Before we start I just want to explain why there was no Awesome Fat Guy of the Week last Friday. I had planned to feature a fictional character, but decided to stick to real people for the time being. I had always planned on talking about some great Fat Characters but it just didn't feel right as I was writing it. I didn't have enough time to choose a substitute and as such had no other option but to skip the post. I am planing on doing something with the fictional character I had chosen, but for now I'll be sticking with real people. Today's real person is Chi McBride. A notable actor who has been in a number of TV series and movies.
Kenneth "Chi" McBride was born on September 23, 1961, in Chicago, Illinois. The nickname "Chi" came from Chicago. He attended Shiloh Academy, now known as Chicago SDA Academy, which is a Seventh-day Adventist school. He graduated at the age of 16. Chi, who had studied several instruments and sang in gospel choirs, planned on a career music.
He achieved some success thanks to the parody song "He's the Champ" a song about Mike Tyson's marriage to Robin Givens. This led to McBride being signed to Esquire Records. After which he joined the rhythm and blues band Covert.
Somewhere along the line Chi decided he should try a career in acting. He moved to Los Angelos and landed small roles on In Living Color and The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. His first featured role was in Revenge of the Nerds III: The Next Generation.
Chi landed his first big screen role in 1992 with a part in The Distinguished Gentleman. Over the next few years Chi split his time between TV and the Big Screen. He appeared on shows like Married...with Children, The John Larroquette Show, and Nash Bridges. As well as movies like The Frighteners, Hoodlum, and Mercury Rising.
His first starring role came in the much maligned UPN series The Secret Diary of Desmond Pfeiffer. The show was met with much controversy before it even aired. This was due to the series being about a black English nobleman who is kidnapped and sent to America as a slave. The show was pulled after airing only 4 episodes. It has since been ranked the eleventh-worst TV series ever by TV Guide and #15 on the list of 25 biggest TV Blunders by the TV Guide Network.
Not one to be kept down, Chi bounced back quickly. Within two years he joined the cast of Boston Public. The award winning series lasted 4 seasons. While the show had a large ensemble cast Chi was the lynchpin of the series.
When Boston Public ended Chi went back to bouncing between the Big and Small screen. Appearing in hit shows like Boston Legal, House, How I Met Your Mother, HawthoRNe, Suits, Psych, and Monk. On the big screen he worked along side Will Arnett in Let's Go to Prison, James Franco in Annapolis, Ice Cube in First Sunday, Ryan Reynolds in Waiting..., and Tom Sizemore in American Son.
Oddly enough Chi has a habit of acting in shows that are well regarded and liked, but ultimately cancelled. These shows ranged in length but were all killed off early. These included Human Target which only lasted 25 episodes, The Nine which went for 13 episodes, Killer Instinct which also ran for 13 episodes , and Pushing Daises which reached 22 episodes.
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