Dennis L. A. White is an American actor noted for portraying Damion "D-Roc" Butler in the Notorious B.I.G. biopic entitled Notorious.
Early life White was born and raised in Southern California in 1978, to a Grammy nominated mother and a military father. He was exposed to many different cultures and ideas. When his family relocated to Fayetteville, North Carolina White developed his love for music and acting. He was offered a baseball scholarship while a student at Westover High School to play baseball; however, he decided to take an academic scholarship at Winston-Salem State University in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.
Career Under the guise of "Dennis Da Menace", Dennis put out his Billboard charted album, The Wonderful World of Dennis in 2001. In 2003, Dennis became the first African-American host at Fuse Television. He began to host several TV shows: Weekend Vibe, HBO's 5 Rounds and Chatzone, and MTV's Hip Hop Life.
White then pursued his love for acting with appearances in The Brave One with Jodie Foster, Law & Order: SVU, The Jury, I Think I Love My Wife, etc. In 2010, he portrayed a cancer stricken comedian in Marq Overton's Off Broadway play, Die Laughing. White also played Virgil on The N mini-series, Miracle's Boys. Dennis had a recurring role on TNT (TV channel)'s The Closer. In 2009, Dennis created "Act Like You Know", a company that gives acting workshops and seminars to aspiring actors across the country. In 2009, Dennis became the re-occurring character "Mistah Ray" on NBC's Parenthood.
In 2013, Dennis started a foundation called "M.O.R.P.H." to help eradicate racial profiling.
Filmography
Film {| class="wikitable plainrowheaders sortable" style="margin-right: 0;" |- ! Year ! Title ! Role ! Notes |- | 2000 | Swimming | Jeeper
|rowspan="2"| 2007 | I Think I Love My Wife | Party Thug
| The Brave One | Thug on Subway
| 2009 | Notorious | Damion "D-Roc" Butler
|rowspan="3"| 2010 | April's Fools | Tamil
| Code Blue
| Three Chris's | Chris Walker
|rowspan="2"| 2011 | King of Paper Chasin''' | J.B.
| After Hours: The Movie | Rugged & Menace Hit Man
|rowspan="3"| 2012 | Dysfunctional Friends | Minister
| Small Apartments| Marcus
| Changing the Game| Adult Dre
| 2013 | Dreams | Jermaine
|rowspan="4"| 2014 | Envy or Greed | Bobby Connell | Short |- | The Other Side| Detective Michaels
| Lap Dance| Pauly
| Sky Eye | Carson | Short
|rowspan="3"| 2015 | Bleeding Hearts | Chris Walker
| Diamond Ruff| Rev. Trek Woods
| Sweet Lorraine| Lincoln Kennedy
| 2016 | Bad Dad Rehab | Slick Rick | TV movie
|rowspan="3"| 2017 | Secrets | Jay Jenkins
| The White Sistas| Bingo
| Thank You for Your Service| Dante's Friend
| 2019 | All In | Dupree
|rowspan="4"| 2020 | Turnt | Detective Kruthers
| The Prayer| Thomas Sr.
| The Witness Protection Program| Dontae
| Power Corrupts | LT. Gov Jeff Davis
|rowspan="6"| 2021 | Entanglement | Hendrix
| Crossover| Chris
| Dear Best Friend| Mark
| Letters from the Bottle | Dean Callaway
| Careful What You Ask For!| Jay Rogers | Short |- | The Pros of Cons | Ray Turk
|rowspan="4"| 2022 | Super Turnt | Detective Kruthers
| No Better Love| Mr. Thompson
| A Father's Pride| Deacon Walters
| Scam City | King
|rowspan="5"| 2023 | Mickey Hardaway | Joseph Sweeney
| Street Connected| Detective Peters
| Cuzo| -
| The Pass | Deon
| Halfway House | OG
Television Year Title Role Notes 2004 IMX Himself/Host Main Host The Jury Derrick Smith-Bey Episode: "Bangers" 2005 Jonny Zero Pillsbury Episode: "I Did It All for the Nooky" Miracle's Boys Virgil Recurring Cast 2010 Let's Talk About Pep Himself Episode: "Episode #1.3" 2010-11 The Closer Reggie Moses Guest Cast: Season 1-2 2011-13 Parenthood Mista Ray Guest: Season 3, Recurring Cast: Season 5 2012 NYC 22 Teef Episode: "Samaritans" 2014 Almost Home Hassan Episode: "You Gone Learn Today..." Black Dynamite Arnold's Stomach (voice) Episode: "Diff'rent Folks, Same Strokes or The Hunger Pain Games" 2016-18 Atlanta Bald Man/D.J. Guest Cast: Season 1-2 2018-20 The Family Business Kennedy Recurring Cast: Season 1, Guest: Season 2 2020 5th Ward The Series OG Russell Recurring Cast: Season 22024 Kold X Windy Fontain Series Regular Season 2
Video Games Year Title Role 2004 Def Jam Fight for NY Baxter (voice) 2005 The Warriors Sid/Glenn/Keenan/Jonah (voices)
References
A. O. Scott. "Notorious (2009) A Rapper's Tale, Larger Than Life". New York Times''. 16 January 16, 2009 Williams, Houston. "Dennis White: The Realest Thespian In Hollywood". allhiphop.com. 11 October 2010. Colclough, Glenys. "Notorious Elevation: A Conversation with Dennis LA White". Prominence Magazine. p. 43. Fall 2010.
External links M.O.R.P.H.