Age: 58
male
Michael Jai White (born November 10, 1967) is an American actor and professional martial artist, who has appeared in numerous films and television series. He is the first African-American to portray a major comic book superhero in a major motion picture, having starred as Al Simmons, the protagonist in the 1997 film Spawn. White was born in Brooklyn, New York and moved as a teen to Bridgeport, Connecticut, where he graduated from Central High School in 1988. White started martial arts training at the age of seven and is now an accomplished martial artist, holding seven legitimate black belts in Shotokan, Tae Kwon Do, Kobudo, Goju Ryu, Tang Soo Do, Wushu and Kyokushin, with a specific focus in Kyokushin (although his style incorporates aspects of many different martial arts forms). His first major starring role and breakout performance was in the 1995 HBO film Tyson, as heavyweight boxer Mike Tyson. In 1997, he portrayed the eponymous character in the 1997 movie Spawn. His work in Spawn earned him a nomination for the Blockbuster Entertainment Award for Best Male Newcomer. White starred opposite Jean-Claude Van Damme in Universal Soldier: The Return. In 2001, he also starred opposite fellow martial artist Steven Seagal in Exit Wounds. In 2003, he starred in Busta Rhymes' and Mariah Carey's music video "I Know What You Want". Since 2003, in addition to his on screen roles, White has been doing voice work, including Static Shock, Justice League, and the Spawn animated series. White showcases his martial arts skills in the direct-to-DVD film Undisputed II: Last Man Standing. He also appears in Michelle Yeoh's Silver Hawk in 2004. His film, Why Did I Get Married? opened at number one at the box office on October 12, 2007. White played the role of the mob boss Gambol in the 2008 film The Dark Knight. He also starred in the film Blood and Bone and the Blaxploitation homage Black Dynamite, both released in 2009. White wrote the scripts for both Black Dynamite and his upcoming 3 Bullets in which he stars with Bokeem Woodbine. White will make his directorial debut and star in Never Back Down 2, which is slated for a 2011 release. In August 2005 he wed his girlfriend of two years, Courtenay Chatman. The couple have a daughter named Morgan Michelle who was born on December 24, 2008. Michael has two sons from a previous relationship. He is an avid chess player, as seen in his movie Blood and Bone.
Michael Jai White
Hollywood Runt
for Hollywood Runt in Chicken Little
Suggested by navarrosilva
In the small town of Oakey Oaks, Chicken Little rings the school bell and warns everyone to run for their lives. This sends the whole town into a frenzy. Eventually, the Head of the Fire Department calms down enough to ask him what is happening. Chicken Little says that a piece of the sky shaped like a stop sign had fallen on his head, but he is unable to find the piece. His father, Buck Cluck, assumes that this "piece of sky" was just an acorn that had fallen from the tree, making Chicken Little the laughingstock of the town. A year later, Chicken Little remains ostracized and unhappy. Trying to help, his friend Abby Mallard encourages Chicken Little to talk to his father, but he really only wants to make his dad proud of him. As a result, he joins his school's baseball team in an attempt to recover his reputation and his father's pride, but is benched until the ninth inning of the last game, when he miraculously makes a home run and is hailed as a hero for winning the pennant. Later that night, he is hit on the head by the same "piece of the sky" — only to find out that it is not really a piece of the sky, but rather a device that blends into its surroundings. He calls his friends over to help figure out what the device is. When one of them pushes a button on the back of the hexagon, it flies into the sky and turns out to be part of the camouflage of an invisible UFO. Chicken Little manages to ring the bell to warn everyone, but the aliens see the crowds coming and escape, accidentally leaving behind a small orange alien. The town does not believe the story of the alien invasion and thinks it is a repeat of the acorn incident, and Chicken Little is ridiculed yet again. He and his friends discover the orange alien, and a few minutes later a whole fleet of alien ships descends on the town and start what appears to be an invasion. As the aliens rampage throughout Oakey Oaks, vaporizing everything in their path, Little realizes he must return the alien to its parents to save the planet. First, though, he confronts his father and regains his trust. In the invasion, Buck defends Little from the aliens until they are vaporized. It is then discovered that the aliens were not vaporizing people, but the ray guns teleported them aboard the UFO. The invasion was a misunderstanding, as the two aliens were looking for their lost child and attacked only out of concern. Little returns the child, and the aliens return everything to normal; as they depart they note a loose tile on their ship. Everyone is grateful for Chicken Little's efforts to save the town.
