Antonio Fargas (born August 14, 1946) is an American actor known for his roles in 1970s blaxploitation and comedy movies, as well as his portrayal as Huggy Bear in the 1970s TV series Starsky & Hutch.
Early life Fargas was born in New York City to Mildred (née Bailey) and Manuel Fargas; he was one of 11 children. His father was Puerto Rican and worked for the City of New York. His mother was from Trinidad and Tobago. Raised in New York's Spanish Harlem, Fargas graduated from Fashion Industries High School in 1965.
Acting career Fargas' breakout role was in the comedy film Putney Swope (1969). After starring in a string of blaxploitation movies in the early 1970s, such as Across 110th Street (1972) and Foxy Brown (1974), he gained recognition as streetwise informant Huggy Bear in the television series Starsky & Hutch. He appeared in All My Children beginning in 1982 as Les Baxter, the upper-class lawyer who was the father of Angie Hubbard; the character of Les was killed in 1987.
As a nod to his early roles, Fargas had a part in the blaxploitation spoof I'm Gonna Git You Sucka (1988) as well as another Wayans brothers "hood" parody, Don't Be a Menace (1996). He guest-starred in the mid-1990s sitcoms Living Single, Martin, The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air and The Steve Harvey Show. Fargas played the driver in the 1997 music video for the Backstreet Boys hit "Everybody (Backstreet's Back)" and also appeared as a robot in their music video for "Larger than Life (song)" in 1999.
Some of Fargas' notable appearances on British television shows include Series 4 of the reality series I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here! in 2004 and Frank Sidebottom's Proper Telly Show in early 2006. He played the part of Toledo in a revival of August Wilson's Ma Rainey's Black Bottom at the Royal Exchange Theatre in Manchester in 2006. He had a regular role as Doc on the 2005–2009 television series Everybody Hates Chris.
In 2008, Fargas acted in the British boxing film Sucker Punch. He appeared in an episode of Fox's Lie to Me as the father of a murdered firefighter.
Personal life Fargas' son Justin Fargas, a University of Southern California alumnus, is a former NFL running back who played seven seasons for the Oakland Raiders, amassing over 3,000 rushing yards in his career. Fargas's daughter-in-law is Nikki Caldwell, the president of the Las Vegas Aces of the WNBA.
Filmography +Key Denotes projects that have not yet been released
Film Year Film Role Notes 1963 The Cool World Uncredited 1967 Ironside T.D. Harris TV film1969 Putney Swope The Arab Stiletto Man in jazz club Uncredited 1970 Pound Greyhound1971 Shaft Bunky Cisco Pike Brother Buffalo Believe in Me Boy 1972 Across 110th Street Henry J. Jackson 1973 Cleopatra Jones Doodlebug1974 Busting Stephen Conrack Quickfellow Foxy Brown Link Brown The Gambler Pimp1975 Huckleberry Finn Jim TV film Cornbread, Earl and Me One-Eye1976 Next Stop, Greenwich Village Bernstein Chandler Adventurizing with the Chopper Leonard Jones TV film Car Wash Lindy 1978 Pretty Baby The Professor 1979 Doc1980 Escape Jamie Valdez TV film Nurse Marshall Gripps TV film Up the Academy Coach1982 The Ambush Murders Vaness TV film A House Divided: Denmark Vesey's Rebellion TV film Paper Dolls Oliver TV film Model Behaviour Mr. Henri1984 A Good Sport Clifford TV film Firestarter Taxi Driver P.O.P. Frank Wilkey TV film1985 Crimewave Blind Man Streetwalkin' Finesse 1986 Florida Straits El Gato Negro TV film1988 Night of the Sharks Paco Shakedown Nicky 'N.C.' Carr I'm Gonna Git You Sucka Flyguy1991 Howling VI: The Freaks Bellamey Direct-to-Video The Borrower Julius Whore Rasta 1992 Maid for Each Other Eddie Kemper TV film 1993 Percy & Thunder Spider TV film 1995 Soul Survivors Leroy James TV film 1996 Don't Be a Menace to South Central While Drinking Your Juice in the Hood Old School1997 Levitation Otis Hill Gator King Santos Lobilita 1998 Milo Kelso1999 The Suburbans Magee Unconditional Love Bobby Chiclets2000 3 Strikes Uncle Jim Douglas Ali: An American Hero Elijah Muhammad TV film The Riff Shoop Summers2001 Osmosis Jones Chill Voice role only Extreme Honor Willy2006 Honey and Sting The Beekeeper Short film Vengeance Bert Sucka Punch Uncle G Short film2007 The Caper Lydell Fist of the Warrior Father Riley Sister Sonya's Prayer Group Bishop Titus Kingston Direct-to-Video2008 Bad Guys Flappy Sucker Punch Baz Abduction of Jesse Bookman Frank Bookman2009 X Returns Agent Adams Short film Murphy's Law Diamond Specialist The Adventures of Umbweki Umbweki's Father2010 Once Fallen Jay Changing Hands Carjack Victim 2012 Stealing Las Vegas Mo 2013 Silver Bells Major Melvin Lowell Direct-to-Video2014 SnakeHead Swamp William Boudreaux TV film Popovich and the Voice of the Fabled American West Lightfoot Legrand2017 Beyond Skyline Sarge Tom Hennessy Willie 'Pops' Hennessy 2021 Mister Mayfair: Shooting Paul Charlie Mister Mayfair: Serena's Game Charlie 2022 Until We Meet Again Louie 2023 One Year Off Charlie Brooks TBCDeep Dean Kirby
Television Year Series Role Notes 1971 The Bill Cosby Show J.J. Episode: "The Barber Shop"1973 Police Story Harpie Episode: "The Ho Chi Minh Trail" Ironside T.D. Harris Episode: "Downhill All the Way"1974 Sanford and Son Sonny Cochran Episode: "Fred Sanford, Legal Eagle" Toma Episode: "Indictment" Police Woman Rex Episode: "The Beautiful Die Young" Kolchak: The Night Stalker Sweetstick Weldon Episode: "The Zombie" Kojak Benny Episode: "Loser Takes All" 1975–1979 Starsky & Hutch Huggy Bear Series regular, 92 episodes1978 The Love Boat Lee Graham Episode: "Pacific Princess Overtures/Gopher, the Rebel/Cabin Fever" Vega$ 'Fast' Freddie Tibbs Episode: "Mother Mishkin" Kaz Episode: "Which Side Are You On?"1979 Sweepstakes Episode: "Cowboy, Linda and Angie, Mark" CHiPs Self Episode: "Roller Disco: Part 2" 1980 Charlie's Angels Blackie Episode: "Angels of the Deep" 1981 Nurse Marshall Gripps Episode: "Long Days Journey Into Morning" 1982–1987 All My Children Les Baxter Recurring role 1983 Hardcastle and McCormick Jerry Blackmore Episode: "Once Again with Vigorish" 1988 Miami Vice Alejandro Gutierrez Episode: "Mirror Image" 1990 La belle Anglaise Caldwell Episode: "Weekend Surprise" 1991 MacGyver Colonel Devraux Episode: "Walking Dead" 1994 The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air Lamont Kelly Episode: "Soooooooul Train" 1995 Martin Antonio Fargas aka Huggy Bear Episode: "All the Players Came"1996 The Parent 'Hood The Criminal Episode: "We Don't Need Another Hero" The Wayans Bros. Uncle Nate Episode: "Family Business" Homeboys in Outer Space Dolomoth Episode: "Super Bad Foxy Lady Killer or Ty and Morris Get the Shaft" 1997 Living Single Otis Jones 2 episodes 1998 Damon Sammy Episode: "A Bury Special Episode"1999 The Steve Harvey Show Smitty Rollins Episode: "All That Jazz" L.A. Heat Jeremy Lauren Episode: "Obsession" 2000 G vs E Dutch Simms Episode: "Renunciation" 2002 Fastlane Jimmy Lipps Episode: "Girls Own Juice"2003 Holby City Victor Garrison Episode: "Seasons in the Sun" Grease Monkeys Tony Episode: "The Drugs Don't Work" The District J.T. Episode: "In God We Trust" 2004 Eve Uncle Jerry Episode: "Pimps Up, DivaStyle Down" 2005 Everybody Hates Chris Sweet Tooth Episode: "Everybody Hates Halloween" 2006 The Simpsons Huggy Bear (Voice) Episode: "Bart Has Two Mommies" 2006-2009 Everybody Hates Chris Doc Recurring role, 23 episodes 2008 Numb3rs Jeffrey Knight Episode: "Thirty-Six Hours"2009 Lie to Me Mr. Mitchell Episode: "Unchained" Brothers Maurice Episode: "Snoop Returns" 2014 House of Lies Mr. Zhang Episode: "Zhang" 2016 Dark Memories Isum Episode: "Death at Sunrise" 2017 Mann & Wife Lieutenant Lou Episode: "Mann, Shut Yo Mouth"2018 Cherif Huggy Bear Episode: "Quand Cherif rencontre Huggy" Black Lightning David Poe Episode: "And Then the Devil Brought the Plague: The Book of Green Light" Code Black Harold Episode: "Home Stays Home"2024 Everybody Still Hates Chris Doc Harris (voice role) Episode: "Everybody Still Hates the GED"
See also List of Afro-Latinos List of Puerto Ricans
References
External links
Official Website