Richard George Harris II (October 5, 1962 – December 26, 2016), known professionally as Ricky Harris, was an American producer, actor, and comedian. He was best known for his role as Malvo in the

UPN The United Paramount Network (UPN) was an American broadcast television network that operated from 1995 to 2006. It was originally a joint venture between Chris-Craft Industries (later sold to News Corporation)'s subsidiary, United Television, ...

The CW The CW Network, LLC (commonly referred to as The CW or simply CW) is an American commercial broadcast television network which is controlled by Nexstar Media Group through a 75% ownership interest. The network's name is derived from the firs ...

sitcom ''

Everybody Hates Chris ''Everybody Hates Chris'' (stylized in all lowercase) is an American semi-autobiographical sitcom created by Chris Rock and Ali LeRoi that originally aired on UPN from 2005 to 2006, and then on The CW until 2009. The series is based loosely ...

''.

Life and career

Harris was born and raised in Long Beach, California. He played his first movie roles in ''

Poetic Justice Poetic justice, also called poetic irony, is a literary device with which ultimately virtue is rewarded and misdeeds are punished. In modern literature, it is often accompanied by an ironic twist of fate related to the character's own action, h ...

'' in 1993 and ''

Murder Was the Case ''Murder Was the Case'' is a 1994 short film and soundtrack album starring and performed by Snoop Doggy Dogg. The 18 minute film was directed by Dr. Dre and Fab Five Freddy and chronicles the fictional death of Snoop Dogg and his resurrection ...

'' in 1994. He also had minor roles in

Michael Mann Michael Kenneth Mann (born February 5, 1943) is an American film director, screenwriter, author and producer, best known for his stylized crime dramas. He has received a BAFTA Award and two Primetime Emmy Awards as well as nominations for four ...

's 1995 crime film ''

Heat In thermodynamics, heat is energy in transfer between a thermodynamic system and its surroundings by such mechanisms as thermal conduction, electromagnetic radiation, and friction, which are microscopic in nature, involving sub-atomic, ato ...

'' and

Mikael Salomon Mikael Salomon (born 24 February 1945) is a Danish cinematographer, director and producer of film and television. After a long cinematography career in Danish cinema, he transitioned to the Hollywood film industry in the late 1980s, earning tw ...

's 1998 action movie '' Hard Rain''. Harris was the voice of DJ EZ Dicc, TaaDow, and Saul-T-Nutz from various skits featured on albums from Snoop Dogg to

Tha Dogg Pound Tha Dogg Pound is an American hip-hop duo composed of West Coast rappers Kurupt and Daz Dillinger. They were among the first acts to sign to Death Row Records in 1992. Kurupt and Daz went on to release solo albums starting in 1998; they left th ...

. In 1993, Harris starred with

Todd Hunter Todd Stuart Hunter NOTE: Requires user to input song title, e.g. POLITICS (born 22 June 1951) is a New Zealand musician and composer known for his involvement in the band Dragon. Their best known songs are "April Sun in Cuba", " Are You Old En ...

in the single episode of '' 357 Marina del Rey'' produced for the

television series A television show, TV program (), or simply a TV show, is the general reference to any content produced for viewing on a television set that is broadcast via over-the-air, satellite, and cable, or distributed digitally on streaming plat ...

Danger Theatre ''Danger Theatre'' is an American half-hour comedy anthology series for television, produced by Universal Television and originally aired on the American Fox network from July 7 to August 22, 1993. Each half-hour-long show consisted of two come ...

'', playing

private detective A private investigator (often abbreviated to PI; also known as a private detective, an inquiry agent or informally a private eye) is a person who can be hired by individuals or groups to undertake investigatory law services. Private investigat ...

Clay Gentry. From 1996 to 1998 he played the role of Javon "J. W." Willis in six episodes of the

situation comedy A sitcom (short for situation comedy or situational comedy) is a genre of comedy produced for radio and television, that centers on a recurring cast of character (arts), characters as they navigate humorous situations within a consistent settin ...

Moesha ''Moesha'' (, ) is an American television sitcom that aired on UPN from January 23, 1996, to May 14, 2001. The series stars Contemporary R&B, R&B singer Brandy Norwood, Brandy as Moesha Denise Mitchell, an African-American teenager living with ...

''. In the 2001 film ''

Bones A bone is a rigid organ that constitutes part of the skeleton in most vertebrate animals. Bones protect the various other organs of the body, produce red and white blood cells, store minerals, provide structure and support for the body, an ...

'', Harris played alongside

Snoop Dogg Calvin Cordozar Broadus Jr. ( ; born October 20, 1971), better known by his stage name Snoop Dogg (previously Snoop Doggy Dogg), is an American rapper, record producer, and actor. Rooted in West Coast hip-hop, he is widely regarded as one of t ...

and

Pam Grier Pamela Suzette Grier (born May 26, 1949) is an American actress, singer, and martial artist. Described by Quentin Tarantino as cinema's first female action star, she achieved fame for her starring roles in a string of 1970s action, blaxploitati ...

. In 2004, Harris lent his voice to various characters in the

video game A video game or computer game is an electronic game that involves interaction with a user interface or input device (such as a joystick, game controller, controller, computer keyboard, keyboard, or motion sensing device) to generate visual fe ...

'' Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas''. In 2007, he played the role of Cousin Fred in the film '' This Christmas''. From 2006 to 2008, Harris played Malvo, a recurring character in the sitcom ''Everybody Hates Chris''. In December 2016, Harris died from a heart attack. He had suffered a previous heart attack two years prior.

Filmography

Film

Television

Music videos

Video games

References

External links

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Ricky Harris
at Find a Grave {{DEFAULTSORT:Harris, Ricky 1965 births 2016 deaths American male comedians Comedians from California American male film actors American producers American male television actors 21st-century American comedians 21st-century African-American male actors 21st-century American male actors 20th-century African-American male actors 20th-century American male actors Burials at Forest Lawn Memorial Park (Long Beach) African-American male comedians African-American comedians