Ice Cube

Born: 15th June 1969
Where: Los Angeles, California, USA

Ice Cube - formerly O'Shea Jackson - has seamlessly made the switch from rapping to mainstream movies.

High profile appearances have included Gulf War satire Three Kings, the comedy Barbershop and Vin Diesel's part in the high octane action thriller xXx2.

A rapper from the age of 14, he first came to public notice as a singer and songwriter with the controversial N.W.A. (Niggers With Attitudes) whose members included Easy-E and Dr. Dre.

He quit the band over business differences in 1990 and began a solo career with his first album AmeriKKKa's Most Wanted.

Ice Cube made his movie debut in 1990 in John Singleton's Boyz 'N the Hood and followed this with Walter Hill's Trespass, in which he starred alongside Ice-T.

Ice co-wrote the screenplay, Friday, a comedy about life in the 'hood' and the low-budget movie became a cult favourite, bringing in more than ten times its original investment.

He is also no stranger to the other side of the camera, directing videos not only for himself but also for The Artist Formerly Known As Prince and Color Me Badd.

He won plaudits for his role in Three Kings and other film credits include John Carpenter's Ghosts of Mars, Anaconda with Jennifer Lopez, Tresspass, The Glass Shield and Dangerous Ground.

The sequel to Friday - Next Friday - was a major hit and he followed it up with the third film in the series Friday After Next.

In 2002, he starred in the gentle comedy Barbershop and appeared alongside Martin Henderson in the 2004 action thriller Torque.

The same year he reprised the role of Calvin in the sequel, Barbershop 2: Back In Business.

Recent work includes replacing Vin Diesel alongside Samuel L Jackson in the high octane thriller xXx2: The Next Level.