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Ernest Lee Thomas

 
Ernest Lee Thomas

 
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Ernest Lee Thomas (born March 26, 1950) is an American
United States

The United States of America is a Federal government constitutional republic comprising U.S. state and a federal district. The country is situated mostly in central North America, where its Contiguous United States and Washington, D.C., the Capital districts and territories, lie between the Pacific Ocean and Atlantic Oceans, Borders of the U...
 actor
Actor

An actor or actress is a person who acting in a dramatic production and who works in film, television, theatre, or radio programming in that capacity....
. He was born in Gary, Indiana
Gary, Indiana

Gary is the largest city in Lake County, Indiana, Indiana, United States. The city is located in the southeastern portion of the Chicago metropolitan area and is approximately 25 miles from downtown Chicago....
. He is most famous for his role as aspiring writer Roger "Raj" Thomas on the 1970s sitcom What's Happening!!
What's Happening!!

What's Happening!! is an American television Situation comedy that aired on American Broadcasting Company from August 5, 1976 to April 28, 1979....
 and its 1980s sequel, What's Happening Now!!
What's Happening Now!!

What's Happening Now!! is an United States sitcom which ran in Television syndication from 1985 in television to 1988 in television. It was the sequel to the sitcom What's Happening!!, which ran from 1976 in television to 1979 in television....
.

Early Career and What's Happening!!
Ernest began his professional acting career as a Broadway
Broadway theatre

Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 39 large professional theaters with 500 seats or more located in the Theatre District, New York in Manhattan, New York City....
 actor, appearing in the 1974 revival production of Love for Love and in the 1975 revival of The Member of the Wedding
The Member of the Wedding

The Member of the Wedding is a 1946 novel by Southern United States writer Carson McCullers. It took McCullers five years to complete -- though she interrupted the work for a few months to write the short novel The Ballad of the Sad Cafe....
.






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Ernest Lee Thomas (born March 26, 1950) is an American
United States

The United States of America is a Federal government constitutional republic comprising U.S. state and a federal district. The country is situated mostly in central North America, where its Contiguous United States and Washington, D.C., the Capital districts and territories, lie between the Pacific Ocean and Atlantic Oceans, Borders of the U...
 actor
Actor

An actor or actress is a person who acting in a dramatic production and who works in film, television, theatre, or radio programming in that capacity....
. He was born in Gary, Indiana
Gary, Indiana

Gary is the largest city in Lake County, Indiana, Indiana, United States. The city is located in the southeastern portion of the Chicago metropolitan area and is approximately 25 miles from downtown Chicago....
. He is most famous for his role as aspiring writer Roger "Raj" Thomas on the 1970s sitcom What's Happening!!
What's Happening!!

What's Happening!! is an American television Situation comedy that aired on American Broadcasting Company from August 5, 1976 to April 28, 1979....
 and its 1980s sequel, What's Happening Now!!
What's Happening Now!!

What's Happening Now!! is an United States sitcom which ran in Television syndication from 1985 in television to 1988 in television. It was the sequel to the sitcom What's Happening!!, which ran from 1976 in television to 1979 in television....
.

Early Career and What's Happening!!


Ernest began his professional acting career as a Broadway
Broadway theatre

Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 39 large professional theaters with 500 seats or more located in the Theatre District, New York in Manhattan, New York City....
 actor, appearing in the 1974 revival production of Love for Love and in the 1975 revival of The Member of the Wedding
The Member of the Wedding

The Member of the Wedding is a 1946 novel by Southern United States writer Carson McCullers. It took McCullers five years to complete -- though she interrupted the work for a few months to write the short novel The Ballad of the Sad Cafe....
. Both shows starred actress Glenn Close
Glenn Close

Glenn Close is an United States actress and singer of theatre and film, perhaps best known for her role as deranged stalker Alex Forrest in Fatal Attraction ....
. Shortly after he moved to LA to pursue a career as a tv/film actor. In the fall of 1975 he received a role on an episode of The Jeffersons
The Jeffersons

The Jeffersons is an United States situation comedy that was broadcast on CBS from January 18, 1975, through June 25, 1985, lasting 11 seasons and a total of List of The Jeffersons episodes produced by Tandem Productions from 1975-1982 and Embassy Television from 1982-1985....
. It was during the taping of the show that he learned of an audition for the upcoming comedy sitcom What's Happening!!
What's Happening!!

What's Happening!! is an American television Situation comedy that aired on American Broadcasting Company from August 5, 1976 to April 28, 1979....
, loosely based on the 1975 film Cooley High
Cooley High

Cooley High is a 1975 in film feature film produced and released by American International Pictures and written by Eric Monte . The film, set in 1964 Chicago, Illinois, stars Glynn Turman and Lawrence Hilton-Jacobs, and featuring a soundtrack primarily comprised of 1960s Motown Records hits....
. He eventually went on to win the role of Roger Thomas on the show, which aired from 1976 to 1979.

During the shows run, Thomas was involved in other acting film and TV projects including Baretta
Baretta

Baretta is a United States detective fiction television series which ran on American Broadcasting Company from 1975 to 1978. The show was a milder version of a successful 1973?74 ABC series, Toma , starring Tony Musante as chameleon-like, real-life New Jersey police officer David Toma....
, Roots
Roots (TV miniseries)

Roots is a 1977 in television American television miniseries based on Alex Haley's work Roots: The Saga of an American Family.Roots received 37 Emmy Award nominations....
, The Brady Bunch Hour
The Brady Bunch Hour

The Brady Bunch Hour was a television series produced by Sid and Marty Krofft, which aired on American Broadcasting Company between 1976 to 1977....
 and the film A Piece of the Action
A Piece of the Action

A Piece of the Action may refer to:* A Piece of the Action , a Curtis Mayfield-penned, Mavis Staples-performed soundtrack to the 1977 film of the same name...
 starring Sidney Poitier
Sidney Poitier

Sir Sidney Poitier, Order of the British Empire is an Academy Award-, Golden Globe-, BAFTA- and Grammy award-winning Bahamas-United States actor, film director, author, and diplomat....
 and Bill Cosby
Bill Cosby

William Henry "Bill" Cosby Jr. is an American comedian, actor, author, television producer and activist. A veteran stand-up performer, he got his start at various clubs, then landed a vanguard role in the 1960s action show I Spy....
. Due to low ratings, What's Happening!! was cancelled after its third season in the early spring of 1979.

What's Happening Now!! and Later Career


After a six year hiatus from tv and film acting, Ernest resumed his role as Roger Thomas in the sequel to What's Happening!!, titled What's Happening Now!!
What's Happening Now!!

What's Happening Now!! is an United States sitcom which ran in Television syndication from 1985 in television to 1988 in television. It was the sequel to the sitcom What's Happening!!, which ran from 1976 in television to 1979 in television....
. The renewed show aired from 1985 to 1988.

Since the shows cancellation Thomas has guest starred on a number of popular TV dramas and sitcoms including In the Heat of the Night
In the Heat of the Night (TV series)

'In the Heat of the Night' is a television series based on the Film In the Heat of the Night . The series debuted as a midseason replacement for the short-lived NBC series J.J....
, (which co-starred his TV wife Anne-Marie Johnson
Anne-Marie Johnson

Anne-Marie Johnson is an United States actress who has starred in film and on television....
, from What's Happening Now!!), The Parent 'Hood
The Parent 'Hood

The Parent 'Hood is an United States situation comedy that aired from 1995 in television until 1999 in television on WB Television Network....
, Martin
Martin

Martin may refer to:...
, Soul Food
Soul food

Soul food is an American cuisine, a selection of foods, and is the traditional cuisine of African-Americans of the Southern United States and of black communities beyond....
, The Steve Harvey Show
The Steve Harvey Show

The Steve Harvey Show is an United States sitcom that aired for six seasons from August 25, 1996 to February 24, 2002 on The WB Television Network....
, All About the Andersons
All About the Andersons

All About the Andersons was a television show that originally aired on The WB Television Network network in 2003. It lasted one season before being canceled....
 and more recently Just Jordan
Just Jordan

Just Jordan is an United States television sitcom that is currently a TEENick show on Nickelodeon starring Lil' JJ. It debuted on January 7, 2007....
. He has also appeared in a number of films including his most prominent film appearances in a supporting role in Malcolm X
Malcolm X (film)

Malcolm X is a 1992 in film biographical film directed by Spike Lee about the African American activist and black nationalist Malcolm X. The story is based on The Autobiography of Malcolm X as told to Alex Haley....
 and a cameo in Dickie Roberts: Former Child Star
Dickie Roberts: Former Child Star

Dickie Roberts: Former Child Star is a 2003 in film comedy film directed by Sam Weisman and starring David Spade and Mary McCormack....
. He presently has a recurring role as funeral director, Mr. Omar, on the TV sitcom Everybody Hates Chris
Everybody Hates Chris

Everybody Hates Chris is a NAACP Image Award Award winning , Golden Globe, and Emmy Award-nominated United States situation comedy.It is inspired by the teenage experiences of comedian Chris Rock , while growing up in the Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood of Brooklyn....
.

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