Keith Powell
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Keith Powell (born August 12, 1979) is an American television actor, writer, director, and
web series A web series (also known as webseries, short-form series, and web show) is a series of short scripted or non-scripted online videos, generally in episodic form, released on the Internet (i.e. World Wide Web), which first emerged in the late 1 ...
creator, known for his role as James "Toofer" Spurlock on ''
30 Rock ''30 Rock'' is an American satire, satirical sitcom television series created by Tina Fey that originally aired on NBC from October 11, 2006, to January 31, 2013. The series, based on Fey's experiences as head writer for ''Saturday Night Live' ...
'', and for creating and starring in the web series ''
Keith Broke His Leg ''Keith Broke His Leg'' is an American comedy web series created by Keith Powell. It premiered its first six episodes on August 25, 2015 through its official website, and released subsequent episodes intermittently through September 2016. Set in ...
'', for which he won several
Indie Series Awards The Indie Series Awards (formerly the Indie Soap Awards) is an annual event hosted by '' We Love Soaps'', based in Los Angeles, California, honoring the best in independently produced, scripted entertainment created for the Internet. The ceremon ...
in 2016.


Early life and education

Born in
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...
, Powell later moved to
California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...
before graduating from St. Mark's High School in
Wilmington, Delaware Wilmington is the List of municipalities in Delaware, most populous city in the U.S. state of Delaware. The city was built on the site of Fort Christina, the first Swedish colonization of the Americas, Swedish settlement in North America. It lie ...
. Powell then earned a
Bachelor of Fine Arts A Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA) is a standard undergraduate degree for students pursuing a professional education in the visual arts, Fine art, or performing arts. In some instances, it is also called a Bachelor of Visual Arts (BVA). Background ...
from
New York University New York University (NYU) is a private university, private research university in New York City, New York, United States. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded in 1832 by Albert Gallatin as a Nondenominational ...
's
Tisch School of the Arts The New York University Tisch School of the Arts (commonly referred to as Tisch) is the performing, cinematic, and media arts school of New York University. Founded on August 17, 1965, as the School of the Arts at New York University, Tisch ...
in 2001.


Career

Powell was the Producing Artistic Director of Contemporary Stage Company, a summer theater in
Wilmington, Delaware Wilmington is the List of municipalities in Delaware, most populous city in the U.S. state of Delaware. The city was built on the site of Fort Christina, the first Swedish colonization of the Americas, Swedish settlement in North America. It lie ...
. His producing credits include New York productions of ''The Mouse That Roared, Enter Pissarro, Indra & Agni Collide'' and a workshop of ''Kidding Jane'' with Ellen McLaughlin and William Charles Mitchell. Powell was the resident director for Equalogy, a professional touring company promoting social change, for which he directed two plays by August Schulenberg, ''Four Hearts Changing and One Night''. His other directing credits include ''Dutchman, Quality of Silence, The Visit and Enter Pissarro''. As an actor, Powell has appeared in numerous national network commercials. His theatre credits include ''Romeo & Juliet'' (The Shakespeare Theatre, Washington, D.C.), ''Kidding Jane'' (Portland Stage Company), ''Macbeth'' (Pittsburgh Public Theater), ''As Bees in Honey Drown'' (Hangar Theater, Ithaca, New York), and ''The French'' (HB Playwrights Foundation, NYC) among others. In the spring of 2007, while working as a recurring character on ''
30 Rock ''30 Rock'' is an American satire, satirical sitcom television series created by Tina Fey that originally aired on NBC from October 11, 2006, to January 31, 2013. The series, based on Fey's experiences as head writer for ''Saturday Night Live' ...
'', he shot an ABC pilot called ''Judy's Got A Gun''. It was not picked up for the Fall 2007 season, and Powell returned to ''30 Rock'', where he was promoted to a series regular. In October 2008, Powell launched and starred in a self-funded web series called ''Keith Powell Directs a Play'' (co-written and directed b
Patrick Flynn
'','' chronicling Powell's foray into directing ''
Uncle Vanya ''Uncle Vanya'' ( rus, Дя́дя Ва́ня, r=Dyádya Ványa, p=ˈdʲædʲə ˈvanʲə) is a play by the Russian playwright Anton Chekhov. It was first published in 1897, and first produced in 1899 by the Moscow Art Theatre, directed by Konstan ...
'' at a fictional repertory theatre group. In 2009, Powell was a guest commentator on
VH1 VH1 (originally an initialism for Video Hits One) is an American basic cable television network that launched on January 1, 1985, and is currently owned by the MTV Entertainment Group unit of Paramount Global's networks division based in New Y ...
's ''100 Greatest One Hit Wonders of the 80s'', and also played a Tuskegee Airman in '' Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian''. In 2014, Powell began a recurring role on the television series '' About a Boy'' as Richard, Will's workaholic friend, accountant, and business manager. Powell recurred on the final season of '' The Newsroom''. He appeared in the feature film '' My Name Is David''. In 2015, he created, wrote, directed, and starred in the web series ''
Keith Broke His Leg ''Keith Broke His Leg'' is an American comedy web series created by Keith Powell. It premiered its first six episodes on August 25, 2015 through its official website, and released subsequent episodes intermittently through September 2016. Set in ...
''. The series went on to win several Indie Series Awards, including Best Comedy Series and Best Actor in a Comedy. Powell began his television directing career in March 2018 with the season three episode "Amnesty" of the
NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. It is one of NBCUniversal's ...
television series '' Superstore''. He has since directed episodes of ''Dickinson'', '' Single Drunk Female'', ''Interview with the Vampire'', and ''
So Help Me Todd ''So Help Me Todd'' is an American legal comedy-drama television series, created by Scott Prendergast, that premiered on September 29, 2022, on CBS. The series follows a talented but directionless private investigator, who begrudgingly agrees ...
''.


Personal life

In October 2013, Powell married visual artist Jill Knox. In 2019, Powell and Knox announced the birth of their first child, a daughter. In 2021, they had a second child, a boy. Powell and Knox live in
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, ...
.


Filmography


Film


Actor


Director


Television


Actor


Director


References


External links


Official Keith Powell website
*
Interview with Keith Powell
an article including Powell {{DEFAULTSORT:Powell, Keith 1979 births Living people Male actors from Delaware Male actors from Philadelphia American male film actors American male television actors Tisch School of the Arts alumni Actors from Wilmington, Delaware 21st-century African-American male actors 21st-century American male actors