James Avery, Uncle Phil on ‘The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air,’ dead at 68
Avery may have a particular role that he has become iconic with, but it would be silly to say that his entire TV career is limited to just this NBC hit alongside Will Smith. Avery also voiced the character of Shredder during the “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles” cartoon back during its heyday, and an arc on “The Closer,” and even guest roles on “That 70’s Show” as well as “Grey’s Anatomy.” He was acting regularly even in the past year leading up to his death.
At the moment, there is no cause of death given, but the other sad part of this news is that it comes a few years after there was an enormous rumor that spread out across the entire internet that he had passed away. Eventually, he was forced to deny it, and expressed concern at the time that the news getting out there could even end up impacting the sort of roles he was getting in the future.
Specifically, Avery’s co-star Alfonso Riberio shared the following sweet message about him on Twitter:
“I’m deeply saddened to say that James Avery has passed away. He was a second father to me. I will miss him greatly.”
Smith himself has yet to comment on his co-star’s passing, but he had shown a fondness for the show that made him a household name throughout the past two decades. While many stars shy away from their original work, Smith was cool enough to even perform the theme song on a few occasions here and there.
Our thoughts are with Avery’s family during this difficult time.
Photo: NBC