In showbiz, Music and Acting can as well pass for twins. With the necessary passion and talent, it has been easy for musicians and actors to move seamlessly between both fields. It is commonplace to find a lot of Actors who got their first breakthrough in music and vice versa. Chi McBride is an example of how fluid and dynamic the entertainment industry can be.
Blessed with an impressive voice, Chi thought music will be the source of his livelihood, after a lot of self-doubts, he found himself juggling between comedy, acting, and a bit of music to forge for himself quite an impressive career. He has been a recipient of the Satellite Award for Best Actor – Television Series Drama and the TCA Award for Individual Achievement in Drama
Chi McBride Biography
As an American, the first intriguing thing about this star is his name, Chi. Born as Kenneth McBride, he opted for “Chi” a short form of his home city Chicago and is pronounced “Shy”. Born on September 23, 1961, Chi was raised in the Seventh-day Adventist Church. He attended Shiloh Academy, presently known as Chicago SDA Academy, an institution owned and run by the Seventh-day Adventist Church. After school, Chi was torn between sticking full time with music, not just music but singing in the Choir or venturing out of his beloved Chicago. In 1986, Chi moved out of Chicago and set up shop in Atlanta. He took up a job as a Billing Clerk at AT&T.
After almost giving up on a career in Show-biz, he got his lucky break when his song He’s the Champ became a hit. The song – A parody of the marriage of actress Robin Givens and boxer Mike Tyson. Seemingly impressed by his talent, Chi was signed up to Esquire Records and linked up with R&B Band Covert.
After signing his deal, Chi went out to California to shoot a music video in 1991. At the set of the shoot, the producer saw McBride dancing, doing impressions of Jesse Jackson and Arnold Schwarzenegger, and immediately set out to convince Chi that he was going to make more money in Los Angeles with his talent. After Chi auditioned for a Fox TV-produced sequel to the feature Revenge of the Nerds, he was convinced LA was the city for him. He went back to Atlanta and quit his AT&T job.
His newfound popularity propelled him into the screens with appearances in movies like The Terminal, Let’s Go to Prison, Mercury Rising, Roll Bounce, Gone in 60 Seconds, The Frighteners, Undercover Brother, The Brothers Solomon, First Sunday, Paid in Full, Disney’s The Kid, Narc, Hoodlum, American Son, Draft Day, Pawnshop Chronicles, What’s Love Got to Do with It, Revenge of the Nerds III: The Next Generation, The Family Tree, The Distinguished Gentleman, Who Do You Love?, Still Waiting…, Ultimate Avengers 2, King of the World, Home Sweet Hell, Waiting…, Annapolis, Lego Marvel Super Heroes: Maximum Overload, Fruit of Labor, etc.
He has also had impressive TV appearances in Hawaii Five-0, Human Target, Pushing Daisies, Boston Public, Golden Boy, Ultimate Spider-Man, The Secret Diary of Desmond Pfeiffer, The John Larroquette Show, Killer Instinct, Murder Police, and The Nine, Max Steel.
Chi McBride’s Wife, Family
Chi is of Caribbean ancestry and is married to Latina beauty Julissa McBride, the couple has a son born in 2008. Chi, however, has 3 other children whose identities are still kept very private. Nothing is also known about who their mother is.
Chi McBride comes from a closely-knit family, he once said his parents still consider him unemployed and in need of ‘secure” employment because they would have preferred if he were a Doctor, Lawyer, or something of that sort.
Height and Net Worth
One of the most obvious characteristics of McBride is his intimidating size. He stands at an impressive 6 feet 4 and a half inches (1.94 meters)
With well over three decades of work under his belt, Chi McBride boasts an impressive net worth in the region of about $10 Million.
