Clarence Gilyard Jr. Biography

Fast Facts

• Works with various local charities and developed a theatre program in South Africa
• Won a Lone Star Film & Television Award for Best TV Supporting Actor for "Walker, Texas Ranger" in 1999
• Won a NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series for "Walker, Texas Ranger" in 2000
• Joined the Sigma Chi fraternity at Sterling College
• Started at the US Air Force Academy before transferring to Sterling College and later California State
• Married Elena in 2001
• First appeared in theatre before making his debut in the TV series "Diff'rent Strokes․"
• Quote: "(On working with a theater program in South Africa): "I was aware that there was a depth, a width, a power in me and a resonance unique to my artistic voice, an African-American that I needed to identify so that I could be effective․""
• Known for his roles as Conrad McMasters in "Matlock" and as James Trivette in "Walker, Texas Ranger․"
• Teaches in the College of Fine Arts Department of Theatre as an associate professor at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas
• Appeared in a McDonald's commercial in 1987