Robert Andrew Ri'chard (born January 7, 1983)[1] is an American actor, known for his roles as Bobby Walker on the Nickelodeon sitcom Cousin Skeeter (1998–2002), and as Arnaz Ballard on the UPN sitcom One on One (2001–2006). He received Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Performer in Children's Programming for performance in the made-for-television movie In His Father's Shoes (1998), and NAACP Image Award nomination for Outstanding Youth Actor/Actress for the 1999 teen drama film, Light It Up.

Robert Ri'chard
Ri'chard at the Inaugural Dignity Gala on October 18, 2013
Born
Robert Andrew Ri'chard

(1983-01-07) January 7, 1983 (age 41)
OccupationActor
Years active1993–present

Ri'chard starred in the sports drama film Coach Carter and the horror film, House of Wax in 2005. He later played the lead in the stripper drama film Chocolate City (2015) and its sequel, Chocolate City: Vegas Strip (2017), and in the erotic drama film, Kinky (2018).

Early life

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Ri'chard was born in Los Angeles, California. He is of Louisiana Creole[2] descent. He attended Palms Middle School in Los Angeles, California.

Career

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In 1997, Ri'chard starred in the television special, In His Father's Shoes, which earned him the 1998 Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Performer in a Children's Special. Ri'chard later starred in the Nickelodeon sitcom Cousin Skeeter. He also made a few appearances as himself on the hit Nickelodeon game show, Figure It Out. He played Samuel on Touched by an Angel, a troubled teen whose brother is in prison for shooting a man. His breakout role was in the TV adaptation of Anne Rice's novel, The Feast of All Saints, where he played the young Marcel who becomes a man within society. He has been professionally acting since the age of 13. He appeared in the movie Light It Up along with R&B star Usher. Ri'chard has guest starred on many hit shows such as Boston Public, NCIS, CSI: Miami, CSI: NY, My Wife and Kids, and The Jamie Foxx Show. In 2000, he starred in the Disney Channel TV movie Alley Cats Strike. He became popular in 2001 when he got the role of Arnaz Ballard on the UPN hit sitcom One on One alongside Flex Alexander and Kyla Pratt. That role was the most significant of his television roles. He continued to play the role until the show ended in 2006.[3]

 
Ri'chard in 2019

Ri'chard appeared in films Coach Carter and House of Wax in 2005.[3] From 2006 to 2007 he had a recurring role in the CW series Veronica Mars and from 2009 to 2010 in the TBS sitcom Meet the Browns as Derek Porter, a buffoonish frat student who lived next door to Brown Meadows. He debuted in season 3 as a recurring character, and in the fourth season, was promoted to a main character. Ri'chard was set to star in a series entitled Eight Days a Week, starring Christina Milian and Mario Lopez on the CW Television Network during the fall 2007 season, but it was canceled due to the 2007 Writers Strike before airing. On November 16, 2011, it was announced that Robert Ri'chard was cast as Jamie in the CW series The Vampire Diaries.[4]

In 2015, Ri’chard played stripper in the comedy-drama film, Chocolate City.[3] He later returned to its sequel, Chocolate City: Vegas Strip (2017). In 2018 he starred in the erotic film, Kinky.[5] He later appeared in films Bolden (2019), Alone (2020) and Sweetwater (2023).[6] On television, he appeared in Lucifer and iZombie. He had the recurring roles during the final season of Fox soap opera, Empire, and the Amazon comedy series, Harlem alongside Cousin Skeeter co-star, Meagan Good.[7][8]

Filmography

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Film

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Year Title Role Notes
1997 In His Father's Shoes Clay Crosby TV movie
Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Performer in Children's Programming
Nominated — Young Artist Award for Best Performance in a TV Movie / Pilot / Mini-Series: Leading Young Actor
1999 Our Friend, Martin Miles (voice) Video
Light It Up Zacharias 'Ziggy' Malone Nominated — NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Youth Actor/Actress
2000 Alley Cats Strike Todd McLemore TV movie
Nominated — Young Artist Award for Best Performance in a TV Movie (Comedy) - Leading Young Actor
New Kids on the Planet Bobby Walker Cousin Skeeter TV movie
2001 The Feast of All Saints Marcel TV movie
2002 Who's Your Daddy? Murphy Video
2005 Coach Carter Damien Carter
House of Wax Blake
P.N.O.K. Pvt. Battle Short
2007 The Comebacks Aseel Tare
Eight Days a Week Daniel 'Sarge' Sargent TV movie
2010 Louis Baquet
2011 5th & Alameda Troy
2012 A Beautiful Soul Christ Scott
2013 Pastor Shirley Jason
2014 Sweat Harder Athlete 7 Short
2015 Chocolate City Michael McCoy
The Man in 3B Benny
2016 Bad Dad Rehab Tristan TV movie
2017 Secondhand Love - Short
Chocolate City: Vegas Strip Michael McCoy
Vagabonds Skeeter Johnson Short
2018 Kinky Darrin Bernard
Throwback Holiday Aaron Tucker
2019 Bolden George Baquet
The Naughty List Zane TV movie
2020 My Brother's Keeper Donnie
Alone Brandon
2021 Real Talk Robert Allen
The Fight That Never Ends John 'Jay' Hunter TV movie
2023 Sweetwater Pop [9]
Big Boss TJ
Queen of Hearts Justin Tubi movie
Vicious Affair Kenneth Hastings Tubi movie
2024 RSVP Maurice Wright BET+ Original
TBA Paradies 3 TBA Post—production

Television

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Year Title Role Notes
1993 Where I Live Brian Episode: "Married... with Children"
1996 Hangin' with Mr. Cooper Gary Episode: "Breaking Up Is Hard to Do"
Nash Bridges Leo Episode: "Leo's Big Score"
Touched by an Angel Samuel Dixon Episode: "Sins of the Father"
1996–98 Nickelodeon Sports Theater with Shaquille O'Neal Luke Williams / Troy Davis Episode: "4 Points" & "First Time"
1997 Crisis Center Dwayne Episode: "Shots"
Promised Land Hank Episode: "Stealing Home: Part 1 & 2"
1998 The Jamie Foxx Show Bruce Episode: "The Afterschool Special" & "We Got No Game"
1999 All That Himself Episode: "All That Live! (100th episode)"
1998–2001 Cousin Skeeter Bobby Walker Main cast
Nominated — Young Artist Award for Best Performance in a TV Comedy Series - Leading Young Actor (1999–2001)
2000 Once and Again Jared Recurring cast: Season 1
2001 Boston Public Student Episode: "Chapter Fourteen"
My Wife and Kids Tommy Episode: "Grassy Knoll"
Touched by an Angel Alex Wilson Episode: "Band of Angels"
2001–06 One on One Arnaz Ballard Main cast
2005 CSI: Miami Tobey Hollins Episode: "48 Hours to Life"
2006–07 Veronica Mars Mason Recurring cast: Season 3
2009 NCIS Seaman Richard Zell Episode: "South by Southwest"
2009–10 Meet the Browns Derek Porter Recurring cast: Season 3-4
2012 The Vampire Diaries Jamie Recurring cast: Season 3
King Bachelor's Pad Howard Episode: "Last Wish"
The Client List Alex Episode: "Acting Up"
2013 CSI: NY Ray Griffin Episode: "Today Is Life"
2014 Hungry Jayson Episode: "How to Marry a Millionaire"
2015 427 Dion Episode: "Pilot"
2016 Lucifer Josh Bryant Episode: "Lucifer, Stay. Good Devil."
2017 iZombie Finn Vincible Episode: "Eat a Knievel"
2017–21 The Rich and the Ruthless Max Barringer Main cast
2020 Empire Julian Recurring cast: Season 6
2021 Harlem Shawn Recurring cast

References

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  1. ^ Rose, Mike (January 7, 2023). "Today's famous birthdays list for January 7, 2023 includes celebrities Nicolas Cage, Kenny Loggins". Cleveland.com. Retrieved January 7, 2023.
  2. ^ "Robert Ri'chard On His Way To Get Married To Co-Star Cougar Girlfriend or Already Dating Someone Else?". Live Rampup. July 26, 2017.
  3. ^ a b c "Robert Ri'chard and his abs have prominent roles in 'Chocolate City'". Los Angeles Times. May 27, 2015.
  4. ^ "Breaking Celeb News, Entertainment News, and Celebrity Gossip | E! News UK". Uk.eonline.com. 15 November 2011. Retrieved 2019-05-21.
  5. ^ Sharpe, Martel (October 20, 2018). "Former child star Robert Ri'chard stars in 'Kinky'". The Atlanta Voice.
  6. ^ "Robert Ri'chard | Rotten Tomatoes". www.rottentomatoes.com.
  7. ^ Petski, Denise (March 4, 2021). "'Harlem': Andrea Martin, Robert Ri'chard, Juani Feliz, Kate Rockwell & Sullivan Jones To Recur In Tracy Oliver's Amazon Comedy".
  8. ^ Sandoval, Lapacazo (January 6, 2022). "Robert Ri'chard of Amazon's 'Harlem'—A single father with his heart on his sleeve". New York Amsterdam News.
  9. ^ Lang, Brent (2022-10-11). "Briarcliff Entertainment Buys Sweetwater, Drama About Pioneering African American NBA Player (Exclusive)". Variety. Archived from the original on December 30, 2022. Retrieved 2023-02-19.
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