Algee Smith IV (born November 7, 1994) is an American actor and singer. After appearing in several small television roles, Smith first rose to fame portraying

Ralph Tresvant Ralph Edward Tresvant (born May 16, 1968) is an American singer, songwriter, and record producer, best known as the lead singer of R&B group New Edition. As a solo artist, Tresvant released his double platinum-selling debut album '' Ralph Tres ...

BET Black Entertainment Television (BET) is an American basic cable channel targeting Black American audiences. It is the flagship channel of the BET Media Group, a subsidiary of Paramount Global's CBS Entertainment Group. Originally launched ...

's ''

The New Edition Story ''The New Edition Story'' is an American biographical three-part miniseries about the R&B group New Edition, from their rise to fame as a boy band from the Orchard Park Projects of Roxbury, Massachusetts, to becoming a successful adult act. It ...

'' miniseries. The same year, he garnered critical acclaim as Larry Reed in

Kathryn Bigelow Kathryn Ann Bigelow (; born November 27, 1951) is an American film director, producer, and screenwriter. Her accolades include two Academy Awards, two BAFTA Awards, and a Primetime Emmy Award. ''Time'' magazine named her one of the 100 most i ...

's film ''

Detroit Detroit ( , ) is the List of municipalities in Michigan, most populous city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is situated on the bank of the Detroit River across from Windsor, Ontario. It had a population of 639,111 at the 2020 United State ...

''. He is also known for his role as

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

player Christopher "Chris" McKay in the

HBO Home Box Office (HBO) is an American pay television service, which is the flagship property of namesake parent-subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is based a ...

drama series ''

Euphoria Euphoria ( ) is the experience (or affect) of pleasure or excitement and intense feelings of well-being and happiness. Certain natural rewards and social activities, such as aerobic exercise, laughter, listening to or making music and da ...

''.

Early life

Smith was born in

Saginaw, Michigan Saginaw () is a city in Saginaw County, Michigan, United States, and its county seat. It had a population of 44,202 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Located along the Saginaw River, Saginaw is adjacent to Saginaw Charter Township, ...

. At the age of eight, he and his family moved from Michigan to

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...

where he started his acting career. Having an occultist for a father and a fashion designer for a mother, Smith was well immersed in the arts and also completed his first rap recording at the age of 9. During this time, he attained several minor television roles; those of which he credits for "perfecting his craft." Smith was home schooled for high school. He left

Atlanta, GA Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County and extends into neighboring DeKalb County. With a population of 520,070 (2024 estimate) living within the city limits, At ...

and moved to

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

at the age of 20.

Career

After appearances in projects such as

Disney Channel Disney Channel is an American pay television television channel, channel that serves as the flagship (broadcasting), flagship property of Disney Branded Television, a unit of the Disney Entertainment business segment of the Walt Disney Company ...

's ''Let It Shine'' and ''

Earth to Echo ''Earth to Echo'' is a 2014 American science fiction film directed by Dave Green, and produced by Ryan Kavanaugh and Andrew Panay. Based on a screenplay by Henry Gayden, the film stars Teo Halm, Brian "Astro" Bradley, Reese C. Hartwig and Ella ...

'', Smith landed his first major acting role playing real-life singer

in ''

,'' which also showcased his singing and dancing abilities''.'' Smith also starred in

's film ''Detroit'', which tells the story of the

Algiers Motel incident The Algiers Motel incident (also called the Algiers Motel murders) occurred in Detroit, Michigan, United States, throughout the night of July 25–26, 1967, during the racially charged 12th Street Riot. At the Algiers Motel, approximately east o ...

. His performance was praised by critics and he received a nomination for Outstanding Actor in a Motion Picture at the 2018

NAACP Image Awards The NAACP Image Awards is an annual awards ceremony presented by the U.S.-based National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) to honor outstanding performances in film, television, theatre, music, and literature. The over 40 ...

. He also performed a song for the ''Detroit'' film soundtrack, called "Grow." On June 22, 2017, Smith released his first EP entitled ''Listen'', featuring a blend of R&B and

Hip hop Hip-hop or hip hop (originally disco rap) is a popular music genre that emerged in the early 1970s from the African-American community of New York City. The style is characterized by its synthesis of a wide range of musical techniques. Hip- ...

tracks. In 2018, he co-starred with

Amandla Stenberg Amandla Stenberg (born October 23, 1998) is an American actress. She began her career as a child and received recognition for playing List of The Hunger Games characters#Rue, Rue in the action film ''The Hunger Games (film), The Hunger Games'' ( ...

in ''

The Hate U Give ''The Hate U Give'' is a 2017 young adult novel by Angie Thomas. It is Thomas's debut novel, expanded from a short story she wrote in college in reaction to the police shooting of Oscar Grant. The book is narrated by Starr Carter, a 16-yea ...

'', a film adaptation of the young adult novel of the same name. Smith also reprised his role as Ralph Tresvant in BET's ''The Bobby Brown Story''. In 2019, he earned a starring role as Chris McKay in the highly acclaimed TV series ''Euphoria.'' Smith returned to film in 2021, portraying Jake Winters in the film

Judas and the Black Messiah Judas Iscariot (; ; died AD) was, according to Christianity's four canonical gospels, one of the original Twelve Apostles of Jesus Christ. Judas betrayed Jesus to the Sanhedrin in the Garden of Gethsemane, in exchange for thirty pieces of s ...

, which details the work and ultimate assassination of

Black Panther Party The Black Panther Party (originally the Black Panther Party for Self-Defense) was a Marxism–Leninism, Marxist–Leninist and Black Power movement, black power political organization founded by college students Bobby Seale and Huey P. Newto ...

activist

Fred Hampton Fredrick Allen Hampton Sr. (August 30, 1948 – December 4, 1969) was an American activist and revolutionary socialist. He came to prominence in his late teens and early 20s in Chicago as deputy chairman of the national Black Panther Party and c ...

. He also appeared and portrayed one of the main roles, Sam, in the film Mother/Android.

Filmography

Film

Television

Discography

EPs

Mixtapes

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, Algee American male television actors 1994 births People from Saginaw, Michigan Living people Male actors from Michigan Male actors from Atlanta 21st-century African-American male actors 21st-century American male actors American male film actors