Samuel Osei Sarpong Jr. (19 December 1974 – 26 October 2015) was a British-born American actor, model, and musician. He performed in over sixty

feature films A feature film or feature-length film (often abbreviated to feature), also called a theatrical film, is a film ( motion picture, "movie" or simply “picture”) with a running time long enough to be considered the principal or sole presentation ...

and fifty-five television shows, including such films as ''Carmen The Hip Hopera'', '' Love Don't Cost a Thing'', '' Keeping Up with the Steins'', '' Anchor Baby'' and ''No Weapons'', for which he won best lead actor at the San Diego Black Film Festival. He was also the host on

MTV MTV (an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable television television channel, channel and the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group sub-division of the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global. Launched on ...

's '' Yo Momma'' for three seasons. He was one of the first black male models for designer

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 ...

and was the face of the brand for over six years.

Personal life and death

Sam Sarpong was born in London and moved to Los Angeles with his father, Sam Sarpong Sr., who is a native of

Ghana Ghana, officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It is situated along the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, and shares borders with Côte d’Ivoire to the west, Burkina Faso to the north, and Togo to t ...

, when he was 11 years old. He attended

El Camino Real High School El Camino Real Charter High School (also known locally as "ECR" or "Elco") is an independent charter secondary school located in the Woodland Hills district of the San Fernando Valley region of the city of Los Angeles, California, United State ...

Woodland Hills, California Woodland Hills is a neighborhood bordering the Santa Monica Mountains in the San Fernando Valley region of Los Angeles, California, United States. History The area was inhabited for around 8,000 years by Native Americans in the United States, ...

, where he was a

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

star. When his father moved to Pasadena, Sarpong lived with a friend's family so he could continue attending El Camino Real. When his aspirations for a college and professional basketball career proved unsuccessful, he turned to acting and modelling.Fernando Dominguez
"Running the Fast Break Again : Two Years Out of High School, Sarpong Homes In on Show-Business Career"
''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' is an American Newspaper#Daily, daily newspaper that began publishing in Los Angeles, California, in 1881. Based in the Greater Los Angeles city of El Segundo, California, El Segundo since 2018, it is the List of new ...

'', 2 July 1995. Sarpong died on 26 October 2015 at the age of 40 after jumping from the Colorado Street Bridge in

Pasadena, California Pasadena ( ) is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States, northeast of downtown Los Angeles. It is the most populous city and the primary cultural center of the San Gabriel Valley. Old Pasadena is the city's original commerci ...

. His death was ruled a suicide by the Los Angeles County Department of Medical Examiner-Coroner, pending an autopsy.

Career

Sarpong was a co-host of MTV's show ''Yo Momma'', and had since gone on to serve as the host of the BET Awards pre-show ''All Access'', for seven years. At the 2013 BET Awards, he presented the "Best International Artist" category. Sarpong starred as Paul Unanga in the film ''Anchor Baby'' and won Best Lead Actor for this role at the 2012 New York Film Festival. He also guest-starred in " Lord of the Bling", an episode of ''

Veronica Mars ''Veronica Mars'' is an American teen neo-noir Mystery fiction, mystery Drama (film and television), drama television series created by screenwriter Rob Thomas (writer), Rob Thomas. The series is set in the fictional city, fictional town of Ne ...

''. Sarpong was a fashion editorial magazine campaign for the brand

Louis Vuitton Louis Vuitton Malletier SAS, commonly known as Louis Vuitton (, ), is a French Luxury goods, luxury fashion house and company founded in 1854 by Louis Vuitton (designer), Louis Vuitton. The label's LV monogram appears on most of its products, ...

, a recipient of the MAA Fashion Award for Male Model of the Year, and twice named by ''Today's Black Woman'' magazine on their "Fifty Most Beautiful People" list. He was added to ''Us Weekly''′s "Hot 100 Young Hollywood with Style" list in 2007. Sarpong was featured in modelling campaigns for the brand Boy London, and in the past served as the international face of the

Nelson Mandela Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela ( , ; born Rolihlahla Mandela; 18 July 1918 – 5 December 2013) was a South African Internal resistance to apartheid, anti-apartheid activist and politician who served as the first president of South Africa f ...

Foundation clothing line. He posthumously appeared in the seventh episode of ''

American Crime Story ''American Crime Story'' is an American biographical crime drama anthology television series developed by Scott Alexander and Larry Karaszewski, who are also executive producers, alongside Brad Falchuk, Nina Jacobson, Ryan Murphy, and Bra ...

'' playing Byron/Neighbor Man No. 1.

Selected filmography

*'' Sunset Park'' (1996) – Washington Heights Basketball Player (uncredited) *''No Easy Way'' (1996) – Gee (uncredited) *''Carnival of Wolves'' (1996) – Gang member #3 *''All's Fair in Love & War'' (1997) *'' Mr. Show with Bob and David'' (1997-1998) – Professor Murder *''

American History X ''American History X'' is a 1998 American crime drama film directed by Tony Kaye (in his feature directorial debut) and written by David McKenna. The film stars Edward Norton and Edward Furlong as two brothers from Los Angeles who are invol ...

'' (1998) – Jail Inmate (uncredited) *''Hash Brown's'' (1999) – Gangster *''Touch'' (2000) *''Chasing Sunsets'' (2001) – Terrance *'' King Rikki'' (2002) – Louis *'' Masked and Anonymous'' (2003) – Blunt *''Swirl'' (2003) – Max (uncredited) *'' Love Don't Cost a Thing'' (2003) – Kadeem *''

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 ...

'' (2005, TV Series) – Mario ("Everybody Hates Babysitters") *'' Johnny Was'' (2006) – Skip *'' Keeping Up with the Steins'' (2006) – Terrence Smythe *''Grad Night'' (2006) – Jerrod Elliott *''Nailed'' (2006) – Scott Scott *''Marked'' (2007) – Marcus *''Young Cesar'' (2007) – Tariq *''Grindin'' (2007) – Morris *'' Carts'' (2007) – Conrad *''7-10 Split'' (2007) – Himself (uncredited) *''The Sweep'' (2008) – Chrome *''Unemployed'' (2008) – Big Dime *'' Farm House'' (2008) – Jonas *''Single Black Female'' (2009) – Will *''The House That Jack Built'' (2009) – Mace *''Dedd Brothers'' (2009) – Sugar *''Church'' (2010) – Jay *'' Anchor Baby'' (2010) – Paul Unanga *''The Preacher's Family'' (2011) – Deion Hines *''Trigger'' (2012) – Trey *''Crossed the Line'' (2014) – Twist *''Battered'' (2014) – Ray Fleming *''Tamales and Gumbo'' (2015) *''No Weapon Formed Against Us'' (2015) – Deion

References

External links

* *
Find a Grave
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sarpong, Sam 1974 births 2015 deaths 2015 suicides 20th-century English male actors 21st-century English male actors Black British male actors El Camino Real High School alumni English emigrants to the United States English male film actors English male models English male television actors English television presenters English people of Ghanaian descent Male actors from London Male actors from Los Angeles Rappers from London Rappers from Los Angeles Suicides by jumping in California Burials at Forest Lawn Memorial Park (Hollywood Hills)