Kirk Taylor

Kirk Beecher Taylor is an American actor, acting teacher, and musician with credits in film, television, and stage. He is best known for his work in the movies Full Metal Jacket, Death Wish 3, School Daze, The Last Dragon, The Angriest Man in Brooklyn and the Broadway Tour of Five Guys Named Moe. His television credits include portraying the prophet Ezekiel in The Chosen and Dr. Morris in Days of Our Lives.

Early life The oldest of five children, Taylor was raised in Bridgeport, Connecticut, by Dr. Robert Beecher Taylor and Rose Marie Taylor. He started performing on stage at Central High School.

Taylor was the first Black student to become the coveted King of The Barnum Festival, a statewide scholastic and leadership competition. He also played in a local R&B group, The Mighty Chain Reaction alongside guitar sensation, Jonathan Dubose Jr.

Education Taylor attended New York University's Tisch School of the Arts where he received a BFA (major in drama and minor in music). He studied acting under Lee Strasberg, Stella Adler, David Garfield, Barbara Covington Poitier, David Gideon, Irma Sandrey, Elaine Aiken and Clay Stevens.

He studied composition with Lehman Engel and Vladimir Padwa; voice with Helen Lightner and Kenneth Kamal Scott; piano with John Randolph Eaton and Don Friedman; trumpet with Jimmy Owens. Taylor was a founding member of the Awamu Theater Company, New York University's first and only African American repertory company.

Career

Stage In 1993, Taylor took center stage as Nomax in the first Broadway tour of Five Guys Named Moe, a jubilant musical featuring the songs of legendary band leader Louis Jordan. In preceding years, he graced the Off-Broadway stage as George the Barman in Take Me Along (1985), Bagheera the Panther in Mowgli (1985), Joey Robbins in The War Party (1986), and toured as jazz giant Jelly Roll Morton in Jelly Roll! The Music & The Man (1997). Taylor also performed as Edmond in the Off-Off-Broadway production of King Lear (1990) as part of the Brooklyn Shakespeare Company.

On the West Coast, he depicted the patriarch Dr. George Gibbs in Our Town (1998) with South Coast Repertory, General Vershinin in Three Sisters with Actor's Alley (2000) and was the lead opposite the "Queen of Funk" Chaka Khan in the Stevie Wonder-inspired Las Vegas tribute show Signed, Sealed, Delivered (2002).

Taylor appeared in the touring production of What Men Don't Tell (2004), which included performances at the Beacon Theatre on Broadway. In 2019, he joined the renowned Denver Center for the Performing Arts where he played the dual roles of Captain and trumpet-playing Fabian in their winter production of Shakespeare's Twelfth Night.

Film In 1984, Taylor began his film career as Flash the waiter in Francis Ford Coppola's The Cotton Club. In the following years, he embodied some memorable characters: Crunch in The Last Dragon, The Giggler in Death Wish 3, Sgt Payback in Stanley Kubrick's celebrated war drama Full Metal Jacket, and Sir Nose in Spike Lee's 1988 collegiate classic, School Daze.

He can also be seen in other noteworthy films such as Jacknife with Robert De Niro, The Return of Superfly with Sam Jackson, Bonfire of the Vanities, MacArthur Park, and The Sum of All Fears as AFRAT Specialist Wesson in 2002. Taylor appeared alongside Robin Williams in The Angriest Man in Brooklyn in 2014. In 2017, he was cast as Referee Burton in the indie feature 12 Round Gun, and starred as Cephas in Harry Lennix's musical feature film, Revival! (2018).

Television

Taylor made his television debut in 1981 on the long-running soap opera Guiding Light. He played a recurring role opposite Kevin Bacon as his football player teammate. Since then, his television credits have included True Blue, Law & Order, Ghost Writer, Chicago Hope, and To Have and To Hold. In 2000, Taylor joined an all-star cast to portray the role of Roland Brown in the TNT television movie Freedom Song. Working alongside stars Danny Glover and Loretta Devine, the film documented the true life struggles of the SNCC civil rights workers. In 2001, he landed the starring role of Sterling Hamilton in BET's One Special Moment. He can also be seen as British arms dealer Paul Green on NCIS: Los Angeles, French attorney Gilles Lemaire in the final season of All My Children and Dr. Morris on Days of Our Lives .

Music Taylor has been a featured soloist in numerous ensembles and events, including the New Song Gospel Choir at The Church on the Way under the direction of Rose "Sly and the Family" Stone (2004–2009), the international broadcast of Hour of Power at the famed Crystal Cathedral (2010–2012), The Havana Jazz Festival (2016) and Herbie Hancock's International Jazz Day concert at Saint Peter's "Jazz" Church in New York City (2018), which was subsequently broadcast by Queens Public Television in 2020.

In 2014, Taylor made his Carnegie Hall debut in the Broadway Reunion with Black Stars of the Great White Way under the direction of four-time Grammy Award-winning vocal arranger Chapman Roberts. Taylor was also part of a similar show The Black Stars of The Great White Way: A Chapman Roberts Concept when it appeared at National Black Theatre Festival in Winston-Salem, N.C. Taylor owns the ASCAP-registered publishing company Rising Oak Music.

Teaching Taylor taught acting at the Lee Strasberg Institute in New York City (1988–1993), for the Young People's, Professional, and NYU programs.

His students have included Jessie L. Martin, Chandra Wilson, Gary Dourdan, Karina Lombard, Charles Malik Whitfield, Jose Zuniga, Beth Littleford, Ken Marino, Mari Morrow, and Benno Fürmann.

Taylor teaches 3-5 day acting intensives through his Art Group Acting Company in Montreal, Los Angeles, and at the University of Nations in Hawaii and Norway.

Taylor reflected on his acting career with Hollywood Toto:

Filmography

Film Year Title Role Notes 1984 The Cotton Club Flash The Waiter Film debut, uncredited 1985 The Last Dragon 'Crunch' 1985 Death Wish 3 'The Giggler' 1987 Full Metal Jacket Sgt. Payback 1987 Heart Fighter 1 1988 School Daze Sir Nose 1989 Jacknife Helicopter Gunner 1990 The Return of Superfly Renaldo 1990 The Bonfire of the Vanities Aide 2001 MacArthur Park Officer Randolph Davis 2002 The Sum of All Fears AFRAT Specialist Wesson 2003 Jonah Angel Short 2009 Three Breaths Enoch Short 2009 Stealing Home Caesar Short 2009 Open Door 'Slim' Short 2011 Fly by Knight Calvin Knight Short 2014 The Angriest Man in Brooklyn Police Officer 2017 12 Round Gun Referee Burton 2019 Revival! Cephas

Television Year Title Role Notes 1981 Guiding Light Football Player TV debut 1992 Law & Order Dr. Reed 1993 Ghost Writer Coach Ward Recurring 1996 Law & Order Officer Graham 1999 Chicago Hope Paul Griffin 2000 Freedom Song Roland Brown TV movie 2001 One Special Moment Sterling Hamilton Starring Role 2011 NCIS: Los Angeles Paul Green 2011 All My Children Attorney Gilles Lemaire- 2020 Days of Our Lives Dr. Morris Episode #13964 2025 The Chosen Ezekiel Episode "The Upper Room Part II"

Stage Year Title Role Notes 1978-1981 Cane, My Brother is Homemade, Wine in the Wilderness, Contributions,Voices for My People, An Evening of Poetry Music & Song Various NYU'S Awamu Theater Company (Founding Member) 1983 Last One in is A Rotten Egg J.T. The Kennedy Center, Washington DC 1984 The Prophet Nat Lonnie Off Off Broadway 1985 Take Me Along George the Barman Off Broadway 1985 Mowgli Bagheera the Panther Off Broadway 1986 The War Party Joey Robbins Negro Ensemble Company 1987 The Trial of Hansel and Gretel Candy-Rapper Was also the Musical Director/ Composer 1988 Don't Shoot My Dream Soloist Holland, The Netherlands 1990 King Lear Edmund The Brooklyn Shakespeare Company 1991 The Mask of St. George Musical Director/ Composer and Co-Director 1993–1994 5 Guys Named Moe Nomax 1st National Broadway Tour 1997 Jelly Roll! The Music & The Man Jelly Roll Morton National Tour 1998 Our Town Dr. Gibbs South Coast Repertory, Costa Mesa CA 1998 Three Sisters General Vershinin El Portal Theatre 2002 Signed, Sealed, Delivered (A Stevie Wonder Tribute) Male Lead Singer opposite Chaka Khan The Venetian, Las Vegas, NV 2004 What Men Don't Tell Patrick National Tour 2008-2013 Speak of Me as I Am (Paul Robeson Story) Larry Brown Was also the Musical Director 2014 Broadway Reunion Ensemble Singer Carnegie Hall 2015 Broadway Reunion 1st Anniversary Soloist National Black Theater Festival, Winston-Salem, NC 2016 Havana Jazz Festival Soloist Havana, Cuba 2018 Chapman Roberts' Broadway Jazz Festival (For International Jazz Day) Soloist Aired on Queens Public TV on 2020 2019 Twelfth Night Captain & Fabian Denver Center for the Performing Arts, Denver CO

Music videos Year Title Artist 1986 "Nail It To The Wall" Stacy Lattisaw