Actor Omar Hashim Epps was born on July 23, 1973 in Brooklyn, New York to a single mother, who worked as a school principal. At the age of 10, he began to write screenplays while attending the Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts. He later made his acting debut in the film, Juice. He next appeared in the college football drama, The Program. Moving on to play another sports star, he appeared in the baseball film Major League II and Higher Learning.
On television, Epps appeared on the medical drama ER in 1997, subsequently working on the HBO film, First Time Felon. Two years later, he worked on The Mod Squad, which became very popular in the box office. His other film credits include The Wood, Love and Basketball, Dracula 2000, Big Trouble, Conviction and Against the Ropes.
In 2004, Epps played Dr. Eric Foreman in House, the television series starring Hugh Laurie. For his work on the series, he won the 2007 NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series after garnering nominations in the same category in 2005 and 2006.
In talking about his character's relationship with the central character, Dr. Gregory House, Epps said, "I think House sees a bit of himself in Foreman, and I think Foreman sees the same. But at the end of the day, House is a genius at what he does, and Foreman is trying to be the best doctor he can be. So House is the best to learn from. House digs into Foreman, but he is sort of the guy who stands up to him."
Epps added that he is devoted to the show, saying, "I'll be with [House] until the end, and hopefully we'll have a nice run."
Other appearances of Epps are those in 2004’s Alfie, where he played Marlon, and on A Day in the Life, as O. In 2008, he signed on to portray Mark Lord in Love Can’t Hide.
Spouse: Keisha Spivey (2004 - present)
Is a member of a hip-hop group called Wolfpak, which he formed with his brother in 1991.
Began writing screenplays at age ten.
Attended the Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of the Performing Arts in New York, NY, a school formed from the merger of two New York City high schools for the arts, one of which was the school on which the movie and TV show Fame (1980) was based.
He and actor Marlon Wayans have been friends since childhood.
July 2004: Daughter K'mari Mae born. Mother is fianc?e (now wife) Keisha Spivey.
Was a back-up dancer for Queen Latifah.
Appeared in in the magazine article "Can't a Brother Get No Love?" which appeared in the August 1999 issue of Vibe.
[1999, in an interview in "Newsday"] I'm going to be the first black President of the United States. If [Ronald Reagan can do it, I know I can.
I've been writing since I was a kid. Short stories, poetry, and all of that, and acting is just an extension of that. It just came naturally. So it's coming full circle.
People don't want to pay eight or nine dollars to go see a problem that they have in their life, on screen. They pay to get away from that. That's why they watch soap operas.
The only limitations that I can have are the ones that I set on myself.
The whole Black Hollywood thing doesn't exist for me anymore. Once someone says that to themselves, they subject themselves to those rules.
Before "ER" (1994) a lot of people knew my name and some people knew my face. I saw big difference after "ER", like, wow, I didn't know television was that powerful.