James La Rue Avery (November 27, 1945 – December 31, 2013) was an American actor. He was best known for his roles as Philip Banks in The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, Judge Michael Conover on L.A. Law, Steve Yeager in The Brady Bunch Movie, and Dr. Crippen on The Closer (2005–2007); and as the voice actor for Shredder in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Haroud Hazi Bin in Aladdin.
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Early life
Avery was born on November 27, 1945, in Pughsville, Virginia (present-day Suffolk, Virginia), to mother Florence J. Avery. His father denied paternity and was not listed on his birth certificate. As a teenager, his mother moved him to Atlantic City, New Jersey. He graduated from Atlantic City High School in 1963. He served in the U.S. Navy in the Vietnam War from 1968 to 1969, and then moved to San Diego, California, where he began to write poetry and TV scripts for PBS. Avery's first acting role was playing God in the play J.B. in 1971 at San Diego Community College.
He won an Emmy for production of "Ameda Speaks: Poet James Avery". He then received a scholarship to UC San Diego, where he attended Thurgood Marshall College (then Third College), earning a Bachelor of Arts degree in drama and literature in 1976.