LOS ANGELES: James Avery, a classically trained actor best known for his role as the wealthy uncle of the young rapper Will Smith in the 1990s television comedy The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, has died at age 65. Avery’s death was confirmed to CNN by his publicist, and more widely in a Twitter message on Wednesday by one of the actor’s TV co-stars, Alfonso Ribeiro, who played his son, Carlton, on Fresh Prince.
I'm deeply saddened to say that James Avery has passed away. He was a second father to me. I will miss him greatly. pic.twitter.com/UrW0EeBFbO
— Alfonso Ribeiro (@alfonso_ribeiro) January 1, 2014
The show was a launching pad for Will Smith’s acting career, and while Will, who played the main character in The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, is yet to comment publically on the devastating news, his wife Jada Pinkett-Smith took to her Facebook page to pay tribute to the actor.
She wrote: “Happy New Year everyone! I was hoping to start the New Year differently but we have lost yet another friend. James Avery who we all lovingly know as Uncle Phil from The Fresh Prince, has passed. Our condolences to aunt Florence (his mother), Miss Barbara (his wife) and all those who loved him. Rest in peace James.”
According to the celebrity website TMZ, Avery died on Tuesday, New Year’s Eve, from complications he suffered after recent open-heart surgery.
Avery’s voice was heard in many animated TV series, including Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Iron Man, and he guest-starred on That ‘70s Show as a police officer.
But the Atlantic City, New Jersey native gained fame on television playing family patriarch Uncle Philip Banks on The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, which starred Will Smith as a young rap artist from a tough Philadelphia neighbourhood, who ends up living with well-heeled relatives in the affluent Bel-Air section of Los Angeles.
More recently, Avery had a recurring role as a deputy medical examiner on the cable drama series The Closer. His last screen credit, according to the Internet Movie Database website was the 2013 TV comedy movie Go, Bolivia, Go!
Published in The Express Tribune, January 3rd, 2014.
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