Robert Christopher Riley (born October 11, 1980) is an American film, television, and stage actor of

Trinidadian Trinidadians and Tobagonians, colloquially known as Trinis or Trinbagonians, are the people who are identified with the country of Trinidad and Tobago. The population of Trinidad is notably diverse, with approximately 35% Indo-Trinidadian, 34% ...

and Bajan descent. He is known for his role as Terrence Wall in the

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 ...

television drama series '' Hit The Floor'' from 2013 to 2016, and for playing

Michael Culhane Michael Culhane is a fictional character from the ABC television series ''Dynasty'', created by Richard and Esther Shapiro. Portrayed by Wayne Northrop, the character is introduced in the series' 1981 pilot episode as the chauffeur of oil tycoo ...

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 ...

's 2017 ''Dynasty'' reboot.

Early life

Riley was born and raised in

Brooklyn, New York Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...

. His mother is from Trinidad and father is from Barbados. Riley attended

Brooklyn Technical High School Brooklyn Technical High School, commonly called Brooklyn Tech and administratively designated High School 430, is a public specialized high school in New York City that specializes in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. It is on ...

where he participated in the school's drama club and also played safety for the Engineers. He went to college and received his B.A. in Theater from

Lehigh University Lehigh University (LU), in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, United States, is a private university, private research university. The university was established in 1865 by businessman Asa Packer. Lehigh University's undergraduate programs have been mixed ...

Bethlehem, Pennsylvania Bethlehem is a city in Northampton County, Pennsylvania, Northampton and Lehigh County, Pennsylvania, Lehigh counties in the Lehigh Valley region of eastern Pennsylvania, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, Bethle ...

, in 2003. In 2006, he received his Masters in Theater from

Ohio University Ohio University (Ohio or OU) is a Public university, public research university with its main campus in Athens, Ohio, United States. The university was first conceived in the 1787 contract between the United States Department of the Treasury#Re ...

. He played college football and wrote his first theatrical script which he also directed.

Career

From 2013 to 2016, Riley played Terrence Wall in the

television drama series '' Hit The Floor''. In 2010, he starred as the security guard Derek in an episode of Nickelodeon's ''

Victorious ''Victorious'' (stylized as ''VICTORiOUS'') is an American sitcom created by Dan Schneider that originally aired on Nickelodeon, debuting on March 27, 2010, and concluding on February 2, 2013 after four seasons. The series revolves around aspi ...

''. On Broadway, Riley played the role of Dave Robinson in ''Lombardi'' and starred in the 2009 production of

Tennessee Williams Thomas Lanier Williams III (March 26, 1911 – February 25, 1983), known by his pen name Tennessee Williams, was an American playwright and screenwriter. Along with contemporaries Eugene O'Neill and Arthur Miller, he is considered among the three ...

Cat On A Hot Tin Roof ''Cat on a Hot Tin Roof'' is a 1955 American three-act play by Tennessee Williams. The play, an adaptation of his 1952 short story "Three Players of a Summer Game", was written between 1953 and 1955. One of Williams's more famous works and his ...

'' as Brick, succeeding

Terrence Howard Terrence Dashon Howard (born March 11, 1969) is an American actor performing on film and television. He has received a Screen Actors Guild Awards, Screen Actors Guild Award as well as nominations for an Academy Awards, Academy Award, a Golden ...

in the role. In 2014, he appeared as Jay "The Sport" Jackson in the

Old Globe Theatre The Old Globe is a professional theatre company in Balboa Park in San Diego, California. It produces about 15 plays and musicals annually in summer and winter seasons. Plays are performed in three separate theatres in the complex, which is collec ...

's production of television writer and producer Marco Ramirez's ''The Royale''. He also played Jared in the 2016 TV One movie ''Bad Dad Rehab''. In March 2017, Riley was cast in

's ''Dynasty'' reboot as chauffeur

Filmography

Film

Television

Video Game

Music Video

Documentary

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Riley, Robert Christopher 1980 births American male stage actors American male film actors American male television actors Lehigh University alumni Living people Male actors from Brooklyn 21st-century African-American male actors 21st-century American male actors 20th-century African-American male actors 20th-century American male actors