Kenneth "Chi" McBride ( ; born September 23, 1961) is an American actor. He has appeared in films, where he is known primarily as a character actor, and in television, where he has had numerous starring roles.
In film, he has played prominent roles including The Frighteners (1996), Gone in 60 Seconds (2000), The Terminal (2004), I, Robot (2004), Waiting... (2005), Let's Go to Prison (2006), and Draft Day (2014).
On television, he was high school principal Steven Harper on the series Boston Public, Emerson Cod on Pushing Daisies, Detective Laverne Winston on the Fox drama Human Target, Detective Don Owen on the short-lived CBS crime drama Golden Boy, and Captain Lou Grover on Hawaii Five-0.
Early life McBride was born in Chicago, Illinois, from which his stage name derives. He was raised in the Seventh-day Adventist Church and attended Shiloh Academy, now known as Chicago SDA Academy, a Seventh-day Adventist school. McBride originally planned to pursue a career in music. After studying several instruments and singing with gospel choirs in his native Chicago, he relocated to Atlanta, Georgia, in 1986 to work for AT&T as a billing clerk.
Career McBride's first success in show business came with the hit song "Basically, He's the Champ" as part of the group KSL, which parodied the marriage of boxer Mike Tyson and actress Robin Givens. Based on the song's success, McBride was signed by Esquire Records, and he joined the rhythm and blues band Covert. Convinced he should try his hand in front of the camera, McBride moved to Los Angeles and, billed as "Chi", landed guest spots on Fox's In Living Color and NBC's The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, as well as a featured role in the television film Revenge of the Nerds III: The Next Generation.
In 1998, he was a co-star of Mercury Rising, alongside Bruce Willis. He was later given the role of Principal Steven Harper on the series Boston Public. Much of McBride's work sees him playing right-hand man to the hero, as in the films Mercury Rising and The Terminal. He is also notable for television roles on The John Larroquette Show, House, The Secret Diary of Desmond Pfeiffer, Killer Instinct, and Pushing Daisies.
McBride's other film credits include Cradle 2 the Grave, The Distinguished Gentleman, Gone in 60 Seconds, The Frighteners, Narc, Disney's The Kid, I, Robot, Roll Bounce, Annapolis, Hoodlum, Undercover Brother, Let's Go to Prison, and The Brothers Solomon. McBride portrayed eight different characters in the play Nagataki Sake, directed by Robert Downey, Sr.
He starred in Human Target as Winston, business partner of Christopher Chance (the protagonist). The show premiered on January 17, 2010, on FOX.
Starting in 2013, he starred on Hawaii Five-0 as Captain Lou Grover. He previously worked with co-star Scott Caan in Gone in 60 Seconds.
In May 2021, Chi McBride has signed with Verve.
On May 14, 2021, CBS announced that McBride would star along with Pete Holmes and Katie Lowes in a sitcom based around the life of laid-off auto worker-turned-professional bowler Tom Smallwood. McBride plays Archie, a bowling alley owner who serves as friend and mentor to the main character played by Holmes. The multi-camera series debuted on March 31, 2022.
Filmography Film Year Title Role Notes 1992 The Distinguished Gentleman Homer 1993 What's Love Got to Do with It Fross 1996 The Great White Hype Rowdy Spectator The Frighteners Cyrus 1997 Hoodlum Illinois Gordon 1998 Mercury Rising FBI Agent Thomas "Bizzi" Jordan 2000 Dancing in September Security Guard Gone in 60 Seconds Donny Astricky Disney's The Kid Kenny Magicians Tom 2002 Narc Captain Cheevers Undercover Brother The Chief Paid in Full Pip 2003 Cradle 2 the Grave Jump Chambers Delusion John Short 2004 The Terminal Joe Mulroy I, Robot Lt. John Bergin 2005 Roll Bounce Curtis Smith Waiting... Bishop Coleman 2006 Annapolis McNally Ultimate Avengers 2 Chief Elder Voice, direct-to-video A green check mark indicates that a role has been confirmed using a screenshot (or collage of screenshots) of a title's list of voice actors and their respective characters found in its credits or other reliable sources of information. Let's Go to Prison Barry 2007 The Brothers Solomon James Coolwell 2008 American Son Eddie First Sunday Pastor Arthur Mitchell Who Do You Love Willie Dixon 2009 Still Waiting... Bishop Coleman 2011 The Family Tree Simon Krebs Fruit of Labor Mr. Hoffman Short 2013 Pawn Shop Chronicles Johnson Lego Marvel Super Heroes: Maximum Overload Nick Fury, Red Skull Voice, short 2014 Draft Day Walt Gordon 2015 Home Sweet Hell Chief Malcom Brown 2017 Unspoken: Diary of an Assassin Actor 2022 Beavis and Butt-Head Do the Universe Metcalf, JudgeVoice
Television Year Title Role Notes 1992 The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air Ed Barker Episode: "Boyz in the Woods" Revenge of the Nerds III: The Next Generation Malcolm Pennington III Television film 1993–96 The John Larroquette Show Heavy Gene Main cast 1994 Married... with Children Dexter Episode: "Nooner or Later" Cosmic Slop T-Bone Episode: "Tang" 1996 Nash Bridges Luscious Episode: "The Great Escape" 1998 The Secret Diary of Desmond Pfeiffer Desmond Pfeiffer Main cast 1999 The Parkers Cliff Rogers Episode: "Betting on Love" 2000 Sliders Mule Packer Episode: "Dust" God, the Devil and Bob Mike Voice, recurring cast King of the World Drew Bundini Brown Television film 2001 The Practice Steven Harper Episode: "The Day After" Rocket Power Big Tony Voice, episode: "Hurricane Maurice/Reggie's Choice" 2000–02 Max Steel Jefferson Smith Voice, main cast 2000–04 Boston Public Steven Harper Main cast 2005 Boston Legal Steven Harper Episode: "Let Sales Ring" House Edward Vogler Recurring cast (season 1) 2005–06 Killer Instinct Lt. Matt Cavanaugh Main cast 2006 Monk Mayor Ray Nicholson Episode: "Mr. Monk and the Garbage Strike" 2006–07 The Nine Malcolm Jones Main cast 2007–09 Pushing Daisies Emerson Cod Main cast 2010 Psych Craig Snowden Episode: "Ferry Tale" 2010–11 Human Target Detective Laverne Winston Main cast 2011 How I Met Your Mother Rod Episode: "Challenge Accepted" HawthoRNe Garland Brice Recurring cast (season 3) Suits District Attorney Terrence Wolf 2 episodes 2012–13 Fury Files Nick Fury Voice, main cast 2012–15 Avengers Assemble Voice, recurring cast 2012–17 Ultimate Spider-Man Nick Fury, Thunderball, additional voices Voice, recurring cast 2013 Golden Boy Detective Don Owen Main cast Murder Police Randall Hickox Voice, main cast Phineas and Ferb Nick Fury Voice, episode: "Phineas and Ferb: Mission Marvel" 2013–20 Hawaii Five-0 Captain Lou Grover Recurring cast (season 4), main cast (season 5-10) 2014–15 Hulk and the Agents of S.M.A.S.H. Nick Fury Voice, recurring cast 2015 Suits District Attorney Terrence Wolf Episode: "Intent" 2020 Puppy Dog Pals Pops/Mr. Kimble Voice, recurring cast (season 3) 2021 This Is Us Paul DuBois Episode: "Birth Mother" 2022 How We Roll Archie Betts Main cast Slippin' Jimmy Father Karras Voice, recurring cast2026Law & Order: Special Victims UnitThomas AhernEpisode: Fidelis Ad Mortem2026I Will Find YouMax WilliamsMain Cast
References
External links
Chi McBride at MTV.com