (voice)	[22][14]
	The Instigators	Frank Toomey	[23]
	The Wild Robot	Thunderbolt (voice)	[24][14]
2025	Uppercut †	Elliott Duffond[25]	Post-production
	Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning †	Luther Stickell[26]

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes	Ref.
1984	Go Tell It on the Mountain	Young Gabriel Grimes	Television film
1985	Miami Vice	Georges	Episode: "The Maze"
1986	Another World	Czaja Carnek	Regular cast
	Crime Story	Hector Lincoln	Episode: "Abrams for the Defense"
1987	Miami Vice	Walker Monroe	Episode: "Child's Play"
	Tour of Duty	SP4 Tucker	Episode: "Burn Baby, Burn"
1988	Spenser: For Hire	Henry Brown	Episode: "McAllister"
1989	Men	Charlie Hazard	Main cast
	The Equalizer	Luther Paxton	Episode: "Suicide Squad"
1990	Rising Son	Ed	Television film
	When You Remember Me	Leon	Television film
1991	ScreenPlay	Sergeant Blue	Episode: "Murder in Oakland"
	Iran: Days of Crisis	Charles Jones	Television film
1992	Terror on Track 9	"Jellyroll"	Television film
1994	Philly Heat	DeWitt Wardlaw	TV series
1994–1996	ER	Walter Robbins	Recurring cast (season 1–3)
1995	Ed McBain's 87th Precinct: Lightning	Detective Artie Brown	Television film
	New York Undercover	Max Villareal	Episode: "Olde Thyme Religion"
	Deadly Whispers	Detective Jackson	Television film
1997	Don King: Only in America	Don King	Television film
2000	American Tragedy	Johnnie Cochran	Television film
	Holiday Heart	"Holiday" Heart	Television film
2001	UC: Undercover	Quito Real	Recurring cast
2002	Sins of the Father	Garrick Jones	Television film
	Little John	John Morgan	Television film
	RFK	Judge Thomas R. Jones	Television film
	The Proud Family	Garrett Krebs (voice)	Episode: "A Hero for Halloween"
2002–2003	The District	Attorney General Troy Hatcher	Recurring cast (season 3)
2003	Lilo & Stitch: The Series	Cobra Bubbles[a] (voice)	Episode: "Spooky"
	The Adventures of Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius	Chief (voice)	Episode: "Operation: Rescue Jet Fusion"
	The System	Andre Charles	Main cast
	Freedom: A History of US	Various Roles	TV documentary series
2005	Kojak	Lieutenant Theo Kojak	Main cast
2006	Aquaman	McCaffery	Television film
2007	Football Wives	Frank Wallingford	Television film
2010	Gravity	"Dogg" McFee	Main cast
2011	Zombie Apocalypse	Henry Everlen	Television film
	Black Jack	Jack "Black Jack"	Television film
2013	Monday Mornings	Dr. Jorge Villanueva	Main cast
2014	A Day Late and a Dollar Short	Cecil Price	Television film
2018	Cagney and Lacey	Captain Stark	Television film
2019	Voice Arts Awards	Himself - Icon Award	Television special
2025	Dope Thief	Bart	Upcoming miniseries[27]

Video games

Year	Title	Voice role	Notes
2003	Mission: Impossible – Operation Surma	IMF Agent Luther Stickell	[14]
2004	Driver 3	Tobias Jones	[14]
2017	Call of Duty: WWII	Jefferson Potts

Awards and nominations

Year	Award	Category	Work	Result	Ref.
1998	Golden Globe Awards	Best Actor in Mini-Series or Motion Picture	Don King: Only in America	Won	[28]
	Primetime Emmy Awards	Best Actor in Mini-Series or Movie	Don King: Only in America	Nominated
	Acalpulco Black Film Festival	Best Actor	Rosewood	Nominated
	Image Awards	Outstanding Actor in Motion Picture	Rosewood	Nominated
		Outstanding Actor in Television or Mini-Series	Don King: Only in America	Nominated
	Satellite Awards	Best Actor - Mini-Series or TV Film	Don King: Only in America	Nominated
	Screen Actors Guild Awards	Best Actor - Mini-Series or TV Film	Don King: Only in America	Nominated
2000	Blockbuster Entertainment Awards	Best Supporting Actor - Action	Entrapment	Nominated
	Satellite Awards	Best Supporting Actor - Comedy or Music	Bringing Out the Dead	Nominated
	ShoWest Convention	Best Supporting Actor		Won	[29]
2001	Black Reel Awards	Best Actor - Network	Holiday Heart	Nominated
	Image Awards	Best Supporting Actor - Motion Picture	Mission: Impossible 2	Nominated
	Locarno International Film Festival	Special Mention	Baby Boy	Won
2002	Black Reel Awards	Best Supporting Actor	Baby Boy	Nominated
	Image Awards	Outstanding Actor in a Drama Series	UC: Undercover	Nominated
		Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture	Baby Boy	Nominated
2003	Black Reel Awards	Best Actor - Mini-Series	Sins of the Father	Nominated
	Image Awards	Best Supporting Actor - Comedy	The Proud Family	Nominated
		Best Actor - Mini-Series or TV Film	Sins of the Father	Nominated
2004	Black Reel Awards	Best Supporting Actor	Dark Blue	Nominated
2006	Black Reel Awards	Best Actor - Television	Kojak	Nominated
2015	Black Reel Awards	Best Actor - Television	A Day Late and a Dollar Short	Nominated
	Image Awards	Best Actor - Television		Nominated

Notes

1. Experiment 300, also known as Spooky, disguised as Cobra Bubbles

References

1. WHO LOVES YA, BABY? 'KOJAK'S' BACK – AND THIS TIME, HE'S BLACK
2. Newsmakers – Newsweek Entertainment – MSNBC.com
3. "Alumni News". The Juilliard School. April 2010. Archived from the original on November 11, 2011.
4. Brennan, Sandra (2007). "Ving Rhames". Movies & TV Dept. The New York Times. Archived from the original on November 25, 2007. Retrieved April 4, 2012.
5. Richardson, Riché (2007). Black masculinity and the U.S. South: from Uncle Tom to gangsta. University of Georgia Press. ISBN 978-0-8203-2890-4. Archived from the original on May 13, 2023. Retrieved February 24, 2011.
6. Calvin, Marlene (2010). Diasporic Lives: Alienation and Violence as Themes in African American Jamaican Cultural Texts. LIT Verlag Münster. ISBN 978-3-643-10574-5. Archived from the original on May 8, 2023. Retrieved February 24, 2011.
7. Gerston, Jill (2013). "Ving Rhames – About This Person". Movies & TV Dept. The New York Times. Archived from the original on July 26, 2013. Retrieved February 24, 2011.
8. "Ving Rhames Returns for Mission: Impossible 5". www.superherohype.com. August 17, 2014. Archived from the original on August 19, 2014. Retrieved August 17, 2014.
9. Ving Rhames to Producer: Do I Look Like a Bitch? Archived March 23, 2010, at the Wayback Machine. TMZ.com. Retrieved on August 28, 2010.
10. Felix, Maria (June 26, 2021). "Who Is The Narrator For The Arby's Commercials?". Looper.com. Archived from the original on November 16, 2021. Retrieved November 16, 2021.
11. Howe, Desson (February 21, 1997). "Reel Action Hero". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on May 6, 1997. Retrieved May 5, 2022.
12. Kimball, Josh (October 17, 2008). "Ving Rhames Stars in Newly Released Christian Film". The Christian Post. Archived from the original on May 26, 2022. Retrieved May 5, 2022.
13. Nordine, Michael (July 28, 2018). "Ving Rhames Was Held at Gunpoint by Cops in His Own Home After a Neighbor Reported a 'Large Black Man' Breaking In". IndieWire. Archived from the original on May 5, 2022. Retrieved May 5, 2022.
14. "Ving Rhames (visual voices guide)". Behind The Voice Actors. Retrieved December 5, 2024. A green check mark indicates that a role has been confirmed using a screenshot (or collage of screenshots) of a title's list of voice actors and their respective characters found in its credits or other reliable sources of information.
15. Team, The Deadline (August 22, 2014). "Ving Rhames Boards Operator; Threshold Ramps Up; Five Join Clavius". Deadline. Retrieved December 5, 2024.
16. Daniell, Mark (April 25, 2017). "Sylvester Stallone's Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 character has a big future in the MCU". The Whig. Retrieved December 5, 2024.
17. Busch, Anita (August 18, 2015). "Ving Rhames Joins Growing Comedy Cast Of Bastards". Deadline. Retrieved December 5, 2024.
18. Barber, James (March 20, 2018). "Con Man is the Weirdest Movie of the Year". Military.com. Retrieved December 5, 2024.
19. McNary, Dave (June 13, 2017). "Michelle Monaghan to Reunite With Tom Cruise for Mission: Impossible 6". Variety. Retrieved December 5, 2024.
20. King, Jack (March 14, 2022). "Wendell & Wild Teaser Announces Ving Rhames, David Harewood, and More Joining Voice Cast". Collider. Archived from the original on October 6, 2022. Retrieved March 14, 2022.
21. Ritman, Alex (November 2, 2021). "AFM: Ryan Phillippe, Kate Bosworth, Ving Rhames Board Joe Russo Co-Penned Thriller The Locksmith". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved December 5, 2024.
22. Grobar, Matt (August 17, 2022). "Garfield: Ving Rhames, Nicholas Hoult, Hannah Waddingham & Cecily Strong Board Animated Feature From Alcon Entertainment". Deadline. Retrieved December 5, 2024.
23. Kroll, Justin (March 28, 2023). "Ving Rhames, Alfred Molina And Ron Perlman Join Apple's The Instigators". Deadline. Retrieved December 5, 2024.
24. Reul, Katie (March 5, 2024). "The Wild Robot, Animated Film Starring Lupita Nyong'o and Pedro Pascal, Gets Gorgeous First Trailer". IGN. Retrieved December 5, 2024.
25. Massoto, Erick (November 21, 2024). "Ving Rhames Goes Rocky Balboa in Uppercut Trailer [Exclusive]". Collider. Retrieved December 5, 2024.
26. Galuppo, Mia (April 22, 2024). "Severance Actor Tramell Tillman Joins Next Mission: Impossible (Exclusive)". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved December 5, 2024.
27. Grobar, Matt (February 13, 2023). "Sinking Spring: Ving Rhames, Dustin Nguyen, Nesta Cooper, 3 Others Round Out Cast Of Apple's Crime Drama Series". Deadline. Retrieved December 5, 2024.
28. "1998 Golden Globes Award". Ropeofsilicon. Archived from the original on February 12, 2015. Retrieved February 12, 2015.
29. Jones, Anderson (March 10, 2000). "ShoWest 2000 Signs Off". Eonline.com. Archived from the original on February 11, 2015. Retrieved February 12, 2015.

External links

• Ving Rhames at IMDb
• Ving Rhames at the Internet Broadway Database