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Ving Rhames
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Miami Vice Characters
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Born
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May 12, 1959, New York, New York
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Active
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1985-present
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Spouse/Children
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Valerie Scott (1994-1999, divorced)
Deborah Reed (2000-present), 3 children |
Irving Rameses "Ving" Rhames (born May 12, 1959) is an American actor. He appeared in the show Miami Vice as Georges, a homeless man with a sister Gabriella (played by Garcelle Beauvais) in the episode "The Maze", and Walker Monroe, a gun-runner who worked with Gordon "Jeffrey McCallister/Crossbones" Cavis in the episode "Child's Play".
Early Life/Career[]
Rhames was born in New York City, the son of a homemaker and an auto mechanic. He was named after the late NBC economics correspondent Irving R. Levine, and grew up in Harlem. Rhames later attended New York's School of Performing Arts, then SUNY Purchase, where his roommate, actor Stanley Tucci, gave him the nickname "Ving", which stuck. He made his stage debut on Broadway in 1984's The Winter Boys. Rhames' first TV appearance was in the TV-movie Go Tell It On The Mountain (with Giancarlo Esposito), followed by appearances in Tour of Duty, Spenser: For Hire, The Equalizer, ER, The District before producing and starring in a remake of the classic detective show Kojak, which lasted 12 episodes in 2005, then appearing in the series Gravity (with John Heard), Monday Mornings (with Alfred Molina), and his most recent TV appearance, the 2023 series Sinking Spring.
Rhames has appeared in numerous movies, including the following:
- Native Son (1986, first movie appearance)
- The Long Walk Home (1990)
- Jacob's Ladder (1990)
- Stop, Or My Mom Will Shoot! (1992, with Martin Ferrero)
- Dave (1993)
- Pulp Fiction (1994, with Bruce Willis and Paul Calderon)
- Kiss of Death (1995, with Phillip Baker Hall, Stanley Tucci & Anthony Heald)
- Mission: Impossible (1996), Mission: Impossible II (2000), Mission: Impossible III (2006, with Laurence Fishburne), Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation (2015), and Mission Impossible: Fallout (2018) and Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One (2023, most recent movie appearance, with Esai Morales)
- Striptease (1996, with Paul Guilfoyle)
- Rosewood (1997, with Bruce McGill)
- Con Air (1997, with Steve Buscemi, John Diehl, Jesse Borrego and Mykelti Williamson)
- Don King: Only In America (TV, 1997, won Golden Globe for Best Actor)
- Entrapment (1999)
- Undisputed (2002, with Wesley Snipes)
- Dawn of the Dead (2004)
- Surrogates (2009, with Bruce Willis)
- King of the Avenue (2010, with Esai Morales)
- Submission (2010, with George Takei)
- Won't Back Down (2012)
- Mafia (2012, with Pam Grier)
- A Sunday Horse (2015)
- Father FIgures (2017, with Harry Shearer)
Personal Life[]
Rhames has been married twice, first to Valerie Scott from 1994-1999, and then married Deborah Reed in 2000, they have two children, daughter Rainbow and son Freedom (and a daughter, Tiffany, from Reed's previous marriage).