Ving Rhames facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Ving Rhames
Rhames in 2010
Born	Irving Rameses Rhames (1959-05-12) May 12, 1959 (age 66) New York City, U.S.
Alma mater	Juilliard School (BFA)
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1984–present
Spouse(s)	Valerie Scott ​ ​ (m. 1994; div. 1999)​ Deborah Reed ​ ​ (m. 2000)​
Children	3

Irving Rameses Rhames (born May 12, 1959) is a famous American actor. He is best known for his role as IMF Agent Luther Stickell in the exciting Mission: Impossible film series, which started in 1996 and is still going strong. He also played a memorable character named Marsellus Wallace in the movie Pulp Fiction (1994).

Early Life and Learning

Ving Rhames grew up in Harlem, a neighborhood in New York City. He was named "Irving" after a well-known journalist named Irving R. Levine.

Ving went to New York's High School of Performing Arts. This is where he truly fell in love with acting. After high school, he studied drama at SUNY Purchase. There, another acting student, Stanley Tucci, gave him the nickname "Ving." Later, Rhames went to the Juilliard School, a very famous arts school. He earned a special degree in Fine Arts in 1983.

Ving Rhames's Acting Journey

Ving Rhames started his acting career on Broadway, performing in a play called The Boys of Winter in 1984. His first movie role was in The People Under the Stairs (1991). He then appeared as a Secret Service agent in Dave (1993). A big role for him was Marsellus Wallace in the movie Pulp Fiction (1994). He also played Buddy Bragg in Out of Sight (1998).

On TV, Rhames had a repeating role in the medical drama ER. He played Dr. Peter Benton's brother-in-law for three seasons. In 1996, he joined Tom Cruise in the first Mission: Impossible movie as Luther Stickell, a skilled computer hacker. He also appeared in the popular film Con Air (1997) and Dangerous Ground.

A Special Award Moment

In 1998, Ving Rhames won a Golden Globe award for his role in the HBO movie Don King: Only in America. He won for Best Actor in a TV movie. At the award ceremony, he did something very special. He gave his award to another actor who was nominated, Jack Lemmon. Rhames said that being an artist is about giving.

Jack Lemmon was very touched by this kind act. The audience gave Lemmon a standing ovation. The Hollywood Foreign Press Association, who gives out the Golden Globes, later made a second award for Rhames. This moment was remembered as one of the nicest in entertainment history.

More Movie and TV Roles

Ving Rhames continued to take on many different roles. He played a lawyer named Johnnie Cochran in American Tragedy (2000). He also voiced the character of Cobra Bubbles in the animated movie Lilo & Stitch (2002) and its TV series. He played a police officer fighting zombies in Dawn of the Dead (2004).

In 2005, Rhames starred in a new TV series called Kojak. He played the main character, Lieutenant Theo Kojak. He also voiced Tobias Jones in the video game Driver 3.

Ving Rhames has continued to play Luther Stickell in the Mission: Impossible movies. He was in Mission: Impossible III (2006), had a small appearance in Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol (2011), and played a big part in Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation (2015), Mission: Impossible – Fallout (2018), and Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One (2023). He is the only actor besides Tom Cruise to be in all seven Mission: Impossible films.

He also narrated the TV series American Gangster for BET. In the 2008 film Saving God, he played a man who takes over his father's church after leaving prison. Rhames also starred as boxer Sonny Liston in Phantom Punch.

Since 2014, Ving Rhames has been the voice for many commercials for the restaurant chain Arby's. His famous line is "Arby's: We have the meats!" He also narrates team introductions for the New England Patriots and Atlanta Falcons in the Super Bowl.

Personal Life

Ving Rhames is a Christian. As of 2018, he lives in Santa Monica, California. He has been married to Deborah Reed since 2000. He has three children.

Filmography

Key

Denotes works that have not yet been released

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes	Ref.
1986	Native Son	Jack
1988	Patty Hearst	Cinque Mtume
1989	Casualties of War	Lieutenant Reilly
1990	The Long Walk Home	Herbert Cotter
	Jacob's Ladder	George
1991	Flight of the Intruder	Chief Petty Officer Frank McRae
	Homicide	Robert Randolph
	The People Under the Stairs	Leroy
1992	Stop! Or My Mom Will Shoot	"Mr. Stereo"
1993	Blood In Blood Out	Ivan
	Dave	Duane Stevenson
	The Saint of Fort Washington	Leroy "Little Leroy"
1994	Pulp Fiction	Marsellus Wallace
	Drop Squad	Garvey
1995	Kiss of Death	FBI Agent Omar
1996	Mission: Impossible	Luther Stickell
	...	"Shad"
1997	Dangerous Ground	Muki
	Rosewood	Mann
	Con Air	Nathan "Diamond Dog" Jones
1998	Body Count	Pike
	Out of Sight	Buddy Bragg
1999	Entrapment	FBI Agent Aaron Thibadeaux
	Bringing Out the Dead	Marcus
2000	Mission: Impossible 2	Luther Stickell
2001	Baby Boy	Melvin
	Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within	Ryan Whittaker
2002	Undisputed	George "The Iceman" Chambers
	Lilo & Stitch	Cobra Bubbles (voice)
	Dark Blue	Deputy Chief Arthur Holland
2003	Stitch! The Movie	Cobra Bubbles (voice)	Direct-to-video
	Sin	Eddie Burns
2004	Dawn of the Dead	Sergeant Kenneth Hall
2005	Back in the Day	Joe "J-Bone" Brown
	Animal	James "Animal" Allen	Video
	Shooting Gallery	Carl "Cue Ball Carl" Bridgers	Video
2006	Mission: Impossible III	Luther Stickell
	Leroy & Stitch	Cobra Bubbles (voice)	Direct-to-video
	Idlewild	"Spats"
2007	Ascension Day	Hark	Video
	I Now Pronounce You Chuck & Larry	Fred G. Duncan
	A Broken Life	Vet
2008	Animal 2	James "Animal" Allen
	Day of the Dead	Captain Kenneth Rhodes	Video
	Phantom Punch	Sonny Liston
	Saving God	Armstrong Cane
2009	Echelon Conspiracy	FBI Agent Dave Grant
	Give 'Em Hell, Malone	"Boulder"
	The Goods: Live Hard, Sell Hard	"Jibby" Newsome
	The Bridge to Nowhere	Nate
	The Tournament	Joshua Harlow
	Surrogates	The Prophet
	Evil Angel	Detective Carruthers
2010	Master Harold...and the Boys	Sam
	Love Chronicles: Secrets Revealed	Mike	Video
	Operation: Endgame	"Judgement"
	Piranha 3D	Deputy Fallon
	King of the Avenue	Norman De'Sha
	The Wrath of Cain	Miles "Cain" Skinner
	Red Canvas	Himself
	Death Race 2	R. H. Weyland	Video
2011	The River Murders	Captain Art Langley
	... Bullies	Miguel
	Julia X	The Man
	Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol	Luther Stickell	Uncredited cameo
2012	Seven Below	Jack
	Piranha 3DD	Deputy Fallon
	Soldiers of Fortune	Grimaud "Grim Reaper" Tourneur
	Art of Submission	Gene
	Won't Back Down	Principal Thompson
	Mafia	Renzo Wes
	Btd	Ken	Short
2013	Death Race 3: Inferno	R. H. Weyland	Video
	Armed Response	Officer Hall
	Force of Execution	"Ice Man"	Video
2014	Jamesy Boy	Conrad
2015	Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation	Luther Stickell
	Operator	Richard
2016	A Sunday Horse	Mr. Valentine
2017	Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2	Charlie-27
	The Star	Thaddeus (voice)
	Father Figures	Rod Hamilton
2018	Con Man	"Peanut"
	Mission: Impossible – Fallout	Luther Stickell
2022	Wendell & Wild	Buffalo Belzer (voice)
2023	The Locksmith	Frank
	Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One	Luther Stickell
2024	The Garfield Movie	Otto (voice)
	The Instigators	Frank Toomey
	The Wild Robot	Thunderbolt (voice)
2025	Uppercut	Elliott Duffond	Post-production
	Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning	Luther Stickell

Television

Video games

Awards and Nominations

See also

In Spanish: Ving Rhames para niños