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J. August Richards
J. August Richards at Dragon*Con, Aug. 31, 2012.
Born	(1973-08-28) August 28, 1973 (age 39) Washington, D.C., USA
Occupation	Actor

Jaime Augusto Richards III^[1][2] (born August 28, 1973)^[1] commonly known as J. August Richards is an American actor. He is perhaps best known for his portrayal of vampire hunter Charles Gunn on the WB cult television series Angel.

Early life and education [edit]

Richards is of Afro-Panamanian descent.^[2][3] He grew up in Bladensburg, Maryland.^[3] Richards attended the Visual and Performing Arts program at Suitland High School in Suitland, Maryland and graduated in 1991. He attended the University of Southern California on a theater scholarship.^[3]

Career [edit]

Richards' acting career began when he was spotted by a casting director. This resulted in him getting a guest star role on The Cosby Show as Vanessa's boyfriend Roy in Season 5 Episode 5 "Out of Brooklyn". Other guest appearances would come later on shows such as The Practice, Chicago Hope, Any Day Now, and Nash Bridges. Playing a rapping bike messenger who believes he is an alien abductee, it was the role of Taj Mahal in the Mark Taper Forum production of Tina Landau's play Space that first brought recognition.

Richards with Amy Acker at a 2004 John Kerry fund raiser.

Richards has appeared in feature films Why Do Fools Fall in Love and Good Burger. He starred in the television movies Critical Assembly and Mutiny, and appeared as singer Richard Street in the NBC miniseries The Temptations. Richards has also guest-starred on The West Wing and The 4400.

Richards gained a starring role in the first season of Angel as Charles Gunn, a street-wise vampire hunter.

Richards has so far been featured in four series as an attorney: Richards joined the cast of NBC's Law & Order spin-off Conviction as Billy Desmond, the undefeated New York City Assistant District Attorney. He has been featured in CBS' CSI: Miami as the Floridian attorney Bob Villa, and portrayed attorney Marcus McGrath in the TNT series Raising the Bar until its cancellation. In season five of Angel, the character he played, Charles Gunn, became a lawyer as well. Richards also portrayed a young Richard Webber in the Grey's Anatomy season 6 episode "Time Warp." He also appeared in an episode of The Mentalist.

Richards had also played the part of Damon in the 1995 sci-fi television series Sliders season 4 episode 7 "Just Say Yes". Richards also starred in Syfy's Warehouse 13 on one occasion

On April 5, 2013 TVLine confirmed that Richards had been given an unspecified role in ABC's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. TV Pilot.^[4]

Filmography [edit]

Film [edit]

Television [edit]

References [edit]

External links [edit]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: J. August Richards

• J. August Richards at the Internet Movie Database