

Larenz Tate (born September 8, 1975) is an American film and television actor. Tate was born on the west side of Chicago, Illinois. He is the youngest of three siblings whose family moved to California when he was nine years old. Convinced by their parents to enter a drama program at the Inner City Cultural Center, the trio did not take the lessons seriously until classmate Malcolm-Jamal Warner's ascent to fame after being cast on the sitcom The Cosby Show. Subsequently realizing that they could parlay their efforts into a tangible form of success, the siblings began to receive small roles and in 1985, Tate made his small-screen debut in an episode of The New Twilight Zone series. Following appearances in such television series as 21 Jump Street and The Wonder Years, Tate was cast in the television movie The Women of Brewster Place before receiving the recurring role of Steve Urkel's nemesis, Willie Fuffner, in the family comedy series Family Matters (1989). He was also a cast member on the CBS series The Royal Family, starring Redd Foxx and Della Reese, which ended prematurely when Redd Foxx suddenly died. In the video game 187 Ride or Die, Tate voices the main character, Buck. Following numerous small-screen roles, offers began pouring in for Tate, and in late 1992, collaborative filmmaking siblings Albert and Allen Hughes approached him to star in their debut feature Menace II Society. A jarring vision of inner-city desperation and decay, the film found Tate channeling his substantial energy into creating "O-Dog", a trigger-happy teenager. Following up with the little-seen but often-praised television series South Central, Tate would later appear in the family comedy-drama The Inkwell (1994) before re-teaming with the Hughes brothers for Dead Presidents (1995) and taking on the role of a love-stricken young poet in the romantic drama Love Jones (1997). Larenz Tate also played the role of Kenny in The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air in the episode "That's no Lady That's my Cousin". There followed roles in The Postman (as the automotively monikered Ford Lincoln Mercury), the Frankie Lymon biopic Why Do Fools Fall in Love (1998, with Tate as Lymon), and 2000's Love Come Down. Though a big theatrical release had eluded Tate for the first few years of the millennial turnover, Tate would soon turn up opposite Laurence Fishburne in the high-octane but critically derided Biker Boyz (2003), A Man Apart (2003), Crash (2004), as music legend Quincy Jones in Ray (2004), and Waist Deep (2006). Larenz was also featured in R&B singer Ashanti's 2003 released music video Rain on Me, where he played the jealous, abusive spouse of Ashanti. The video touched on the subject of domestic abuse. He can be seen in the latest season of FX Network's Rescue Me. Tate is married to Tomasina 'Geneva' Parrott. They have two sons together named Myles and Zander.
2026
Berry Gordy
2022
Unknown
2022
Self - Guest
2020
Zachery Cranston
2020
Councilman Tate
2017
Julian Stevens
2017
Self
2016
Max
2016
Shawn Polk
2015
Narrator (voice)
2014
Dr. Alex Burke
2014
Rashad Tate
2013
2012
Tracy
2010
Clinton Moss
2006
Lucky
2006
Shooter Cooper
2005
Self - Restaurant Patron
2005
Peter
2004
Quincy Jones
2004
Frankie Lymon in Why Do Fools Fall In Love (archive footage)
2004
Bart 'Black Shawn' Johnston
2004
Bart Johnston
2003
Demetrius Hicks
2003
Wood
1998
Frankie Lymon
1997
Ford
1997
Darius Lovehall
1995
Anthony Curtis
1994
Drew Tate
1994
Andre Mosely
1993
Kevin 'O-Dog'
1991
Curtis Royal
1991
Cornelius
1990
1990
Chilly D
1989
Willie Fuffner
1989
1989
1988
Basketball Team Captain
1987
Young Adam Fuller
1986
Street Kid #3
1985
(segment "Night of the Meek")
1984
Sporty's Nephew
2016
Producer
Ларънс Тейт