Rico E. Anderson

Real world article
(written from a Production point of view)

Rico E. Anderson
Birth name:	Rico Elliott Anderson
Date of birth:	10 March 1968
Place of birth:	Seaside, California, USA
Roles:	Background actor
Character(s):	Starfleet Academy council member

Rico E. Anderson (born 10 March 1968; age 56) is an actor who played a Starfleet Academy council member in Star Trek. He was born in Seaside, California, and majored in Theatre Arts at San Francisco State University and University of Southern California (USC).

At USC, Anderson took an advanced scene study course taught by Lindsay Crouse, one of the actresses considered for the role of Captain Kathryn Janeway on Star Trek: Voyager. Anderson also took advanced scene study courses from Bennet Guillory, who appeared in the Star Trek: Deep Space Nine episode "Prophet Motive". Anderson is an active member of The Robey Theater Company, which was founded by Guillory and actor Danny Glover.

Anderson made his television debut as a fireman in the 1993 movie Firestorm: 72 Hours in Oakland, which starred Star Trek: The Next Generation's LeVar Burton. Anderson's first feature film work was as an extra on the 1993 drama Made in America, which starred another Next Generation alum, Whoopi Goldberg. Later that same year, Anderson was seen in the drama Fearless, as was John de Lancie. Anderson has also appeared as an extra in such films as Poetic Justice (which featured John Cothran, Jr.), When a Man Loves a Woman (with Eugene Roche, Gail Strickland, and Susanna Thompson), and Getting Even with Dad (with Ron Canada and Saul Rubinek).

Anderson has had starring roles in such independent films as String Theory (2002), The Urban Demographic (2005), and Derek and Delila (2007). He also made an uncredited appearance in The Skeleton Key (2005), which, like Star Trek, featured cinematography by Dan Mindel. In addition, Anderson can be seen in Hallowed Ground (2005, with Brian McNamara, Ethan Phillips, Ned Vaughn, and Time Winters).

On television, Anderson has co-starred on such series as The Shield, NCIS, and Dirty Sexy Money (starring Zoe McLellan). He also appeared in a two-part episode of Las Vegas, the NBC series on which Nikki Cox is a regular. Anderson's two episodes, in which he played a pit boss, guest-starred fellow Trek performers Christopher McDonald and Mark Harelik. In addition, Anderson is a recurring performer on the Comedy Central programs Root of All Evil and Mind of Mencia.

Anderson's theatrical credits include the off-Broadway production Bed of Truth and productions of Equus, Up from the Downs, and The Meeting in which he played Malcolm X. He played the title role in a production of Oedipus the King for the African-American Shakespeare Company, of which he is a founding member. For the aforementioned Robey Theater Company, he has performed in the plays The Last Season and For the Love of Freedom, Parts 1, 2, and 3.

More recently, Anderson was featured in Dollhouse (2009, with Mark A. Sheppard, Erin Cummings, Gary Wayton, and Mike Gunther), the comedy ParFection: The Golf Movie (2009), the drama The Harimaya Bridge (2009, with Bennet Guillory), and the television drama Operating Instructions (2009, with Billy Mayo).

External link

• Rico E. Anderson at the Internet Movie Database