James Avery, the actor who played Uncle Phil on The Fresh Prince of Bel Air, has died. He was 68.
Avery’s publicist, Cynthia Snyder, told The Associated Press that he died Tuesday, December 31, in Glendale, California, following complications from open heart surgery. Early reports listed his age as 65, but Snyder confirmed he was 68.
Alfonso Ribeiro, who played his son Carlton on the show, was among the first to share the news. “I’m deeply saddened to say that James Avery has passed away,” Ribeiro wrote on Twitter. “He was a second father to me. I will miss him greatly.” Tatyana Ali, who played his daughter Ashley, called him “my teacher my protector & the most magnificent actor.”
For six seasons on NBC, from 1990 to 1996, Avery was Philip Banks, the stern, wealthy Bel Air attorney turned judge who took in his nephew Will after things got rough back in Philadelphia. The show launched Will Smith’s acting career, and Avery’s Uncle Phil became one of the most beloved TV fathers of a generation.
Standing well over six feet tall with a deep, commanding voice, Avery built a long career before and after Fresh Prince. His TV credits included Grey’s Anatomy, NYPD Blue, Dallas, That ’70s Show and That’s So Raven, and his films included Fletch and 8 Million Ways to Die. His voice also made him a favorite in animation, most famously as Shredder in the original Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles series. Snyder said he will be seen in Zach Braff’s film Wish I Was Here, which is set to premiere at the Sundance Film Festival later this month.
Avery was born in Virginia and raised by a single mother in Atlantic City, New Jersey. He served in the Navy in Vietnam in the late 1960s, then settled in California, where he wrote poetry and scripts for PBS and earned a degree in drama and literature from the University of California, San Diego.
He is survived by his wife of 26 years, Barbara Avery, his mother, Florence Avery, and his stepson, Kevin Waters.
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