Marcellas Reynolds is an American actor, author, documentarian, and television host. His notable television appearances include GMA3, ''

Access Hollywood ''Access Hollywood'', briefly known as ''Access'' from 2017 to 2019, is an American weekday television entertainment news program that premiered on September 9, 1996. It covers events and celebrities in the entertainment industry. It was create ...

'', '' E! Live from the Red Carpet'', ''

The Bold and the Beautiful ''The Bold and the Beautiful'' (often referred to as ''B&B'') is an American television soap opera created by William J. Bell and Lee Phillip Bell for CBS. It premiered on March 23, 1987, as a sister show to the Bells' other soap opera ''Th ...

'', Supreme Models, and ''

Yes, Dear ''Yes, Dear'' is an American sitcom created by Alan Kirschenbaum and Gregory Garcia that originally ran on CBS for six seasons, from October 2, 2000, to February 15, 2006, with a total of 122 episodes. It starred Anthony Clark, Jean Louisa K ...

''. Reynolds began his television career in 2002 on

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS (an abbreviation of its original name, Columbia Broadcasting System), is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainme ...

's hit television series ''Big Brother'' season 3, becoming the first

openly gay Coming out of the closet, often shortened to coming out, is a metaphor used to describe LGBTQ people's self-disclosure of their sexual orientation, romantic orientation, or gender identity. This is often framed and debated as a privacy issue, ...

black man cast on a major network reality series. His writing has appeared in ''Chicago'' magazine, ''

Essence Essence () has various meanings and uses for different thinkers and in different contexts. It is used in philosophy and theology as a designation for the property (philosophy), property or set of properties or attributes that make an entity the ...

'', ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'', and L.A. Style Magazine. Reynolds is the author of ''Supreme Models: Iconic Black Women Who Revolutionized Fashion'' and ''Supreme Actresses: Iconic Black Women Who Revolutionized Hollywood'', ''Supreme Sirens: Iconic Black Women Who Revolutionized Music'', and the executive producer of Supreme Models, a documentary.

Personal life

Reynolds was born in

Chicago, Illinois Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

, and raised in Chicago's South Shore. He graduated from

Kenwood Academy Kenwood Academy is a comprehensive public four-year high school, with a middle school magnet program for gifted students, located in the Kenwood neighborhood on the south side of Chicago, Illinois, United States. Operated by the Chicago Public Sc ...

and briefly attended the University of Illinois Chicago's Circle campus.

Early career

In 1995, Aria Model and Talent owners Marie Anderson and Mary Boncher discovered Reynolds while waiting tables. Represented during his model career by

Ford Models Ford Models, originally the Ford Modeling Agency, is an American international modeling agency based in New York City. It was established in 1946 by Eileen Ford and her husband Gerard W. Ford. History 20th century Eileen and Jerry began the bu ...

, Beatrice Models in Milan, and Goodfellas Model Agency in London, Reynolds modeled for the GAP,

Ralph Lauren Ralph Lauren ( ; ; born October 14, 1939) is an American fashion designer, philanthropist, and billionaire businessman, best known for founding the brand Ralph Lauren (brand), Ralph Lauren, a global multibillion-dollar enterprise. He stepped do ...

Tommy Hilfiger Thomas Jacob Hilfiger ( ; born March 24, 1951) is an American fashion designer and the founder of Tommy Hilfiger (company), Tommy Hilfiger Corporation. After starting his career by co-founding a chain of jeans/fashion stores called People's P ...

, Nautica, and photographers Norman Jean Roy and Bruce Weber. In 2000, while modeling in New York, Marcellas Reynolds began working as a fashion stylist for H&M,

Kohl's Kohl's Corporation (Kohl's is stylized in all caps) is an American department store retail chain store, chain. currently has 1,165 locations, operating stores in every U.S. state except Hawaii. The company was founded by Polish immigrant Maxwe ...

Lord & Taylor Lord & Taylor was an American department store chain founded in 1826 by Samuel Lord. It had 86 full-line stores in the Northeastern United States at its peak in the 2000s, and 38 locations at the time of its liquidation in 2021. The Lord & Tay ...

, and

Macy's Macy's is an American department store chain founded in 1858 by Rowland Hussey Macy. The first store was located in Manhattan on Sixth Avenue between 13th and 14th Streets, south of the present-day flagship store at Herald Square on West 34 ...

. His editorial work has appeared in ''British GQ'', ''

InStyle ''InStyle'' is an American monthly women's fashion magazine founded in 1994. It was published in the United States by Dotdash Meredith, and started originally as a brand extension of ''People (magazine), People'' before carving out its own ide ...

'', and British ''Vogue''. His list of past clientele includes

Rebecca Hall Rebecca Maria Hall (born 3 May 1982) is an English actress and director. She made her first onscreen appearance at the age of 10 in the 1992 The Camomile Lawn (TV serial), television adaptation of ''The Camomile Lawn'', directed by her father, ...

, Jayma Mays,

David Schwimmer David Lawrence Schwimmer (born November 2, 1966) is an American actor, director, and producer. He gained worldwide recognition for portraying Ross Geller in the sitcom '' Friends'', for which he received a Screen Actors Guild Award and a Pri ...

Sharon Stone Sharon Vonne Stone (born March 10, 1958) is an American actress and film producer. Known for primarily playing femmes fatales and women of mystery on film and television, she became one of the most popular sex symbols of the 1990s. She is the ...

, and

Justin Timberlake Justin Randall Timberlake (born January 31, 1981) is an American singer, songwriter, actor, record producer, and dancer. Dubbed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Prince of Pop", ''Billboard (magazine), Billboard'' honored him as the b ...

. In 2002, after his appearance on CBS's ''Big Brother'' season three, Reynolds began his career as an entertainment reporter and television host working for

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 ...

, CBS, E!,

FOX Foxes are small-to-medium-sized omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull; upright, triangular ears; a pointed, slightly upturned snout; and a long, bushy tail ("brush"). Twelve species ...

, and the

Style Network Esquire Network was an American pay television network that was a 50/50 joint venture between NBCUniversal and the Hearst Corporation. Launched on October 1, 1998 as Style Network, a spin-off of E!, the channel initially consisted of fashion, ...

. His celebrity interviews include Miss America 2019 Nia Franklin,

Brad Garrett Brad H. Gerstenfeld (born April 14, 1960), known professionally as Brad Garrett, is an American actor and stand-up comedian. Garrett was initially successful as a stand-up comedian in the early 1980s. Taking advantage of that success in the la ...

Tyrese Gibson Tyrese Darnell Gibson (born December 30, 1978) is an American R&B singer and actor from Los Angeles, California. He signed with RCA Records in 1998, and released his debut single " Nobody Else" in August of that year. It peaked within the top ...

Beverly Johnson Beverly Ann Johnson (born October 13, 1952) is an American model, actress, singer, and businesswoman. Johnson rose to fame when she became the first Black model to appear on the cover of American '' Vogue'' in August 1974, after Donyale Luna w ...

, Daphne Maxwell Reid,

Debra Messing Debra Lynn Messing (born August 15, 1968) is an American actress. After graduating from New York University's Tisch School of the Arts, Messing starred in the television series ''Ned and Stacey'' on Fox Broadcasting Company, Fox (1995–1997) an ...

Lupita Nyong'o Lupita Amondi Nyong'o ( , , ; born 1 March 1983) is an actress who has received various accolades, including an Academy Award, a Daytime Emmy Award and a Screen Actors Guild Award, as well as nominations for two British Academy Film Awards, a ...

, Issa Rae, and

Gabrielle Union Gabrielle Monique Union-Wade ( Union; born October 29, 1972) is an American actress. Her career began in the 1990s, when she made dozens of appearances on television sitcoms, prior to landing supporting roles in 1999 teen films '' She's All That ...

. Reynolds's early television appearances include BET's ''Remixed'', ''

CBS This Morning ''CBS This Morning'' (''CTM'') is an American morning television program that aired on CBS from November 30, 1987 to October 29, 1999, and again from January 9, 2012 to September 6, 2021. On November 1, 1999, the original incarnation was repla ...

'', ''

CNN Newsroom ''CNN Newsroom'' (also simply known as ''Newsroom'') is the branding used for blocks of rolling news programming carried by the American cable network CNN. The program debuted on September 4, 2006, consolidating most of CNN's existing rolling n ...

'', E! Network's ''E! Live from the Red Carpet'', Perfect Catch, Style Network's '' How Do I Look?'' and ''Style Star'', ''

The Tyra Banks Show ''The Tyra Banks Show'', also known as and shortened to ''Tyra'' or ''The Tyra Show'', is an American talk show hosted by Tyra Banks that aired from 2005 to 2010. While Banks's show covered a variety of topics, there was a sensationalized focus ...

'', and ''

''. In 2005, Reynolds appeared as Micah Okwu on CBS's daytime soap opera, ''

''. Reynolds also has a cameo in the 2009 movie '' Eating Out 3: All You Can Eat''. Reynolds has appeared in ''Access Hollywood'', ''Daily Mail TV'', ''Good Day Chicago'', ''Tamron Hall'', ''Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen'', and ''Good Day L.A.'' In 2018 Reynolds appeared on ''The Good Place'' as Tahani's favorite patissier, and in 2019, Reynolds appeared on ''How to Get Away with Murder'' as a corrupt FBI agent. On October 8, 2019, Reynolds published ''Supreme Models: Iconic Black Women Who Revolutionized Fashion'', an art book about black models. In 2020, ''Essence'' named ''Supreme Models'' "The Number One Book on Black Style." In 2021, Reynolds published his second book, ''Supreme Actresses: Iconic Black Women Who Revolutionized Hollywood'', a collection of photographs, interviews, and profiles of Black actresses. ''Town and Country Magazine'' named it "One of October 2021's Best Books." On September 24, 2022, ''Supreme Models'', a six-part ''Vogue''/YouTube Originals documentary series, premiered. Reynolds was co-producer of the series. Reynolds' third book, ''Supreme Sirens: Iconic Black Women Who Revolutionized Music'', was published in 2024.

Publications

Reynolds, Marcellas. ''Supreme Models: Iconic Black Women Who Revolutionized Fashion.'' Illustrated. Abrams, 2019. Reynolds, Marcellas. ''Supreme Actresses: Iconic Black Women Who Revolutionized Hollywood.'' Illustrated, Abrams, 2021. Reynolds, Marcellas. ''Supreme Sirens: Iconic Black Women Who Revolutionized Music.'' Illustrated, Abrams, 2024.

Filmography

References

External links

Official Website of Marcellas Reynolds
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Reynolds, Marcellas Big Brother (American TV series) contestants African-American LGBTQ people Living people Fashion stylists Male actors from Chicago Year of birth missing (living people) American gay actors Kenwood Academy alumni