Calvin Cylk Cozart (born February 1, 1960) is an American actor, director, writer and producer who has appeared in over 30 films and 20 television shows.

Early life

Cozart was born and raised in

Knoxville Knoxville is a city in and the county seat of Knox County in the U.S. state of Tennessee. As of the 2020 United States census, Knoxville's population was 190,740, making it the largest city in the East Tennessee Grand Division and the state ...

Tennessee Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked state in the Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the 36th-largest by area and the 15th-most populous of the 50 states. It is bordered by Kentucky to ...

. His father is

African American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American ...

and his mother is Native American (

Cherokee The Cherokee (; chr, ᎠᏂᏴᏫᏯᎢ, translit=Aniyvwiyaʔi or Anigiduwagi, or chr, ᏣᎳᎩ, links=no, translit=Tsalagi) are one of the indigenous peoples of the Southeastern Woodlands of the United States. Prior to the 18th century, th ...

). In his high school years, he was a talented football and basketball player. He attended Montreat-Anderson College, in

Montreat, North Carolina Montreat is a town in Buncombe County, North Carolina, United States. The population was 723 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Asheville Metropolitan Statistical Area. The town is best known for Montreat Conference Center, Montreat College ...

, for his freshman year, then transferred to King College in

Bristol, Tennessee Bristol is a city in the State of Tennessee. Located in Sullivan County, its population was 26,702 at the 2010 census. It is the twin city of Bristol, Virginia, which lies directly across the state line between Tennessee and Virginia. The ...

, on a basketball scholarship.

Career

After college, Cozart almost made a professional career out of basketball, but he suffered a foot injury in the

NBA The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United ...

's Summer Pro League in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the wor ...

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the ...

. A demonstration of his basketball skills can be seen in the film ''

White Men Can't Jump ''White Men Can't Jump'' is a 1992 American sports comedy film written and directed by Ron Shelton. It stars Wesley Snipes and Woody Harrelson as streetball hustlers. The film was released in the United States on March 27, 1992, by 20th Cent ...

'', which also starred actors

Wesley Snipes Wesley Trent Snipes (born July 31, 1962) is an American actor, film producer, and martial artist. His prominent film roles include '' Major League'' (1989), '' New Jack City'' (1991), ''White Men Can't Jump'' (1992), '' Passenger 57'' (1992), '' ...

and

Woody Harrelson Woodrow Tracy Harrelson (born July 23, 1961) is an American actor and playwright. He is the recipient of various accolades, including a Primetime Emmy Award and two Screen Actors Guild Awards, in addition to nominations for three Academy Awards ...

. Prior to becoming an actor, Cozart was an established and very successful model working in

Miami Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a coastal metropolis and the county seat of Miami-Dade County in South Florida, United States. With a population of 442,241 at th ...

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, a ...

. Some of his most prominent roles are Detective Jimmy Mulvey opposite

Bruce Willis Walter Bruce Willis (born March 19, 1955) is a retired American actor. He achieved fame with a leading role on the comedy-drama series '' Moonlighting'' (1985–1989) and appeared in over a hundred films, gaining recognition as an action hero ...

in ''

16 Blocks ''16 Blocks'' is a 2006 American crime-thriller film directed by Richard Donner and starring Bruce Willis, Mos Def, and David Morse. The film unfolds in the real time narration method. It marked the final directed film for Donner in addition to t ...

'', Steven Spielberg's ''

Eagle Eye ''Eagle Eye'' is a 2008 American action-thriller film directed by D. J. Caruso and with a screenplay by John Glenn, Travis Adam Wright, Hillary Seitz and Dan McDermott from a story by McDermott. The film stars Shia LaBeouf, Michelle Monaghan an ...

'', and the family feature film, '' Adrift''. Cozart co-created and produced, "Spirit of Life", for the

2000 Summer Paralympic Games The 2000 Summer Paralympic Games or the XI Summer Paralympics were held in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, between 18 and 29 October. The Sydney Paralympics was last time that the Summer Paralympics which were organized by two different ...

in Sydney, Australia. "Spirit of Life" earned a Videographer Award, Aurora Award, NY Film Festival Bronze Award, and Telly Award. Cozart is the Director of Entertainment/Education for his foundation, Keeping Dreams Alive, which focuses on mentoring children and teenagers from junior high school through College. “Our Foundation is for all sports. KDA will help find Scholarships for the kids that have fallen through the cracks of life."

Filmography

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Cozart, Cylk Male actors from Tennessee American male film actors Living people 1960 births Montreat College alumni People from Knoxville, Tennessee African-American male actors American people of Cherokee descent 21st-century African-American people 20th-century African-American people