Keith Powell
Born (1979-08-12) August 12, 1979
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Alma materNew York University (BFA)
Spouse
Jill Knox
​
(m. 2013)​
Children2

Keith Powell (born August 12, 1979)[1] is an American television actor, writer, director, and web series creator, known for his role as James "Toofer" Spurlock on 30 Rock, and for creating and starring in the web series Keith Broke His Leg, for which he won several Indie Series Awards in 2016.

Early life and education

Born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Powell later moved to California before graduating from St. Mark's High School in Wilmington, Delaware.[2][3] Powell then earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts from New York University's Tisch School of the Arts in 2001.[4]

Career

Powell was the Producing Artistic Director of Contemporary Stage Company, a summer theater in Wilmington, Delaware.[5] His producing credits include New York productions of The Mouse That Roared, Enter Pissarro, Indra & Agni Collide and a workshop of Kidding Jane with Ellen McLaughlin and William Charles Mitchell. Powell was the resident director for Equalogy, a professional touring company promoting social change, for which he directed two plays by August Schulenberg, Four Hearts Changing and One Night.

His other directing credits include Dutchman, Quality of Silence, The Visit and Enter Pissarro. As an actor, Powell has appeared in numerous national network commercials. His theatre credits include Romeo & Juliet (The Shakespeare Theatre, Washington, D.C.), Kidding Jane (Portland Stage Company), Macbeth (Pittsburgh Public Theater), As Bees in Honey Drown (Hangar Theater, Ithaca, New York), and The French (HB Playwrights Foundation, NYC) among others.[1]

In the spring of 2007, while working as a recurring character on 30 Rock, he shot an ABC pilot called Judy's Got A Gun.[6] It was not picked up for the Fall 2007 season, and Powell returned to 30 Rock, where he was promoted to a series regular. In October 2008, Powell launched and starred in a self-funded web series called Keith Powell Directs a Play (co-written and directed by Patrick Flynn[7]), chronicling Powell's foray into directing Uncle Vanya at a fictional repertory theatre group.[8] In 2009, Powell was a guest commentator on VH1's 100 Greatest One Hit Wonders of the 80s, and also played a Tuskegee Airman in Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian.

In 2014, Powell began a recurring role on the television series About a Boy as Richard, Will's workaholic friend, accountant, and business manager.[9]

Powell recurred on the final season of The Newsroom.[10] He appeared in the feature film My Name Is David. In 2015, he created, wrote, directed, and starred in the web series Keith Broke His Leg. The series went on to win several Indie Series Awards, including Best Comedy Series and Best Actor in a Comedy.[11]

Powell began his television directing career in March 2018 with the season three episode "Amnesty" of the NBC television series Superstore.[12] He has since directed episodes of Dickinson, Single Drunk Female, Interview with the Vampire, and So Help Me Todd.

Personal life

In October 2013, Powell married visual artist Jill Knox.[13][14] In 2019, Powell and Knox announced the birth of their first child, a daughter.[15] In 2021, they had a second child, a boy. Powell and Knox live in Los Angeles.

Filmography

Film

Year Title Role Notes
2009 Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian Tuskegee Airman #1
2010 Armless Hotel Receptionist
2013 Syrup Cameron
2015 Train Baby David
2016 Odd Squad: The Movie Weird Keith
2019 The Way We Weren't Dan
2019 Lying and Stealing Mike Williams
2020 To the Beat! Back 2 School Mr. Richards
2021 Marvelous and the Black Hole Leo
2021 The Beta Test Terrance
2022 Spoonful of Sugar Dr. Welsh

Television

Year Title Role Notes
2003 Law & Order: Criminal Intent Gregg Monroe Episode: "Blink"
2005 Law & Order Mike Episode: "Ain't No Love"
2006–2013 30 Rock James "Toofer" Spurlock 130 episodes
2007 Judy's Got a Gun Brad Wilkes Television film
2008–2009 Keith Powell Directs a Play Keith Powell 8 episodes
2009 Reno 911! Innocent Black Man Episode: "Wiegel's Couple's Therapy"
2012 NCIS: Los Angeles Robert Pierce Episode: "Out of the Past"
2014 The Newsroom Wyatt Geary 2 episodes
2014–2015 About a Boy Richard 6 episodes
2016 Deadbeat Cashier / Lonathan Episode: "Medieval Dead"
2018 Cape Kids Acer Episode: "Ignite Good to Help the Environment"
2019 Better Things Keith Powell Episode: "The Unknown"
2019 The Room Actors: Where Are They Now? Norman Episode: "Stay at home Dan"
2020 Grace and Frankie Jordan Episode: "The Tank"
2020 Connecting Garrett 8 episodes
2020 30 Rock: A One-Time Special James "Toofer" Spurlock Television special
2020, 2021 This Is Us Dr. Vance 2 episodes
2022 Little Demon Various voices 2 episodes
2023 Shrinking Mark Episode: "Woof"

References

  1. 1 2 Jones, Kenneth (March 29, 2005). "Wilmington's Contemporary Stage Lures Richard Easton and Keith David, for Restoring the Sun and Harlem-Set Fourposter". Playbill. Archived from the original on January 31, 2013. ...Powell, the 25-year-old African-American actor-producer...
  2. ↑ Virtel, Louis (December 2, 2010). "Keith Powell on the 30 Rock Writers Room, Tina Fey's Rise to Fame and the Science of Cheers" (interview). MovieLine.
  3. ↑ TV.com. "Keith Powell". TV.com.
  4. ↑ Reinhardt, Ciarán; Cummins, Ian (August 4, 2010). "Keith Powell Interview" (interview). Pop Culture Monster.
  5. ↑ Stowe, Brook (30 January 2019). New York Theater Review. Lulu.com. ISBN 9781411664838 – via Google Books.
  6. ↑ "Rants & Reviews - The Futon's First Look: "Judy's Got a Gun" (ABC) - TheFutonCritic.com". www.thefutoncritic.com.
  7. ↑ "30 Rock's Keith Powell Directs a Play". Tubefilter. 2008-12-30. Retrieved 2023-03-08.
  8. ↑ Stidham, Lindsay (2008-10-08). "30 Rock's Keith Powell 'Directs a Play'… For Real!". Tubefilter News. Retrieved 2008-10-08.
  9. ↑ Gelman, Vlada (March 3, 2014). "TVLine Items: Justified Fave Joins CBS Drama, Orphan Black's Latest Killer Promo and More". TVLine. Retrieved January 5, 2017.
  10. ↑ "India Ennenga Joins A&E's 'The Returned', Keith Powell Added To 'The Newsroom'". Deadline.com. 31 May 2014. Retrieved 25 August 2017.
  11. ↑ "7th Annual Indie Series Awards Winners". Indieseriesawards.com. Retrieved 25 August 2017.
  12. ↑ VanDerWerff, Emily (18 March 2018). "Love in the time of late capitalism: how Superstore revived will-they/won't-they romance". Vox.
  13. ↑ Eggenberger, Nicole (18 July 2012). "30 Rock's Keith Powell Is Engaged to Jill Knox". Retrieved August 28, 2012.
  14. ↑ Oliveira, Denise (October 18, 2013). "A Shy and Logical Guy Finds His Open and Wild Match". The New York Times.
  15. ↑ Ali, Rasha. "'After 5 years of trying' Keith Powell and wife Jill Knox announce birth of baby girl". USA TODAY. Retrieved 2020-03-17.
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