Kenny Blank

Kenny Blank (born September 15, 1977), also known as Kenn Michael, is an American actor, composer, director, editor, and producer. He is best known for his role as Michael Peterson in the television series The Parent 'Hood from 1995 to 1997 for which he also composed some music, as well as his appearance in Eddie Murphy's 1992 film, Boomerang.

Early life

Blank was born as Kenneth Michael Benbow Blank<ref name="encyclopedia">Template:Cite web</ref> in New York City<ref name="regelman">Template:Cite magazine</ref> on September 15, 1977,<ref name="encyclopedia"/> the son of Lola, a dancer for James Brown<ref name="blank">Template:Cite news</ref> who later became Blank's manager,<ref name="sullivan">Template:Cite web</ref> and Warren Benbow, a jazz drummer<ref name="regelman"/> who has worked with Miles Davis and Stevie Wonder.<ref name="sullivan"/> His parents later divorced<ref name="ebony">Template:Cite magazine</ref> and Blank was raised by his mother and stepfather, Bob Blank, who owned a music studio.<ref name="sullivan"/>

By the time he was 6 years old, Blank played the piano<ref name="ebony"/> and made short films.<ref name="blank"/> He graduated from Stamford High School in 1995.<ref name="blank"/> In the late 1990s, Blank was a student at the University of Southern California, where he studied filmmaking.<ref name="regelman"/>

Career

Blank began acting at the age of 7.<ref name="sullivan"/> As a child, Blank reviewed the book Jumanji on Reading Rainbow in the episode about the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. He also narrated Bill Martin Jr.'s "Knots on a Counting Rope" with Joseph Ruben Silverbird. His major breakthrough was his role as Tito in the 1991 Joe Pesci film The Super.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> For his performance as Tito, Blank was nominated for a Young Artist Award in 1992 in the Best Young Actor Co-starring in a Motion Picture category.<ref name="rottentomatoes">Template:Cite web</ref>

When he was 13 years old, he portrayed Linus Bragg<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> in the made-for TV film Carolina Skeletons (or The End of Silence),<ref name="ebony"/> based on the life of George Stinney, an African-American boy who was wrongfully convicted of murder and executed at the age of 14.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Blank had a small role in the feature film Boomerang (1992)<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> and appeared in the miniseries Alex Haley's Queen.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

He was a series regular on the short-lived sitcom Tall Hopes (1993), playing aspiring director Ernest Harris.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Although the series received poor reviews, Blank's performance as Ernest was well received.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> He portrayed teenager Michael Peterson in the sitcom The Parent 'Hood in the mid-1990s,<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> also composing songs for the series.<ref name="regelman"/> Blank left the series after its third season.

Blank acted in Silent Story and Delivering Milo. Notable guest appearances on television shows include roles in Hangin' with Mr. Cooper, Moesha, City of Angels,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Living Single, and Freaks and Geeks. He also appeared as Jordy in the direct-to-video horror comedy Boltneck.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

As a voice actor, Blank provided the voice of the character Darren Patterson on the Nickelodeon animated series As Told by Ginger (2000–06),<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> as well as earning a small role in All Grown Up!, as Sulky Boy's band member J.T. He appears in the Saints Row video game series as one of the selectable voices of the Boss, the main character of the series. Blank provided the English dub voice of Angelino in Mutafukaz.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> He is also the English dub voice of Philly the Kid in Cannon Busters.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Other careers

Since 1998, Blank has cinematographed, edited and directed a number of short films. He made his directorial debut in 1999 on the theme song for Mystery Men.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Blank exhibited an experimental film, Manifested Intent, at the Urbanworld Film Festival.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> In 2019, Blank directed the television film In Broad Daylight for TV One.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

During the 1990s, he also worked as a composer, creating songs on The Montel Williams Show<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> and providing the title theme for The Super.<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> As a teenager, he contributed music to Kodak, Lego and commercials for other companies.<ref name="blank"/>

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1991	The Super	Tito
1992	Boomerang	Kenny
1998	Dead Man on Campus	Luke
2000	Boltneck	Jordy
2001	Delivering Milo	Mr. Ralph
	Evolution	Student
	Silent Story		Short film
2005	Ganked	Marcus	Independent film
2005	The Legend of Frosty the Snowman	Walter Wader (voice)	Direct-to-video<ref name="btva2">Template:Cite web A green check mark indicates that a role has been confirmed using a screenshot (or collage of screenshots) of a title's list of voice actors and their respective characters found in its credits or other reliable sources of information.</ref>
2006	All You've Got		Composer
2017	Mutafukaz	Angelino (voice)	<ref name="btva2" />

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1993	Hangin' with Mr. Cooper	Henry	1 episode
	Homicide: Life on the Street	James Hill
	Alex Haley's Queen	Henry at 11
	Tall Hopes	Ernest Harris	6 episodes
1995–1997	The Parent 'Hood	Michael Peterson	Seasons 1–3
1997	Living Single	Damon Barker	1 episode
1999	Pepper Ann	Malik, Lamar Abudabe (voices)	2 episodes
2000–2016	As Told by Ginger	Darren Patterson, additional voices (voice)	32 episodes<ref name="btva2" />
2002	Static Shock	Jump, Joe (voices)	2 episodes<ref name="btva2" />
2003	All Grown Up!	J.T. (voice)	Episode: "Tweenage Tycoons"
2019	Cannon Busters	Philly the Kid (voice)	12 episodes; English dub<ref name="btva2" />
2023	Teen Titans Go!	Dracula (voice)	Episode: "Looking for Love"

Video games

Year	Title	Role
2004	Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas	Pedestrian
2006	Saints Row	Playa Voice 2 / Stilwater's Resident / Radio Voice
	Company of Heroes	Voice
2007	Company of Heroes: Opposing Fronts	Aldrich
	Power Rangers: Super Legends	Navy Thunder Ranger<ref name="btva2" />
2008	Saints Row 2	Male Voice 2
2011	Saints Row: The Third	Male Voice 2<ref name="btva2" />
2013	Saints Row IV	Male Voice 2<ref name="btva2" />
2015	Saints Row: Gat out of Hell	Male Voice 2<ref name="btva2" />

External links

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