Anthony Anderson

Born: 15th August 1970
Where: Los Angeles

Funnyman Anderson has been called upon to provide the comic relief in an impressive number of films.

He landed his first professional job at the age of five, appearing in a television advert.

Twenty years later, he had a credit, guest starring on an episode of the sitcom In The House starring LL Cool J.

A 1996 cameo in Alien Avengers, led to a regular role as a basketball player on the teen TV series Hang Time in 1997.

A guest role on NYPD Blue followed in 1998, and a year later he got his feature film debut with Life, a 1930s prison comedy starring Eddie Murphy and Martin Lawrence.

In 2000 he had credits in two episodes of Ally McBeal, before taking on Romeo Must Die, where he played a bodyguard.

He re-teamed with Martin Lawrence as an over-ambitious security guard in Big Momma's House and played one of a group of film students targeted by a mysterious murderer in Urban Legends: Final Cut.

In Kingdom Come, Anthony won rave reviews as the worthless womanising husband of demanding Jada Pinkett Smith.

Subsequent work has included movies as diverse as martial arts action caper Cradle 2 The Grave and Australian Outback-set Kangeroo Jack with Jerry O'Connell.

Recently, he starred in the sequel Agent Cody Banks: Destination London.