American television and film actor Karim Dulé Hill was born on May 3, 1975 in Orange, New Jersey. The son of Jamaican parents, he began studying the art of tap dance at a young age, and later on performing in the musical The Tap Dance Kid. He worked on his first movie role in the 1993 crime drama Sugar Hill while he was still in his senior year at Sayreville War Memorial High School. He also studied later on at Seton Hall University, before continuing to pursue his acting career. Hill has starred on Broadway in the stage musical Bring in ’da Noise, Bring in ’da Funk, as well as starring in the TV show Psych.
Charlie Young is played by Dulé Hill in the Emmy Award-winning television serial drama The West Wing. The son of a police officer from Washington, D.C., he is the personal aide and body man of U.S. President Josiah Bartlet, and regularly works alongside the President’s secretary in order to ensure the Oval Office’s efficient operation. Though he originally came to the White House to apply as a messenger, he was recommended by Ms. De LaGuardia as a replacement for the president’s original assistant, Ted Miller. Charlie also takes care of his sister Deena, and later on studies at Georgetown University while continuing to do his job.
(Photo courtesy of James Sorenson)
-I was doing Bring in Da' Noise, Bring In Da' Funk here in New York and I came out and was all sweaty and I had my towel and this lady was like, 'Oh! Can I have your towel, can I have your towel?' I gave it to her and she ran down the road screaming. And I was just like wow - it was a nasty, sweaty towel.