Damn, Uncle Phil From The Fresh Prince Of Bel-Air Passed Away
R.I.P James Avery. Tears!
Well, this isn’t a great post to start 2014: James Avery, the actor who played beloved tough guy Uncle Phil on the ’90s sitcom The Fresh Prince Of Bel-Air, has passed away, aged 68, following complications from open heart surgery.
Alfonso Ribeiro, who played Phil’s cardigan-lovin’ son Carlton Banks on the series, confirmed the news on Twitter overnight:
Because Will Smith is too cool to use the internet, his wife Jada Pinkett — who auditioned for the series earlier in her career — posted the following message on Facebook:
Avery, who served in the Vietnam War in his mid-20s and began his Hollywood career writing TV scripts, worked steadily on-screen until his death. Alongside his star-turn as the stern-but-fair judge Philip Banks (he was voted #34 in TV Guide‘s ‘Greatest TV Dads Of All Time‘ list), he was also the voice of Shredder in the original Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles cartoons, and most recently, he finished shooting a role in Zach Braff’s upcoming Kickstarter film, Wish I Was Here.
If you’d like to spend the last couple of days of your holidays in tears, here’s that memorable scene from Fresh Prince Of Bel-Air Season Four where Uncle Phil was the best.
On a happier note, here’s a 10-minute compilation of Uncle Phil throwing Jazz (and other people, but mainly Jazz) out of his house. Uncle Phil, this is how we’ll always remember you.