Duane Martin

Duane Martin’s path to the screen began with basketball. Born in Brooklyn on August 11, 1965, he graduated from New York University, where he played NCAA Division III basketball. In 1989, the New York Knicks signed him as an undrafted free agent on a non-guaranteed contract. He was cut before playing in the NBA, but the experience gave his early acting career an athletic credibility that suited several of his best-known film roles. Martin appeared as Willie in White Men Can’t Jump in 1992, then played Kyle Lee Watson in the 1994 basketball drama Above the Rim. That same year, he took the role of Jr. Philips in The Inkwell, adding a coming-of-age ensemble film to a résumé that was already moving between comedy and drama. He later led the romantic comedy The Seat Filler as Derrick Harver, a law student who falls for a celebrity. Television has been an equally steady part of Martin’s career. His early work included an appearance on the NBC comedy Out All Night, followed by a place in the cast of the Fox sitcom Getting Personal in 1998. From 2003 to 2007, he played television reporter Robert James on All of Us, giving him one of his longest-running screen roles. Later sitcom work included recurring appearances as Chuck on Rita Rocks and the role of Fernando on The Paul Reiser Show. Martin has also been willing to play with his public persona, appearing as himself in the BET comedy Real Husbands of Hollywood. In 2017, he portrayed music executive Louil Silas Jr. in the television miniseries The New Edition Story. Across film and television, his career has moved comfortably through sports stories, romantic comedy, family sitcoms and show-business satire, with an easygoing presence that can shift between grounded drama and self-aware humor.