James Avery was an American actor, best known as patriarch, Philip Banks, on NBC’s hit sitcom, The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. This character was ranked #34 in TV Guide 's "50 Greatest TV Dads of All Time." Other television credits include Dr. Crippen on TNT’s The Closer, Charles Haysbert on LIFETIME’s The Division, and Judge Michael Conover on NBC’s L.A. Law.

Film credits include Wish I Was Here, The Guerrero Project, Arlington Road, After Romeo, The Price of Egypt, Fist of the North Star, Fletch, The Blues Brothers, and The Stunt Man.

Theatre credits include Sam Thomas in Blues for an Alabama Sky (Los Angeles Theatre Center); Holloway in Two Trains Runnin (Old Globe Theatre); General Parker in Sweet Mercy (Antaeus Theatre); Paul Robeson in Are You Now Or Have You Ever Been? (Back Alley Theatre); and Lord Montague in Romeo and Juliet (Ahmanson Theatre).