Roosevelt Grier

Former star player with the Los Angeles Rams during the 1960s, this impressively built African-American athlete broke into acting via appearances in TV shows including The Man from U.N.C.L.E. (1964), The Wild Wild West (1965) and I Dream of Jeannie (1965). Grier received positive reviews for his role in the TV movie The Desperate Mission (1969) and then landed a recurring role alongside Fess Parker in the hugely popular children's TV series Daniel Boone (1964). This led to a short-lived stint as host of his own variety show The Rosey Grier Show (1968) which only ran the one season. He kept busy with work in other TV shows and appeared in several feature films including Skyjacked (1972), The Thing with Two Heads (1972) and The Timber Tramps (1973). He continued to turn up in a handful of minor roles throughout the 1970s, but arguably did not possess the acting skill of other prominent African-American athletes-turned-actors such as Fred Williamson, Jim Brown and Jim Kelly. He became an ordained minister in 1983, and has continued to champion the causes of those less fortunate, and to guide inner city teens from poor backgrounds.