Sterling K Brown

Biography

Sterling K Brown is an American TV/ Movie actor, model, and producer.

He is popular for his roles in the Drama Army Wives(2007)(as Roland Burton), in the comedy family drama This Is Us(2016-)(as Randall Pearson), Supernatural( as Gordon Walker), The People v O. J. Simpson: American Crime Story(2016) (as Christopher Darden).

Recently he has appeared in roles- Lio Oak in (Kipo and the Age of Wonderbeasts), Mark Serra in The Rhythm Section(2020)

Childhood- Family

Sterling Brown was born as Sterling Kelby Brown in Saint Louis, Missouri on 5th April 1976 to Sterling Brown Junior(Father) & Aralean Banks Brown(Mother). He grew up in Olivette, Missouri.

His father Sterling Brown Junior died from a heart attack when SKB (Sterling K Brown) was just 10 years old.

He has two brothers named Armand Brown and Robert Brown. Ariel Brown & Angela Brown are his sisters.

Education

• School: He attended the St. Louis Country Day School.
• High School: SKB attended Mary Institute & St. Louis Country Day School (MICDS) for his high school education
• Stanford University: SKB attended Stanford University for his Bachelor of Arts degree in Drama
• New York University: Sterling's post-graduation was at New York university's Tisch School of the Arts. He has a 'Master of Fine Arts' degree from there.

Marriage- Children

Sterling Brown & Ryan Michelle Bathe

Ryan & Sterling were born in the same public hospital, St. Louis, Missouri (They were born 3 months apart). However, they met each other in college when they were 18. They went to university together as well. The two bonded over drama classes and eventually started dating.

The couple separated when their lives went different ways, they met again in New York after 3 years, they had a long-distance relationship for a while and finally decided to settle down together. They got married in June 2007.

Image: Ryan Michelle Bathe wedding with Sterling Kelby Brown

The two have worked together (either as co-stars or collaborators) in "Army Wives", "This Is Us", "Every Other Weekend"

Children

The couple has 2 sons, an elder son named Andrew Brown(born 2011) & a younger son named Amare Brown(born 2015)

He lives in Los Angeles, California with his wife and two sons.

Interesting Facts

• Sterling Brown is one of the 5 children of his parents, he has two sisters and two brothers.
• He was called by his middle name- Kelby until he was in High School. Later he chose to use Sterling in honor of his father.
• He wanted to get into business after his studies. He was in economics major in college before shifting to acting. In his Stanford Application essay, he wrote that he wanted to own a Fast-food chain & make a great business out of it.
• Before becoming an actor he worked as a Dishwasher (country Club) & maintenance person.
• He used to think Drama people are weird- until he became an actor himself.
• His first acting work paid him $300 per week, he used to live in $85 per week room.
• He received two nominations in the same year at the Screen Actors Guild Awards
• NYPD Blue (1993)- inspired him to become an actor.
• Political inclination: He supports the democratic party, was opposed to Donald Trump's candidacy.
• He believes in God and attributes his success to the grace of God. He considers himself spiritual.
• He considers his older brother to be his inspiration.
• When he is not working, working out, reading scripts he is usually enjoying free time with kids and wife.
• His social network bio reads "Child of God, Husband, Father, Friend, Actor, & all around Beast"
• First African American actor to win SAG Awards (Drama lead): He became the first Black actor to win a SAG award as the Outstanding Male Actor in a Drama Series.
• Awards and Crying: He doesn't mind crying when he is emotional, he cries watching his own show 'This is Us'
  • SKB cried when he got two nominations in the same year at the Screen Actors Guild Awards
  • He cried again when he won 2 Screen Actors Guild Awards in the same year.

Career

Sterling Brown started acting in Plays when he was in Freshman year of High school where he acted in the play 'Joe Turner’s Come and Gone' (role of Herald Loomis) and then 'Godspell'. He later started performing at the theaters.

He made his debut in the movie Brown Sugar(2002), Third Watch(2002-2004) is his first TV series.

Third Watch

In the NBC crime drama created by John Wells and Edward Allen Bernero, Sterling plays NYPD Officer Edward Dade. 

The Primetime Emmy award-winning series had Coby Bell (as Tyrone Davis), Molly Price (Faith Yokas), Anthony Ruivivar (Carlos Nieto), Skipp Sudduth (John Sullivan), Jason Wiles (Maurice Boscorelli) and others in the lead.

SKB appeared in nine episodes of the series (season 3-5) that were aired from 2002-04

Army Wives

In the War Drama series 'Army Wives' aired on 'Lifetime', SKB played one of the main roles as Roland Burton, he appeared in 107 episodes (season 1-6 as main role, 7th as recurring)

Roland Burton plays a psychiatrist, husband of Lieutenant Colonel Joan Burton (played by Wendy Davis), an Afghanistan returnee.

SKB's wife Ryan also makes an appearance on the show.

The People v. O. J. Simpson: American Crime Story

For his role in 'The People v. O. J. Simpson', he won an Emmy Award, a Critics Choice Award and was nominated at many other Award events such as Golden Globes, SAG, Image Awards among others

For his role as Christopher Darden in 'The People V. O J Simpson', he called and texted the real Christopher Darden, but did not get a reply from him.

This Is Us

In the NBC family comedy-drama created by Dan Fogelman, SKB plays Randall Pearson, the adopted son of Jack Pearson (played by Milo Ventimiglia) and Rebecca Pearson(Mandy Moore). Chrissy Metz and Justin Hartley play his siblings- Kate Pearson and Kevin Pearson respectively.

SKB has won an Emmy Award (Outstanding Lead Actor) for his role as Randall Pearson in the NBC series 'This is Us'

Not only did he become the first African-American to win a SAG award as the Drama series lead actor, he also won Critics Choice Award, NAACP Image Award, and others.

Black Panther (2018)

In the 2018 Marvel movie Black Panther, SKB plays N'Jobu, the brother of T'Chaka and the father of Killmonger.

Music videos

Soundtracks

Filmography

Movies

TV Series

Short Movies

Theater

Awards

Quotes

• Success is like Boxing, You keep jabbing & jabbing until you get a hook or straight right
• We all have our prejudices, and we may or may not be aware of them.
• As a father of two black sons now, you ask yourself, what do I have to do to assure the safety of these boys? It can be daunting.
• [His words after winning the Emmy Awards] "Mama, I can hear you, I love you. Sterling Brown Jr., I changed what people called me at age 16 so I could hear your name every day of my life. I love you, daddy"
• I realized that every time I did a play, my grades got better, That's because it fed my soul.
• The theater is my first Love, but TV is more rewarding because of its reach.
• I try to put good vibes out into the world, they all have come flooding back to me
• Self-confidence is the one thing no one else can give you... belief.

News and Updates

[Sterling K Brown on the cover page of SAG-AFTRA Magazine]

• April 2018: His picture was featured on the cover page of SAG-AFTRA Magazine in April 2018. He was also published in the magazine in the article titled "STERLING the FIRST"
• October 2017: Parade magazine published an article titled "Another Sterling Performance" on October 20, 2017
• He was on the cover of Variety March 2017 along with 'This is Us' cast

References

1. Sterling K Brown wiki