Shavar Ross

Infobox Person
name = Shavar Ross


caption = Shavar Ross, 2007
birth_date = Birth date and age|1971|3|4
birth_place = South Bronx, New York, U.S.A.
years_active = 1980 - present
death_date =
death_place =
other_names =
known_for =
occupation =

Shavar Malik Ross (born March 4, 1971) is an American actor, film director, screenwriter, film producer, editor, photographer, author, and entrepreneur.

Biography

Ross was born in the South Bronx, New York. His parents separated when he was 6 years old. His mother took Shavar and his sister to Macon, Georgia, while his father went to Los Angeles to pursue an acting career.

In 1979, while visiting his father in California during his school's Christmas vacation, Shavar was discovered by top children's agent Evelyn Shultz. In 1980, Ross landed his first recurring television role on NBC's "Diff'rent Strokes" as "Dudley", the best friend of Gary Coleman's character, "Arnold Jackson". Two years later, Ross became a voice actor for Hanna-Barbera. He had another recurring role on the hit ABC TV series "Family Matters" as "Weasel". Ross has appeared in over 100 film and episodic television projects throughout his career, including such films as the fifth installment of the "Friday the 13th" movie series "" in 1985 as "Reggie".

Additionally, in 1996, after four years of ministry school, Ross founded The Alive Church, a non-denominational Christian church in Los Angeles, and was its pastor for four years.

Shavar is a film director and operates his own film and television production company, Tri-Seven Entertainment. [ [http://www.tri7entertainment.com Tri-Seven Entertainment - Film and Television, Production Services, Actor Services ] ] His first short film, Soul to Take (2003), garnered him an Internet distribution deal with Russell Simmons' media company Simmons/Lathan Media Group. His second short film, A Taste of Us (2004), dealt with the civil unrest of the 1960's segregation in the south and was originally made as a pilot presentation for the TV One Network. "Lord Help Us" [imdb title|0418223|Lord Help Us] (released nationally in May 2007), an inspirational urban romantic comedy starring "American Idol"‘s Nadia Turner, Oscar nominee Margaret Avery ("The Color Purple"), Debra Wilson ("MADtv", "Scary Movie 4"), comedian Joe Clair (B.E.T.'s "Rap City", "Take the Cake"), Grammy-Award winning singer Al Jarreau and many others marked his feature film directorial debut.

Shavar has been a dedicated blogger for over four years and is also the founder and contributing writer for ActorGuru.com, a resource weblog for new and emerging actors.

Shavar has been married since 1992 and has two children.

In May 2006, Ross appeared on an E! Child Stars Special, "Geeks Freaks, and Sidekicks", where he revealed that during the taping of the very special episode of "Diff'rent Strokes" in which he was molested, he was going through a similar experience in real life; he was being "touched" by a family friend inappropriately while he was asleep. [ [http://shavarblog.blogspot.com/2006/05/on-e-entertainment-tomorrow.html Shavar Ross' Blog: On E! Entertainment Tomorrow ] ]

References

External links

*imdb name|id=0743834|name=Shavar Ross
* [http://www.shavarblog.blogspot.com/ Official Blog]
* [http://www.actorguru.com/ ActorGuru.com]