Who is Tory Kittles?
If you’re a fan of the action crime drama series “The Equalizer”, you’re probably familiar with the character of Detective Marcus Dante, a leading New York Police Department officer played by Tory Kittles. However, did you know that this was not the actor’s first time starring opposite Queen Latifah? They appeared in the 2015 hit TV movie “Bessie”, a biographical drama about legendary blues singer Bessie Smith, which had 47 award nominations and won 23, including four Primetime Emmys.
Let us share some more fascinating details about this actor, who has over 40 acting credits, and is also a writer and director well-known for his work in theater.
Early life, family, and education
Born on 30 December 1975, Tory Kittles is 47 years old as of late 2022, and his zodiac sign is Capricorn. He hails from Lawtey, Bradford County, Florida USA, where he was raised by his parents alongside his brother Omar. His family prefers to keep their lives away from the public eye, thus nothing is known about them.
When it comes to Tory, he is also secretive about his personal matters, and he rarely speaks about his childhood and family.
He attended a local high school, and from an early age had an interest in performing, so it isn’t surprising that he was a member of the drama club. Upon matriculating in 1993, Tory enrolled at college from which he graduated with a BA degree, but hasn’t shared which university he attended. It’s known that he studied acting at the Circle in The Square Theater, a Broadway theater in New York City.
Roles in movies
Tory made his acting debut portraying a small part as a Prisoner in the 1999 movie “Instinct”, starring Anthony Hopkins, Donald Sutherland and Cuba Gooding Junior, followed by his role as Ryan in “Tigerland” in 2000.
In the following years, Tory was seen in the TV movies “Invincible” (2001) and “Big Shot: Confessions of a Campus Bookie” (2002), then in the same year, he made an appearance as Reporter #3 in “Phone Both”, starring Colin Farrell, which was nominated for the Golden Schmoes Award for Most Underrated Movie of the Year.
In 2003, Tory was cast to play Deuce in the crime comedy “Malibu’s Most Wanted”. He followed with his role as Devon Green in the 2004 biographic drama “Against the Ropes”, inspired by the story of Jackie Kallen, a most popular female boxing promoter. The same year, Tory was cast to play David in the action crime-drama “Paparazzi”.
Tory followed with his role in “Little Athens” (2005) before he was seen as Justice in the biographic drama “Get Rich or Die Tryin’”, starring 50 Cent, Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje, and Joy Bryant, which had nine award nominations and won six. Next, Tory was seen in the crime thriller “Dirty” in the same year.
Tory then co-starred in the science-fiction thriller “Next”, with Nicholas Cage, Jessica Biel and Juliane Moore. The following years saw him in “Stop-Loss” (2008), “A Perfect Getaway” (2009), and “The Chameleon” (2010).
In 2012, Tory co-starred in the hit musical film “The Sapphires”, and “The Kill Hole” before his role as Jackson in the TV movie “Steel Magnolias” which brought him the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) Image Award for Outstanding Actor in a Television Movie, Mini-Series or Dramatic Special.
In the following year, Tory co-starred alongside Morgan Freeman, Gerard Butler and Aaron Eckhart in the action thriller “Olympus Has Fallen”. He followed with his role in “American Heist” starring Adrien Brody, and Tory was next seen in “Man Down”, followed by his role in “Bessie” in 2015.
Two years later, Tory was cast to play Bass Reeves in the short movie “Lawman”, which was his first lead role, and for which he won the Deep in the Heart Film Festival Prize for Best Actor – Short. This western drama was inspired by the true story of the first African-American deputy on an Indian Territory.
It seems that this was Tory’s breakthrough role; in the following year, he starred opposite Mel Gibson and Vince Vaughn in the action thriller “Dragged Across Concrete”, which was nominated for the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films, USA-Saturn Award for Best Thriller Film.
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Most recently, Tory was seen in the 2019 two-times Oscar-nominated biographic drama “Harriet”, an extraordinary story about Harriet Tubman and her journey escaping slavery and heroically assisting others in an act that changed history. The movie had 54 award nominations, including two Oscars- Best Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures (Original Song), and Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role (Cynthia Erivo), and won 21.
Tory was next seen in “Wander Darkly” (2020) and “Those Who Wish Me Dead” (2021).
Roles in series
Making his first appearance on television as Marcus #2 in the series “The Real Whatever” in 2000, Tory then waited nearly a decade to be cast as Laroy Wayne in the series “Sons of Anarchy” (2008-2011). Concurrently, he portrayed Jonte in the series “Fear Clinic” in 2009.
Five years later, Tory was seen as Detective Thomas Papania in “True Detective”, starring Vince Vaughn, Colin Farrell and Rachel McAdams. This crime drama had 93 award nominations and won 30, including five Primetime Emmys.
In the same year, Tory portrayed Gary Fischer in “Intruders”, followed by his role as Broussard in the action-adventure drama “Colony”, appearing in 36 episodes between 2016 and 2018.
In 2021, he was cast to play his most notable television role to date, as Detective Marcus Dante in “The Equalizer”, as mentioned starring Queen Latifah, and also Adam Goldberg. The series follows the story of an enigmatic single mother who is supposed ‘The Equalizer’, an anonymous guardian of those who have no one to help them. The third season of the show is currently airing on Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS) Original.
New episode tonight 8/7c! https://t.co/iL9re4pXUM
— Liza Lapira (@lizalapira) October 9, 2022
Wife and son
When it comes to Tory’s love life, he likes to keep it under wraps. However, in his interview with Marisa Roffman, he said that once he had to find a way to finish the shooting of “The Equalizer” earlier to make it on time to catch a flight to Los Angeles, where his partner and son were waiting for him.
There are several photos posted on Tory’s Instagram featuring Tory, his son and his partner, however, he hasn’t shared their names or any other information about them. What we can say, judging by the photos, his partner is a blonde, and obviously shorter than Tory who is 6ft 1in (1.85m) tall; the photos Tory’s posted do not reveal her face. Their son might be 8 to 10 years old, and according to photos Tory posted on Father’s Day, his son seems to like Disneyworld.
Net worth
During his more than 20 year long career, Tory’s had an opportunity to act alongside numerous popular actors, and thanks to his acting talent, he’s accumulated decent wealth for himself. According to sources, as of late 2022, he has a net worth’s estimated at over $8 million.
