Actor James Avery Dies At The Age Of 65

Actor James Avery Dies At The Age Of 65

Known best for his performance as Uncle Phil on the hit 1990’s sitcom “The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air”, actor James Avery died this Tuesday at the age of 65. The news was tweeted by his “Fresh Prince of Bel-Air” co-star, Alfonso Ribeiro, but was also confirmed by Avery’s publicist.  Ribeiro expressed his sadness over the passing of the actor, mentioning that he considered him as a “second father”.

James Avery was a classically trained actor, something that his comedic role might not have shown. He was also a poet and a dancer, appearing in an uncredited role in the 1980’s hit comedy “Blues Brothers”.

Born in Atlantic City, Avery was raised by a single mother. He served in the Navy in the time of the Vietnam War, before training as an actor and dancer. After his time in the Navy, Avery moved to San Diego to follow his passion and landed a job writing TV Scripts and poetry for PBS.

In an interview given to a TV show, Avery said that he always knew he wanted to write, however, he also had a huge love for the theater and performing.  James Avery appeared in several TV shows as well as movies and plays, however his most memorable role was Phillip Banks, the lovable uncle on the sitcom “Fresh Prince of Bel-Air”.

Posted by Kade Quinn on Thursday January 02 2014, 7:33 AM EST. Ref: Cnn. All trademarks acknowledged. Filed under Entertainment, Featured News. Comments and Trackbacks closed. Follow responses: RSS 2.0