Terrence Howard

Born: 11 March 1969
Where: Chicago, Illinois, USA

The actor first attracted attention with a scene-stealing performance as Cowboy in the Hughes brothers' crime drama Dead Presidents.

High-profile roles have included an uptight TV producer in the drama Crash and a Memphis pimp in Hustle & Flow.

After a disturbed childhood spent shuttling between his mother in Cleveland and his father in Los Angeles, he studied chemical engineering at the Pratt Institute.

(When he was three, his father served a year for manslaughter in a nationally reported incident when he stabbed a man in a line for Santa's Grotto).

His love of acting - Howard used to spend summer holidays with his grandmother, the New York actress Minnie Gentry - led to a career switch.

He landed an appearance on the Cosby Show after pleading with a casting agent - but was cut from the show at the last minute.

In 1993, he made his feature debut with a bit part in Who's The Man? then consistently continued to appear both on the big screen and TV.

He appeared in Mr Holland's Opus, starring Richard Dreyfuss, and won acclaim for Dead Presidents as well as taking a role in the Martin Lawrence comedy Big Momma's House.

However, decent roles failed to materialise and he nearly abandoned Hollywood in despair, moving to Philadelphia and taking a job as a carpet cleaner at $7.50 an hour.

Returning to the fray, he appeared in the J Lo drama Angel Eyes and then Maria Carey's box office flop, Glitter, before landing more serious roles in Hart's War and Biker Boyz.

In 2004, director/writer Paul Haggis cast him in the acclaimed Crash quickly followed by the role of Gossie McKee in the biopic Ray with Jamie Foxx.

For the role of DJay in Hustle & Flow, Howard interviewed more than 100 prostitute and pimps for the story of the pimp-turned-rapper.