Ask someone to write down the top 10 TV sitcoms of the ’90s or the top actresses from the ’80s, and prepare for an argument. While they may be able to agree on the top 10 movies in the past couple of years, COVID-19 had a lot to do with that. The choices were limited in movie theaters, and streaming movies didn’t have the same kind of pizzazz as sitting in a movie theater. But the ’90s had far more options to choose from, and it was also a time when positive black TV shows were thriving. Instead of a token black person in a TV show, the entire family was the whole show in quite a few (and movies too). These 10 black actors were among many others from the ’90s who are icons now (and possibly totally new faces to Generation Zers). Here’s what these heavy-hitters did to earn their roles then and now.
Malcolm Jamal Warner
Regardless of how Bill Cosby is viewed now, The Cosby Show was an essential part of entertainment in Black households. Running from 1984 to 1992, fans watched Theo Huxtable go from a Monopoly money kid with big dreams and a Gordon Gartrelle shirt that left much to be desired to a schoolteacher and mentor for young, black kids who were fighting to stay on the straight and narrow. The late actor Merlin Santana jokingly called him “Theo Huggable,” and his fans literally wanted to hug him through the screen while seeing him all grown up. When The Cosby Show ended, Warner went on to work on a number of other ’90s TV shows, including Here and Now, Malcolm & Eddie and The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. In later years, he was a part of Key and Peele, Reed Between the Lines, House of Lies, Suits and Grown-Ish.
Still determined to incorporate newsworthy takes within the African-American community, he starred as an arrogant-but-powerful surgeon in The Resident, highlighting everything from the fatality rate of pregnant black women in hospitals to navigating “snitching” dynamics in the workplace. Outside of acting, Warner is delving into music and spoken word with one mixtape and three albums, the latest of which is 2022’s Hiding in Plain View. Although he still gets choked up at appreciation for his acting and musical talent and has a complicated relationship with critics, that hasn’t stopped him from sharing his social justice opinions as one-third of the hosts of the Not All Hood (NAH) podcast.
Eugene Byrd
Byrd is one of those actors that you look at and know he’s famous, but you can’t always place why you know him. Longtime fans recognize him from The Cosby Show, Are You Afraid of the Dark?, Chris Cross and New York Undercover. You may even recognize Byrd’s role in cult classic films such as Sleepers, 8 Mile and Kings.
Lately, he’s been on a few episodes of All American, Quantum Leap, Reasonable Doubt and the Netflix anime series Exception. When he’s not cracking jokes about looking like a fed-up Santa (or Ice Cube’s doppelganger), sci-fi fans can enjoy listening to him on the Curious Matter Anthology podcast.
Will Smith
Perfectionist Smith knew he wanted to be famous for music and eventually delve into acting, but earning $350 million (and counting) may have been shocking even to his own grandmother, who he promised to rap without cursing. (That promise did not carry over into his acting roles.) Even as an executive producer on the 2022-24 Peacock version of Bel-Air, it’s next to impossible to not compare the new show to its original Smith-starring The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air role from the ’90s. The actor-rapper-producer went on to be a movie legend in films such as I, Robot, Hitch, The Pursuit of Happyness, Independence Day, the Bad Boys movie series, King Richard and Emancipation.
When he wasn’t in front of the camera, he initiated his production dreams in the movies ATL, African Queens: Njinga and Women of the Movement. The father of Willow, Jaden and Trey Smith has had his fair share of controversy, including the viral Chris Rock smack at the Oscars. Smith was branded as always taking the high road and being the nice guy (even in one-sided beefs with the likes of Eminem), but anyone who read his memoir Will knew Smith was on the scrappy side long before he played Muhammad Ali in Ali. Outside of boxing and acting, he hasn’t publicly released raps as much as he used to in the ’90s. However, he’ll send an occasional reminder to let the public know he’s still nice (ex. “Tantrum” and “Will (Remix)” with Joyner Lucas).
Larenz Tate
Love Jones fans may never get to see a sequel, but they sure did squeal at the 2024 Walmart commercial this holiday season starring Nia Long and Tate, who posed for a pic with their fictional photography daughter. It’s not that Tate wasn’t working in TV and film before the 1997 film, but Love Jones is one of the most iconic rom-com films from the ’90s. Before then, he’d worked on The Twilight Zone, Amen, 21 Jump Street, The Wonder Years, Family Matters, South Central and The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. Movie lovers know him from Menace II Society, Dead Presidents and The Inkwell before he asked Long to become “the blues in your left thigh, trying to become the funk in your right.” After that, it made perfect sense for the 5’6 heartthrob to be featured in singer Angie Stone’s music video for the single “Brotha” and the boyfriend in Ashanti’s “Rain On Me.” He broke hearts in Why Do Fools Fall In Love? too. But the love interest wasn’t his only role. He went on to work on Crash, Ray, Waist Deep, House of Lies, Girls Trip, Power and Power Book II: Ghost.
While he’s been in plenty of mainstream projects, one of the Chicagoan‘s personal passions was proving executives wrong about whether the audio-only Bronzeville series could win fans over. Along with Tika Sumpter, Laurence Fishburne and a collection of well-known guest stars, the trio explore the Black history link between “the numbers,” which later became the Illinois Lottery.
Kadeem Hardison
If there’s one thing Hardison is going to do, it’s find a role where his character is in over his head but is determined to protect troubled young boys. As Dwayne Wayne from A Different World (the HBCU student who was always trying to pick up women by telling them he got a perfect score on the math section of his SATs), his character became a schoolteacher risking his life to get one student (played by one-half of rap group Kris Kross, Chris Kelly) to return to class. Two decades later, his next character Professor Gardner did the same thing to help get a drug-dealer-turned-college-student Bakari to return to class and away from Douda in The Chi.
When Hardison isn’t playing superheroes with no capes, he’s done well for himself in TV and film post-Hillman. On the TV end, he was involved in The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, Out All Night, Roc, Living Single, One on One, House, Girlfriends, K.C. Undercover and Family Guy. On the film end, he starred in School Daze and White Men Can’t Jump. Although he and Cree Summers (who played Freddie Brooks in A Different World) are still chuckling about how so many ADW fans had no clue they were dating, the two will still pop up together occasionally, including to support presidential candidates.
Brandon Q. Adams
Fans who follow him on social media are prepared for the Mighty Ducks star to disappear for months and randomly re-appear looking refreshed. Jokingly admitting, “I was everybody’s little boyfriend when I was younger,” Adams is definitely not lying. Between his character Dion singing, dancing and giving Walter (played by comedian Sinbad) a hard time on A Different World, this was a child who stood out among a campus of HBCU students. Longtime fans knew him before Dion, when he worked with Michael Jackson to perform as Zeke in the music video Smooth Criminal, as well as Smooth Criminal (II) and Moonwalker. Although Santana (his real-life best friend) played the love interest for Rudy on The Cosby Show, Adams was all about Keisha Knight Pulliam’s role as Polly in Polly: Comin’ Home! where both child stars showed off their singing and dancing skills. When he wasn’t showing off his musical talent, he explored his dramatic acting chops in People Under the Stairs, The Mighty Ducks, D2: Mighty Ducks and The Sandlot. On the TV end, he had short roles on Martin, Roc, The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, Boy Meets World, Sister, Sister and Moesha.
Although he disappeared from the spotlight for a bit, it looks like 2025 will be the return of him and several iconic black actors from the ’90s. He’s scheduled to star in a film called War Zone, which includes Hardison, Raven-Symone, and two Girlfriends actresses Golden Brooks and Jill Marie Jones.
Terrence “T.C.” Carson
Whether you went to an HBCU and were in a fraternity or not, you know exactly what brotherhood means if someone says you have a friend like Overton and Kyle. And if you’re in a relationship anywhere near like Carson’s character was with Maxine Shaw “Attorney At Law,” laughs and therapy are soon to follow. Although Carson has been in plenty of projects before and after Living Single, Kyle may be the one he’s most loved for. Before he was hanging out with Queen Latifah, Erika Alexander and Kim Coles, he starred in a short-lived TV show Livin’ Large!
After five seasons on Living Single, and creative differences with the writers, he branched out into voiceover work on animated series such as Rugrats, Lilo & Stitch, Mortal Kombat, Clifford the Big Red Dog and multiple Star Wars shows. Grey’s Anatomy fans may have recognized his voiceover work on Nintendo Wii’s Grey’s Anatomy: The Video Game. He did return physically to TV to take on other non-animated roles, including Black Lightning, The Quad and three Wesley Christmas movies. But his voice is clearly his secret weapon, judging from his own singing on Living Single and his early 2000s album and EP.
Bumper Robinson
Like Byrd, Robinson is one of those actors who has been in a little of everything but may initially be hard to place. Although Black-ish fans may have wondered how Robinson could possibly outdo comedian Deon Cole as the sketchy friend Charlie, Robinson managed to carry the sketchy torch in Kenya Barris’ Netflix series Black AF as the character Broadway. But with 188 credits to his name, Robinson was an iconic actor long before then. His early acting days were on The Jeffersons, Gimme a Break!, Night Court, Amen, Family Matters and The Flintstone Kids. But he won ladies over as Dorian Heywood, the celibate love interest of Lena James (played by Jada Pinkett-Smith) in A Different World. He moved on to Thea, Saved By the Bell and Sister, Sister, then hung around for awhile as Khadijah James’ intern Ivan Ennis on Living Single.
A flurry of voiceover work followed, including Pinky and the Brain, Redfall, The New Batman Adventures, What’s New, Scooby-Doo?, X-Men Origins: Wolverine, and several Marvel Lego video games and TV shorts.
Cress Williams
As Terrence “Scooter” Williams, childhood friend and adult boyfriend of Khadijah James, these two were way less chaotic than Kyle and Maxine, but they did have their entertaining moments on Living Single. The copy machine was one of many of those moments. Williams popped in and out of the hit show while Khadijah fought off her workaholic habits.
Before his role as Scooter, he completed work on Beverly Hills, 90210 and NYPD Blue. Post-Living Single, fans could catch him on House, Veronica Mars, ER, Grey’s Anatomy the TV show and video game, and Hawthorne. Then, he showed off his superhero capabilities as the star of Black Lightning: Jefferson Pierce. He wasn’t done with playing Black Lightning when the show ended though; he went on to play the star character in the TV series The Flash.
Jason Weaver
Weaver proved he is as equally talented in music as he is in acting and, in his early days, he tried both. Releasing his first album Love Ambition in 1995, he’d just finished a regular role on Thea and nailed the lead role as Young Simba in the animated movie Lion King. He then took on acting roles in TV (Sister, Sister, Smart Guy, Black-ish) and movies (ATL, Drumline, Lottery Ticket). Even though he casted his last presidential vote in Georgia, sports fans get a friendly reminder about his hometown love for the Chicago Bears and Chicago Bulls. And if those hints don’t work, check him out in his ongoing role as Shaad in The Chi.
These 10 iconic black actors from the ’90s arguably made the TV and movie era that much more enjoyable. Even better, pretty much all of their projects can still be found now for a blast from the past. Just make sure to support their new work too, helping to make them iconic in the 2020s and beyond.
