Person
- Born
- 1967-11-10
via Open Library + Wikidata
Film & TV
Acting · Brooklyn, New York City, New York, USA
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,…
Known for
- Special Op: Rent-a-Cop — Brock Belfry2026
- Oscar Shaw — Oscar Shaw2026
- The Secret Between Us — Jack Frazier2026
- Trouble Man — Jaxen2025
- Exit Protocol — Isaac Florentine2025
- Hostile Takeover — Pete2025
- One More Shot — Robert Jackson2024
- Scream Before You Die — Joe Washington2024
- Don't Mess with Grandma — JT2024
- Chuck Zito: An American Story — Self2024
Article
Michael Jai White (born November 10, 1967) is an American actor, martial artist, and director. Though he has appeared in a variety of genres, White is best known for his action and martial arts films. His first major starring role and breakout performance was in the 1995 HBO film Tyson as heavyweight boxer Mike Tyson. He went on to portray Al Simmons in the 1997 film Spawn, making him the first African American to portray a major comic book superhero in a major motion picture. His work in Spawn earned him a nomination for the Blockbuster Entertainment Award for Best Male Newcomer.
In 1999, White starred opposite Jean-Claude Van Damme in Universal Soldier: The Return, and in 2001, he starred opposite Steven Seagal in Exit Wounds. He has since been cast in several mainstream films in supporting roles, such as The Dark Knight (2008) and the Tyler Perry films Why Did I Get Married? (2007) and Why Did I Get Married Too? (2010), though most of his lead roles have been in direct to video films or limited theatrical releases, such as Black Dynamite, Blood and Bone (both 2009), Falcon Rising (2014), Accident Man (2018), Dragged Across Concrete (2019), and As Good as Dead (2022), He directed and starred in Never Back Down 2: The Beatdown (2011), Never Back Down: No Surrender (2016), and Outlaw Johnny Black (2023).
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1967 births20th-century African-American male actors20th-century American male actors21st-century African-American male actors21st-century American male actorsAfrican-American film directorsAmerican jujutsukaAmerican male film actorsAmerican male karatekaAmerican male taekwondo practitionersAmerican male television actorsAmerican male voice actors