Michael Taliferro (August 23, 1961 – May 4, 2006) was an American film and television actor and sportsman. He is best known for ''

Life Life, also known as biota, refers to matter that has biological processes, such as Cell signaling, signaling and self-sustaining processes. It is defined descriptively by the capacity for homeostasis, Structure#Biological, organisation, met ...

'' (1999), and '' The Replacements'' (2000), and made guest appearances on ''

The Jamie Foxx Show ''The Jamie Foxx Show'' is an American television sitcom created by Jamie Foxx and Bentley Kyle Evans for The WB. It premiered on August 28, 1996, and ended on January 14, 2001, with a total of 100 episodes over the course of five seasons. A ...

'', ''

Martin Martin may refer to: Places Antarctica * Martin Peninsula, Marie Byrd Land * Port Martin, Adelie Land * Point Martin, South Orkney Islands Europe * Martin, Croatia, a village * Martin, Slovakia, a city * Martín del Río, Aragón, Spain * M ...

'', and ''

The Parkers ''The Parkers'' is an American television sitcom created by Ralph Farquhar, Sara V. Finney and Vida Spears. The series ran for five seasons from August 30, 1999, to May 10, 2004, on UPN. It stars Mo'Nique, Countess Vaughn, Mari Morrow, Dorien Wi ...

''.

Career

Known for his intimidating stature, Taliferro was signed by the

Washington Redskins The Washington Commanders are a professional American football team based in the Washington metropolitan area. The Commanders compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East ...

in 1984, followed by two seasons in the

USFL The United States Football League (USFL) was a professional American football league that played for three seasons, 1983 through 1985. The league played a spring/summer schedule in each of its active seasons. The 1986 season was scheduled to be ...

with the

Denver Gold The Denver Gold was an American football franchise in the United States Football League (USFL) from 1983 to 1985. The Gold played their home games at Mile High Stadium in Denver, Colorado; and were co-tenants in the spring with the Triple-A ...

in 1985 and the Arizona Outlaws in 1986, finishing his athletic career with the

British Columbia Lions The BC Lions are a professional Canadian football team based in Vancouver, British Columbia. The Lions compete in the West Division (CFL), West Division of the Canadian Football League (CFL), and play their home games at BC Place. The Lions playe ...

in the

Canadian Football League The Canadian Football League (CFL; , LCF) is a Professional gridiron football, professional Canadian football league in Canada. It comprises nine teams divided into two divisions, with four teams in the East Division (CFL), East Division and f ...

the following year. Soon after, Taliferro moved to California and began his acting career. He was discovered by film director

Tony Scott Anthony David Leighton Scott (21 June 1944 – 19 August 2012) was a British film director and producer. He made his theatrical film debut with ''The Hunger (1983 film), The Hunger'' (1983) and went on to direct highly successful action and t ...

, who offered him a

bit part In acting, a bit part is a role in which there is direct interaction with the principal actors and no more than five lines of dialogue, often referred to as a five-or-less or under-five in the United States, or under sixes in British televisio ...

The Last Boy Scout ''The Last Boy Scout'' is a 1991 American buddy action comedy film directed by Tony Scott from a screenplay by Shane Black, and produced by Joel Silver. It stars Bruce Willis and Damon Wayans, with Noble Willingham, Chelsea Field, Taylor Neg ...

. His first credited film appearance was in the 1993 film '' Sister Act 2: Back in the Habit'', where he played the role of a security guard. He also made appearances in the films '' Bad Boys'', ''

'', ''

Half Past Dead ''Half Past Dead'' is a 2002 American action film written and directed by Don Michael Paul in his directorial debut. The film was produced by Elie Samaha, Andrew Stevens, and Steven Seagal, who also starred in the lead role. The film co-stars Mor ...

'', '' Ride or Die'', ''

You Got Served ''You Got Served'' is a 2004 American dance drama film written and directed by Chris Stokes, who was also the business manager of the performers who were the film's main characters: recording artist Marques Houston and the boy band B2K. The ...

'' and '' Blue Hill Avenue''. In 2003, Taliferro completed filming ''

A Day in the Life "A Day in the Life" is a song by the English rock band the Beatles that was released as the final track of their 1967 album '' Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band''. Credited to Lennon–McCartney, the opening and closing sections of the s ...

''. He also directed and produced '' Steppin: The Movie'', which was completed in 2007.

Personal life

Taliferro was born in

Fort Worth, Texas Fort Worth is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the county seat of Tarrant County, Texas, Tarrant County, covering nearly into Denton County, Texas, Denton, Johnson County, Texas, Johnson, Parker County, Texas, Parker, and Wise County, Te ...

, and had a brother, James and two sisters, Olga and Cheryl. Taliferro was a Christian and went to a Christian school. He attended

Texas Christian University Texas Christian University (TCU) is a private university, private research university in Fort Worth, Texas, United States. It was established in 1873 by brothers Addison Clark, Addison and Randolph Clark as the AddRan Male & Female College. It i ...

. He never married but was engaged to Cathey L. Tyree and had five children. Taliferro died on May 4, 2006, in Los Angeles, California, at the age of 44. The cause of death was a

stroke Stroke is a medical condition in which poor cerebral circulation, blood flow to a part of the brain causes cell death. There are two main types of stroke: brain ischemia, ischemic, due to lack of blood flow, and intracranial hemorrhage, hemor ...

. He was interred at Spring Hill Cemetery in

Brooksville, Florida Brooksville is a city in and the county seat of Hernando County, Florida, Hernando County, Florida, in the United States. At the 2010 United States Census, 2010 census it had a population of 7,719, up from 7,264 at the 2000 census. Brooksville is ...

Filmography

Film

Television

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Taliferro, Michael 1961 births 2006 deaths African-American male actors Texas Christian University alumni Male actors from Fort Worth, Texas Male actors from Los Angeles People from Spring Hill, Florida African-American Christians Singers from Los Angeles Singers from Texas Singers from Florida 20th-century African-American male singers 20th-century American male singers 20th-century American singers