Forest Steven Whitaker was
born 15 July 1961. He is an
American actor, producer and
director. He has earned a
reputation for intensive character study work for films such as
Bird and
Ghost Dog, The Way of the Samurai. But for his recurring role as
ex-LAPD Lieutenant Jon Kavanaugh on the
gritty, award winning television series The Shield, Whitaker only had to draw on his childhood growing up in
South Central Los Angeles, California.
Whitaker has a long tradition of working with renowned directors and other actors. In his first onscreen role of note, he played a football player in the 1982 film adaptation of Cameron Crowe coming of age teen retrospective, Fast Times Ridge Mont High it. He played with Judge Reinhold, Phoebe Cates and Sean Penn.
