Who is Mekhi Phifer?
Mekhi was born in New York City, USA, on 29 December 1974 – his zodiac sign is Capricorn, and he holds American nationality. He’s an actor, film producer and director, with close to 80 acting credits to his name, perhaps known best for his portrayal of Gregory Pratt in the romantic series “ER”. It was created by Michael Crichton, starred Anthony Edwards, George Clooney and Julianna Margulies, and follows the lives of nurses and doctors working at Chicago’s County General Hospital; the series aired from 1994 to 2009 (Mekhi was a member of the cast between 2002 and 2008) and won 179 awards, including 23 Primetime Emmys, while it was nominated for 370 other awards.
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Early life and education
Mekhi was raised in New York City alongside his twin brother Fernando Phifer Cameron, solely by their mother Rhoda Phifer who was a high school teacher. Neither Mekhi nor Fernando have shared any details concerning their father, so it’s believed that he abandoned the family not long after they were born.
Mekhi became interested in acting while attending a local high school, where he was a member of the school’s drama club, and could’ve been seen appearing in various plays performed there. He was also highly sporting, as he played both basketball and football for school teams.
Upon matriculating in 1993, Mekhi chose not to pursue a college degree, but to rather focus on acting.
Roles in TV series
Mekhi made his debut TV series appearance aged 20, when cast to play Model in the 1995 episode “By Crook or by Hook” of the drama “Models Inc.”, while a couple of his following roles were in the crime drama “New York Undercover” in 1996, the mystery crime drama “Homicide: Life on the Street” in 1998, and the comedy “Curb Your Enthusiasm” in 2000.
In 2009 and 2010, Mekhi played Ben Reynolds in the mystery crime drama “Lie to Me”, created by Samuel Baum, and which starred Tim Roth, Kelli Williams and Brendan Hines. It follows the life of Cal Lightman, who has studied facial expressions and body language to know if people are lying to him; the series won four of the 13 awards for which it was nominated.
In 2011, Mekhi played Agent Rex Matheson in 10 episodes of the mystery action drama “Torchwood”, and the following years saw him appear in an episode or two of various series, such as the crime comedy drama “White Collar”, the comedy “Husbands”, and the comedy drama “House of Lies”.
Since 2020, he has been portraying Harold Brooks in the romantic comedy drama “Love , Victor”, created by Elizabeth Berger and Isaac Aptaker, and which stars Michael Cimino, Rachel Hilson and Anthony Turpel. The series follows Victor who has just enrolled at Creekwood High School, and it’s won four of the 17 awards for which it has been nominated.
Roles in movies
Mekhi made his debut film appearance in the 1995 historical war drama “The Tuskegee Airmen”, directed by Robert Markowitz, and which starred Laurence Fishburne, Allen Payne and Malcolm-Jamal Warner.
It follows several African-American pilots who fought for the US in World War II, and the movie won nine awards, including three Primetime Emmys, while it was nominated for 16 other awards.
A couple of Mekhi’s notable performances in the remainder of the ‘90s were in the 1995 mystery crime drama “Clockers”, the 1997 romantic comedy “Hav Plenty”, and the 1998 mystery horror “I Still Know What You Did Last Summer”.
What marked the 2000s for him was perhaps his portrayal of David ‘Future’ Porter in the critically acclaimed 2002 musical drama “8 Mile”, directed by Curtis Hanson, and which starred Eminem, Brittany Murphy and Kim Basinger. It follows the early life of famous American rapper Eminem, and the movie won 16 awards, including an Oscar for Best Music, Original Song for “Lose Yourself”. The decade also saw Mekhi make an appearance in a couple of other popular films, such as the 2004 action horror “Dawn of the Dead”, the 2008 comedy “Nora’s Hair Salon II”, and the 2009 action crime drama “A Day in the Life”.
The year 2014 saw him play Max in the mystery action adventure “Divergent”, directed by Neil Burger, and which starred Shailene Woodley, Theo James and Kate Winslet. Set in a world divided into factions, Tris learns that her virtues will make her a Divergent, which she doesn’t want to happen; the movie won seven of the 18 awards for which it was nominated.
Three of Mekhi’s most recent movie roles have been in the 2018 comedy “A Talent for Trouble”, the 2018 thriller drama “Canal Street”, and the 2019 thriller “Obsession”; he’s currently shooting for the upcoming movies “Lights Out” and “10-13”.
Other credits
Mekhi has five producing and a single directing credit: he produced and directed the 2006 comedy movie “Puff, Puff, Pass”, while a couple of his other producing credits include the movies “This Christmas” (2007), “Nora’s Hair Salon II” (2008) and “The Suspect” (2013).
He received special thanks for the 2014 documentary movie “Showrunners: The Art of Running a TV Show”.
Mekhi has made a guest appearance in numerous talk-shows, including “Hollywood Today Live”, “Access Daily” and “Last Call with Carson Daly”.
Awards and nominations
Mekhi has won five of the 19 awards for which he’s been nominated: his wins include a 2004 and 2005 Image Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series, for his performance in “ER”.
Love life and wife
Mekhi is quite open when it comes to sharing the details of his love life with his fans, and it’s widely known that he has married twice, and has two children. Mekhi married American actress and producer Malinda Williams in 1999, in a private ceremony attended by many of their friends and family members; they have a son Omikaye together, but they then divorced in 2003.
In 2007, Mekhi’s girlfriend Oni Souratha gave birth to their son Mekhi Thira Phifer Jr.
Since 30 March 2013, Mekhi has been married to Reshelete Barnes, whom he began dating in 2008.
He hasn’t mentioned any other women whom he has perhaps been with, and as of June 2022, Mekhi’s married to his second wife Reshelete Barnes, and has two sons, one with his first wife Malinda Williams, and the other with his former girlfriend Oni Souratha.
Hobbies and other interests
Mekhi loves to travel, and has been all around the US mostly for work, but also for pleasure; he has also vacationed in several European countries, including France and Italy.
He’s highly active on Instagram and is today followed by more than 200,000 people, while he’s uploaded nearly 100 pictures onto the network, the majority of which feature him during his everyday life.
Mekhi’s a huge fan of sports, and enjoys watching National Football League (NFL) and National Basketball Association (NBA) games together with his friends.
He’s an avid poker player, and won the 2004 Celebrity Poker Showdown Championship.
Mekhi enjoys watching movies in his spare time – his favorite actor is Richard Gere, while a couple of his favorite films include “Pretty Woman”, “Hachi: A Dog’s Tale” and “Unfaithful”.
Age, height and net worth
Mekhi’s age is 47. He has short black hair and brown eyes, his height is 5ft 10ins (1.8m) and he weighs around 165lbs (75kgs).
As of June 2022, Mekhi’s net worth stands at an estimated $500,000.
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