Joseph C. Phillips
Encyclopedia
Joseph Connor Phillips is an American actor
and conservative Christian
commentator and writer. He is best known for his role as Martin Kendall on the long-running NBC
sitcom The Cosby Show
.
. He and his wife Nicole have three sons, Connor, Ellis, and Samuel.
Lieutenant Martin Kendall on the popular NBC
sitcom
, The Cosby Show
. Additionally, he portrayed attorney Justus Ward
on the ABC
soap opera
General Hospital
from 1994 to 1998. Phillips is also a guest political commentator on News and Notes with Ed Gordon on most NPR
radio stations. In 2006, Phillips published an autobiography, He Talk Like A White Boy, which includes a foreword by Tavis Smiley
.
fraternity. He attended the University of the Pacific as a communications major, but later transferred to the acting conservatory at New York University
where he graduated with a BFA in acting in 1983.
Phillips is an ambassador for the Sickle Cell Disease Association of America. He has spoken extensively about the disease and its effect on the family. He is also a member of the Screen Actors Guild, American Federation of Television and Radio Artists, Actors Equity Association, the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences, was National Co-Chair of the African American Steering committee for Bush Cheney '04, was named a member of the Republican National Committee
's African American Advisory Board, was appointed by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger
to the state board of directors of the California African American Museum and was named a 2005 Claremont Institute Lincoln Fellow.
, is a television and radio commentator and writes a weekly syndicated column that promotes conservative views, such as traditional family values, limited government
and a return to America's founding principles. He has been a critic of same-sex marriage
.
Actor
An actor is a person who acts in a dramatic production and who works in film, television, theatre, or radio in that capacity...
and conservative Christian
Christian
A Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as recorded in the Canonical gospels and the letters of the New Testament...
commentator and writer. He is best known for his role as Martin Kendall on the long-running NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
sitcom The Cosby Show
The Cosby Show
The Cosby Show is an American television situation comedy starring Bill Cosby, which aired for eight seasons on NBC from September 20, 1984 until April 30, 1992...
.
Personal life
Joseph Phillips' mother died when he was young. After his own mother died, he became close to his cousin's, Duane Evans, mother. He is from MassachusettsMassachusetts
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...
. He and his wife Nicole have three sons, Connor, Ellis, and Samuel.
Career
From 1989 to 1991, Phillips portrayed U.S. NavyUnited States Navy
The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...
Lieutenant Martin Kendall on the popular NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
sitcom
Situation comedy
A situation comedy, often shortened to sitcom, is a genre of comedy that features characters sharing the same common environment, such as a home or workplace, accompanied with jokes as part of the dialogue...
, The Cosby Show
The Cosby Show
The Cosby Show is an American television situation comedy starring Bill Cosby, which aired for eight seasons on NBC from September 20, 1984 until April 30, 1992...
. Additionally, he portrayed attorney Justus Ward
Justus Ward
Justus Ward was a fictional character on the ABC soap opera, General Hospital. He was the son of Bradley and Isobel Ward, and the grandson of Edward Quartermaine. The role was originated by former Cosby Show actor Joseph C. Phillips, who appeared as Justus from June 2, 1994 to July 1, 1998...
on the ABC
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
soap opera
Soap opera
A soap opera, sometimes called "soap" for short, is an ongoing, episodic work of dramatic fiction presented in serial format on radio or as television programming. The name soap opera stems from the original dramatic serials broadcast on radio that had soap manufacturers, such as Procter & Gamble,...
General Hospital
General Hospital
General Hospital is an American daytime television drama that is credited by the Guinness Book of World Records as the longest-running American soap opera currently in production and the third longest running drama in television in American history after Guiding Light and As the World Turns....
from 1994 to 1998. Phillips is also a guest political commentator on News and Notes with Ed Gordon on most NPR
NPR
NPR, formerly National Public Radio, is a privately and publicly funded non-profit membership media organization that serves as a national syndicator to a network of 900 public radio stations in the United States. NPR was created in 1970, following congressional passage of the Public Broadcasting...
radio stations. In 2006, Phillips published an autobiography, He Talk Like A White Boy, which includes a foreword by Tavis Smiley
Tavis Smiley
Tavis Smiley is a talk show host, author, liberal political commentator, entrepreneur, advocate and philanthropist. Smiley was born in Gulfport, Mississippi and grew up in Kokomo, Indiana. After attending Indiana University, he worked during the late 1980s as an aide to Tom Bradley, the mayor of...
.
Education and associations
Phillips is a member of Alpha Phi AlphaAlpha Phi Alpha
Alpha Phi Alpha is the first Inter-Collegiate Black Greek Letter fraternity. It was founded on December 4, 1906 at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York. Its founders are known as the "Seven Jewels". Alpha Phi Alpha developed a model that was used by the many Black Greek Letter Organizations ...
fraternity. He attended the University of the Pacific as a communications major, but later transferred to the acting conservatory at New York University
New York University
New York University is a private, nonsectarian research university based in New York City. NYU's main campus is situated in the Greenwich Village section of Manhattan...
where he graduated with a BFA in acting in 1983.
Phillips is an ambassador for the Sickle Cell Disease Association of America. He has spoken extensively about the disease and its effect on the family. He is also a member of the Screen Actors Guild, American Federation of Television and Radio Artists, Actors Equity Association, the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences, was National Co-Chair of the African American Steering committee for Bush Cheney '04, was named a member of the Republican National Committee
Republican National Committee
The Republican National Committee is an American political committee that provides national leadership for the Republican Party of the United States. It is responsible for developing and promoting the Republican political platform, as well as coordinating fundraising and election strategy. It is...
's African American Advisory Board, was appointed by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger
Arnold Schwarzenegger
Arnold Alois Schwarzenegger is an Austrian-American former professional bodybuilder, actor, businessman, investor, and politician. Schwarzenegger served as the 38th Governor of California from 2003 until 2011....
to the state board of directors of the California African American Museum and was named a 2005 Claremont Institute Lincoln Fellow.
Conservative activism
Phillips, a conservative RepublicanRepublican Party (United States)
The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...
, is a television and radio commentator and writes a weekly syndicated column that promotes conservative views, such as traditional family values, limited government
Limited government
Limited government is a government which anything more than minimal governmental intervention in personal liberties and the economy is generally disallowed by law, usually in a written constitution. It is written in the United States Constitution in Article 1, Section 8...
and a return to America's founding principles. He has been a critic of same-sex marriage
Same-sex marriage
Same-sex marriage is marriage between two persons of the same biological sex or social gender. Supporters of legal recognition for same-sex marriage typically refer to such recognition as marriage equality....
.
Filmography
| Film | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Film | Role | Other notes |
| 1991 | Strictly Business | Waymon Tinsdale III | |
| 1998 | A Fare to Remember | ||
| Let's Talk About Sex Let's Talk About Sex (film) Let's Talk About Sex is a 1998 film written, directed, and starring Troy Beyer.The film was rated NC-17 by the MPAA. According to Beyer, among other items the MPAA would have required to give the film a lower rating, Beyer was asked to remove a scene where a fully dressed woman licks a peach in... |
Michael | ||
| 2005 | Getting Played Getting Played Getting Played is a 2005 film directed by David Silberg, starring Vivica A. Fox, Bill Bellamy, Carmen Electra, and Stacey Dash.-Plot:The film centers around three very attractive women who, after having many guy troubles themselves, decide to play a prank on a random man... |
Robert Mitchellson | |
| 2010 | Church | Melvin | post-production |
| Boogie Town Boogie Town Boogie Town is loosely based on Arthur Laurents 1957 stage musical, West Side Story. On December 22, 2008, Variety reported that Vivendi Entertainment acquired worldwide theatrical distribution rights for the film and that Chris Stokes would be directing, writing the screenplay and producing the film... |
Chief Salsbury | in production | |
| Television | |||
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 1985, 1989–1992 | The Cosby Show The Cosby Show The Cosby Show is an American television situation comedy starring Bill Cosby, which aired for eight seasons on NBC from September 20, 1984 until April 30, 1992... |
Daryl Lt. Martin Kendall |
21 episodes |
| 1989 | A Raisin in the Sun | George Murchison | TV-Movie |
| A Man Called Hawk A Man Called Hawk A Man Called Hawk is a prime time television series that ran on the ABC television network between January 1989 and May 1989. The series was a spin-off of the crime drama series Spenser: For Hire, and features the character Hawk, who first appeared in the 1976 novel Promised Land, the fourth in... |
Matt Johnson | Episode: Poison | |
| A Different World | Lt. Martin Kendall | Episode: Forever Hold Your Peace | |
| 1993 | Basic Values: Sex, Shock & Censorship in the '90s | ||
| 1994–1998 | General Hospital General Hospital General Hospital is an American daytime television drama that is credited by the Guinness Book of World Records as the longest-running American soap opera currently in production and the third longest running drama in television in American history after Guiding Light and As the World Turns.... |
Justus Ward Justus Ward Justus Ward was a fictional character on the ABC soap opera, General Hospital. He was the son of Bradley and Isobel Ward, and the grandson of Edward Quartermaine. The role was originated by former Cosby Show actor Joseph C. Phillips, who appeared as Justus from June 2, 1994 to July 1, 1998... |
|
| 1995 | Martin Martin (TV series) Martin is an American sitcom produced by HBO Independent Productions that aired for five seasons, from August 27, 1992 to May 1, 1997 on Fox... |
Derrick | Episode: The Ex-Files |
| 1996 | Living Single Living Single Living Single is an American television sitcom which aired for five seasons on the Fox network from August 29, 1993 to January 1, 1998. The show centered on the lives of six friends who share personal and professional experiences while living in a Brooklyn brownstone.Throughout its run, Living... |
Jeremy Mills IV | Episode: Not So Silent Partner |
| 1997 | The Larry Sanders Show The Larry Sanders Show The Larry Sanders Show is a satirical television sitcom that aired from August 1992 to May 1998 on the HBO cable television network in the United States. It starred stand-up comedian Garry Shandling as vain, neurotic talk show host Larry Sanders, and centered on the running of his TV show, and the... |
James | Episode: The Book |
| 1999 | Any Day Now | Mark Sanborn | Episode: Family Is Family |
| 2000 | Midnight Blue | Luke Jordan | TV-Movie |
| Perfect Murder, Perfect Town Perfect Murder, Perfect Town Perfect Murder, Perfect Town is a 2000 American television miniseries directed by Lawrence Schiller. The teleplay by Tom Topor is based on Schiller's book of the same title.... |
Det. McKinley | TV-Movie Alternative title: Perfect Murder, Perfect Town: JonBenét and the City of Boulder |
|
| City of Angels | Martin | Episode: To Have or Halve Not | |
| Popular Popular (TV series) Popular is an American teenage comedy-drama on The WB Television Network in the United States, created by Ryan Murphy and Gina Matthews, starring Leslie Bibb and Carly Pope as two teenage girls that reside on polar opposite sides of the popularity spectrum at their high school, but are forced to... |
Harrison's Doctor | Episode: Ur-ine Trouble | |
| 2001 | The Parkers The Parkers The Parkers is an American sitcom . A spin-off of UPN's Moesha, The Parkers featured the mother-daughter team of Nikki and Kim Parker . The Parkers' signature "Heeyyy" greeting made its way into popular vernacular in the early 2000s.-Premise:The series centered around a mother and daughter who... |
Rev. Reggie Wright | Episode: Mama, I Want to Sing |
| The King of Queens The King of Queens The King of Queens is an American sitcom that originally ran on CBS from September 21, 1998, to May 14, 2007.This show was produced by Hanley Productions and CBS Productions , CBS Paramount Television ,and CBS Television Studios in association with Columbia TriStar Television , and Sony Pictures... |
Bill | Episode: Separation Anxiety | |
| Judging Amy Judging Amy Judging Amy is an American television drama that was telecast from September 19, 1999, through May 3, 2005, on CBS-TV. This TV series starred Amy Brenneman and Tyne Daly... |
Lowry's Attorney | 'Episode': Look Closer | |
| V.I.P. V.I.P. (TV series) V.I.P. is an American action/comedy-drama series starring Pamela Anderson. Created by J. F... |
Geiger | Episode: Kayus Ex Machina | |
| 2002–2003 | The District The District The District is a television police drama which aired on CBS from October 7, 2000 to May 1, 2004. The show followed the work and personal life of the chief of Washington, D.C.'s Police Department .-Premise:... |
Mayor Morgan Douglas | 7 episodes |
| 2004, 2005 | Las Vegas Las Vegas (TV series) Las Vegas was an American television series broadcast by NBC from September 22, 2003 to February 15, 2008. The show focuses on a team of people working at the ficticional Montecito Resort & Casino dealing with issues that arise within the working environment, ranging from valet parking and... |
Langley | Episode: Blood Is Thicker Episode: Centennial |
| 2005 | Jack & Bobby Jack & Bobby Jack & Bobby is an American television series that aired on The WB network. It featured two brothers, one of whom would become President of the United States, serving from 2041 to 2049... |
Coach Braxton | Episode: Friends with Benefits |
| 2005–2006 | Without a Trace Without a Trace Without a Trace is an American television drama which originally ran on CBS from September 26, 2002 to May 19, 2009. The series was set in New York City and concerned a fictitious FBI Missing Persons Unit.-Premise:... |
Marcus Johnson | 4 episodes |
| 2006 | Vanished Vanished Vanished is an American serial drama television series produced by 20th Century Fox. The series premiered on August 21, 2006 on Fox and its last episode aired on November 10, 2006. Based in Atlanta, Georgia, the series begins with the sudden disappearance of the wife of a Georgia senator, which is... |
J.T. Morse | 9 episodes |
| 2007 | Ghost Whisperer Ghost Whisperer Ghost Whisperer is an American television supernatural drama, which ran on CBS from September 23, 2005 to May 21, 2010.The series follows the life of Melinda Gordon , who has the ability to see and communicate with ghosts... |
Richard Vahn | Episode: No Safe Place |
| 2008 | The Young and the Restless The Young and the Restless The Young and the Restless is an American television soap opera created by William J. Bell and Lee Phillip Bell for CBS. The show is set in a fictional Wisconsin town called Genoa City, which is unlike and unrelated to the real life village of the same name, Genoa City, Wisconsin... |
Agent Jed Paulson | 3 episodes |
| Bones Bones (TV series) Bones is an American crime drama television series that premiered on the Fox Network on September 13, 2005. The show is based on forensic anthropology and forensic archaeology, with each episode focusing on an FBI case file concerning the mystery behind human remains brought by FBI Special Agent... |
Col. Ryan Wolchuck | Episode: The Con Man in the Meth Lab | |
| 2009 | Castle Castle (TV series) Castle is an American comedy-drama television series, which premiered on ABC on March 9, 2009. The series is produced by Beacon Pictures and ABC Studios. On January 10, 2011, Castle was renewed for a fourth season... |
Mayor | Episode: Home Is Where the Heart Stops Episode: Ghosts |
| 2010 | The Secret Life of the American Teenager The Secret Life of the American Teenager The Secret Life of the American Teenager is an American teen drama television series created by Brenda Hampton. It first aired on ABC Family on July 1, 2008. The show was renewed for a second season consisting of 24 episodes on February 9, 2009, which began airing on June 22, 2009... |
Donnie | Episode: Loved and Lost |
| The Mentalist The Mentalist The Mentalist is an American police procedural television series which debuted on September 23, 2008, on CBS. The show was created by Bruno Heller, who is also the show's executive producer... |
Alan Knee | Episode: Blood In, Blood Out | |
| The Event | Security Guard | 2 episodes | |
Awards and nominations
NAACP Image Awards- 1997: Nominated, "Outstanding Actor in a Daytime Drama Series" - General Hospital
- 1998: Nominated, "Outstanding Actor in a Daytime Drama Series" - General Hospital
- 1999: Nominated, "Outstanding Actor in a Daytime Drama Series" - General Hospital