James LaRue Avery (November 27, 1945 â€" December 31, 2013) was an
American actor, voice actor, and poet. He was best known for his roles
as Philip Banks in The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, Shredder in Teenage
Mutant Ninja Turtles, Steve Yeager in The Brady Bunch Movie, and
Haroud Hazi Bin in Aladdin.Avery was born on November 27, 1945 in
Pughsville, Virginia (now part of Suffolk, Virginia), but was raised
in Atlantic City, New Jersey. He served in the U.S. Navy in the
Vietnam War from 1968 to 1969, and eventually moved to San Diego,
California, where he began to write poetry and TV scripts for PBS. He
won an Emmy for production during his tenure there, and then received
a scholarship to UC San Diego, where he attended Thurgood Marshall
College (then Third College), earning a Bachelor of Arts degree in
drama and literature in 1976.Avery began his career in the 1980s with
appearances in television series such as NBC's Hill Street Blues,
Showtime sitcom Brothers as Bubba Dean, Amen, FM and L.A. Law. In the
1990s, he achieved prominence for his role as Philip Banks (Uncle
Phil) in The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, a character that was ranked #34
in TV Guide's "50 Greatest TV Dads of All Time." After The Fresh
Prince of Bel-Air ended, he played the lead role of Alonzo Sparks in
the UPN comedy series Sparks that lasted for two seasons. Other
notable roles in television included Dr. Crippen in The Closer,
Charles Haysbert in The Division, and Michael Kelso's commanding
officer at the police academy late in the series run of That '70s
Show.Among his most notable voice credits are the voices of Shredder
in the original Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles animated series, and
James Rhodes/War Machine in the 1990s Iron Man series. He also
provided the voice of Junkyard Dog in Hulk Hogan's Rock 'n' Wrestling
(1985â€"1986), Turbo in Rambo and the Forces of Freedom (1986), and
Haroud Hazi Bin in Aladdin (1994). James Avery Biography, NetWorth, Height, Age, Weight, Family, Married, Son, Daughter