Ving Rhames

Irving "Ving" Rhames (born 1959) is an American actor.

Rhames was born in New York City, New York, and grew up in Harlem, Manhattan. A good student, Ving entered the New York High School of Performing Arts, where he discovered his love of acting. After high school he studied at the Julliard School of Drama, and began his career in New York theater. At Julliard, he was a roomate of fellow actor Stanley Tucci.

He first appeared on Broadway in the play "The Winter Boys" in 1984. Ving continued his rise to fame through his work in soap operas. He found work as a supporting actor, and came to the attention of the general public in Pulp Fiction as Marsellus Wallace (1994). Not long after, Rhames was cast alongside Tom Cruise as the ace computer hacker, Luther Stickell in Brian de Palma's Mission: Impossible (1996). With solid performances in both these highly popular productions, his face was now well known to movie goers, and the work offers began rolling in more frequently.

Rhames won a Golden Globe in 1998 for best actor in a TV miniseries for his performance in HBO's . At the ceremony Rhames gave his award to 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 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.

The talented actor then contributed attention grabbing performances in Bringing Out the Dead (1999), reprised his Luther Stickell role for Mission: Impossible II (2000), contributed his deep bass voice for the character of Cobra Bubbles in Lilo & Stitch (2002), and played a burly cop fighting cannibal zombie hordes in Dawn of the Dead (2004). Rhames has also appeared in a series of television commercials for Radio Shack, usually performing with Vanessa Lynn Williams. A keen fitness & weight lifting enthusiast, Rhames is also well known for his strong spiritual beliefs and benevolent attitude towards other people.

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