Brian J. White on AllMovie

Actor Brian J. White eked out an unusual path to showbusiness. A Massachusetts native and the son of Boston Celtics player JoJo White, Brian attended the Ivy League Dartmouth College, majoring in poly sci, theater arts, and psychology, but his athletic prowess yielded two offers to go professional: one with the NFL and another with the National Lacrosse League. White opted for the NFL, and signed with the New England Patriots, but a sporting injury derailed his career and found him forking off into professional modeling, and then acting. Within the latter arena, White began to specialize in onscreen portrayals of intelligent, polished, and urbane men. The actor took his earliest screen bow with a lead role: that of Tracy Wainwright, a young executive who strikes up an ill-advised affair with his boss, only to find his career jeopardized when he falls in love with another woman, in the 2001 workplace drama Me & Mrs. Jones. Unfortunately for White and his co-stars, that film failed to achieve wide theatrical release in the United States (despite touring the festival circuit), but the actor achieved greater recognition with a multi-episode role on the small-screen police drama The Shield (as Detective Tavon Garris) and supporting turns in the features Mr. 3000 (2004), The Family Stone (2005), and Stomp the Yard (2007). He returned to the small screen in fall 2007, playing Lieutenant Carl Davis in a recurring role on the vampire detective series Moonlight.