Dule Hill Biography (2)

Emmy nominee Dulé Hill (whose first name is pronounced due-lay) was born in Orange, New Jersey, raised in nearby Sayreville, and is the youngest of two sons born to his Jamaican parents (his father is an investment banker and his mother an educator). He owes his unusual name to an aunt who discovered it during a trip to France and suggested it upon her return before his birth. He began attending dance school when he was 3 and got his first break years later when producers of Broadway's The Tap Dance Kid called the school in search of child dancers who could sing and act for the production. "My first professional gig was as a kid at Broadway's Minskoff Theatre, he muses. As the understudy to Savion Glover in The Tap Dance Kid," he went on to perform the lead role in the musical's national tour working with Harold Nicholas (of the famed Nicholas Brothers) for the next 16 months. He also later appeared with Gregory Hines and Jimmy Slyde.

More roles followed in the musicals Shenandoah, Little Rascals and Black & Blue, and during Hill's senior year of high school, he appeared in his first feature film, Sugar Hill, as the young character later played by Wesley Snipes. Hill also was seen in national commercials (such as one for Corn Pops cereal) and was cast as one of the City Kids, a Saturday morning series, while he was studying business finance at Seton Hall.

Hill's next career boost came with his starring role in the original cast of Bring in Da' Noise, Bring In Da' Funk on Broadway, as he re-teamed with Glover, but as a result had to abandon his college studies during his junior year. He spent two-and-one-half years in the show and earned favorable notices from casting directors, and later starred with Freddie Prinze Jr. in the hit feature film She's All That. His other television credits include guest-starring shots in Cosby, Smart Guy and New York Undercover, and appearances in the TV movies The Ditch Digger's Daughter, Color of Justice and Love Songs (opposite Louis Gossett Jr.).

Away from the set, Hill still immensely enjoys tap-dancing as well as bowling, paintball games and marathon Monopoly sessions. He rates himself as a Los Angeles Lakers freak. He often travels to Jamaica (The ultimate place to relax…) to see family members. His birthday is May 3.

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