My Flatmates

Character: Richard Webber

Born in Cleveland, Ohio, James Pickens Jr started acting at the Karamu House, distinguished as the oldest African-American theater in the United States. After moving to New York, he performed in the historic 1981 production of Charles Fullers' A Soldiers Play.

In 1990 Pickens moved to the West Coast and began an impressive run of film and television performances. On the big screen, he has been directed by some of the film industry's finest, including Steven Soderbergh in Traffic, Oliver Stone in Nixon and Warren Beatty in Bulworth and he appeared in four Barry Levinson films - Sleepers, Sphere, Jimmy Hollywood and Liberty Heights. He portrayed slain civil rights leader Medgar Evers in Ghosts of Mississippi (directed by Rob Reiner), and he played Angela Bassett's ex-husband in How Stella Got Her Groove Back.

Pickens is well known to television audiences for his recurring roles on hit series including NYPD Blue, The X-Files, The Practice, Philly, Curb Your Enthusiasm, Six Feet Under, The West Wing, Rosanne and Beverly Hills 90210.