Jeffrey D Sams
About
Biography
Filmography
Family & Companions
Biography
Jeffrey D. Sams first attracted industry attention as Rich, the subway token clerk who leaves his job, his wife and young son to pursue his career as a rap artist, in "Fly By Night" (1993), winner of the Filmmaker's Trophy at the Sundance Film Festival. The Cincinnati, OH native then came to national notice as a result of his co-starring role as Whitney Houston's would-be suitor Lionel in "Waiting to Exhale" (1995). He further raised his profile playing Viveca A Fox's husband Kenneth in the sleeper hit "Soul Food" (1997). On the small screen, Sams has acted in such movies as "Green Dolphin Bend" (Fox, 1994), "Automatic" (HBO, 1995), "Run For the Dream: The Gail Deevers Story" (Showtime, 1996) and "Hope" (TNT, 1997), Goldie Hawn's directorial debut. He has worked as a regular on the series "Medicine Ball" (Fox), "Courthouse" (CBS, both 1995), "Sleepwalkers" (NBC, 1997) and "Cupid" (ABC, 1998-99). His additional episodic credits include "The Commish" (ABC), "Living Single" (Fox), "Law & Order" and "Boston Common" (both NBC), among others.
Filmography
Cast (Feature Film)
Cast (Special)
Life Events
1991
Appeared in CBS comedy pilot "Five Up, Two Down"
1993
Feature debut, starring in "Fly By Night", winner of the Filmmaker's Trophy at the Sundance Film Festival
1993
Moved to Los Angeles
1994
Co-starred in Fox movie "Green Dolphin Bend"
1995
Acted in HBO sci-fi pic "Automatic"
1995
Regular roles as Clate Barker in "Medicine Ball" (Fox) and as Edison Moore in "Courthouse" (CBS), both short-lived series
1995
Played Lionel, Whitney Houston's would-be suitor, in "Waiting to Exhale"
1996
Played R J Hampton in "Run For the Dream: The Gail Deevers Story" (Showtime)
1997
Had regular role of Ben Costigan on extremely short-lived NBC series "Sleepwalkers" (only two episodes aired)
1997
Portrayed Kenneth, Maxine's husband and Ahmad's father, a model of stability compared with his two brothers-in-law, in "Soul Food"
1997
Appeared as Jediah Walker in TNT's "Hope", Goldie Hawn's directorial debut
1997
Acted the part of Adam in "Hallmark Hall of Fame" movie "Rose Hill" (CBS)
1998
Had regular role on the ABC series "Cupid"
1998
Acted in the feature "Just Write"
1999
Co-starred in the ABC drama "Wasteland"
2001
Returned to series work as co-star of the TNT series "Breaking News"
Companions
