What Is Chi McBride’s Net Worth?

Chi McBride is an American actor who has a net worth of $10 million. Chi McBride is best known for playing Heavy Gene on “The John Larroquette Show” (1993–1996), the title role in “The Secret Diary of Desmond Pfeiffer” (1998), Steven Harper on “Boston Public” (2000–2004), Lt. Matt Cavanaugh on “Killer Instinct” (2005–2006), and Emerson Cod on “Pushing Daisies” (2007–2009). McBride has more than 70 acting credits to his name, including the films “What’s Love Got to Do with It” (1993), “The Frighteners” (1996), “Mercury Rising” (1998), “Gone in 60 Seconds” (2000), “Disney’s The Kid” (2000), “Cradle 2 the Grave” (2003), “The Terminal” (2004), “I, Robot” (2004), “Let’s Go to Prison” (2006), “The Brothers Solomon” (2007), “First Sunday” (2008), and “Home Sweet Hell” (2015) and the television series “House” (2005), “The Nine” (2006–2007), “Human Target” (2010–2011), “HawthoRNe” (2011), “Golden Boy” (2013), “Hawaii Five-0” (2013–2020), and “How We Roll” (2022). He has lent his voice to numerous animated projects, such as “God, the Devil and Bob” (2000), “Max Steel” (2000–2002), “Ultimate Avengers 2” (2006), “Fury Files” (2012–2013), “Avengers Assemble” (2012–2015), “Ultimate Spider-Man” (2012–2017), “Hulk and the Agents of S.M.A.S.H.” (2014–2015), and “Beavis and Butt-Head Do the Universe” (2022). Chi also wrote three episodes of the CBS series “Hawaii Five-0”: “Lele pu na manu like” (2018), “Ne’e aku, ne’e mai ke one o Punahoa” (2019), and “He waha kou o ka he’e” (2020).

Early Life

Chi McBride was born Kenneth McBride on September 23, 1961, in Chicago, Illinois. His stage name, “Chi,” was inspired by Chicago. He grew up in the Seventh-day Adventist Church, and he attended a Seventh-day Adventist school called Shiloh Academy. McBride initially wanted to pursue a music career, and he sang with local gospel choirs and studied several instruments. In 1986, he moved to Atlanta, Georgia, to work as a billing clerk for AT&T.

Career

McBride had his first success in the entertainment industry as a member of the music group KSL, which had a hit single with “Basically, He’s the Champ,” a song that parodied the marriage of Mike Tyson and Robin Givens. The song’s success led to Chi signing with Esquire Records, and he subsequently joined the R&B group Covert. He later decided to try acting and moved to Los Angeles. In 1992, he made his big screen debut in the Eddie Murphy comedy “The Distinguished Gentleman,” and he guest-starred on “The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air” and appeared in the TV movie “Revenge of the Nerds III: The Next Generation.” In 1993, McBride co-starred with Angela Bassett and Laurence Fishburne in the biopic “What’s Love Got to Do with It,” and he began playing Heavy Gene on NBC’s “The John Larroquette Show.” He guest-starred on “Married… with Children” (1994), “Nash Bridges” (1996), and “The Parkers” (1999), and he appeared in the films “The Great White Hype” (1996), “The Frighteners” (1996), “Hoodlum” (1997), and “Mercury Rising” (1998). In 1998, Chi starred in the title role on the UPN sitcom “The Secret Diary of Desmond Pfeiffer.”

Next, McBride appeared in the films “Dancing in September” (2000), “Gone in 60 Seconds” (2000), “Disney’s The Kid” (2000), “Narc” (2002), “Undercover Brother” (2002), “Cradle 2 the Grave” (2003), “Roll Bounce” (2005), “Waiting…” (2005), “Annapolis” (2006), “Let’s Go to Prison” (2006), “The Brothers Solomon” (2007), “American Son” (2008), “First Sunday” (2008), “Who Do You Love” (2008), and “Still Waiting…” (2009). In 2004, he co-starred with Tom Hanks in “The Terminal” and Will Smith in “I, Robot,” which each grossed over $200 million at the box office. Chi guest-starred on “Sliders” (2000) and “Monk” (2006) and had a recurring role as Edward Vogler on the Fox medical drama “House” (2005). From 2002 to 2004, he starred as Steven Harper on the David E. Kelley drama “Boston Public,” which aired 81 episodes over four seasons on Fox. He reprised his role in a 2001 episode of “The Practice” and a 2005 episode of “Boston Legal,” which both aired on ABC. McBride then played Lt. Matt Cavanaugh on the Fox crime drama “Killer Instinct” (2005–2006), Malcolm Jones on the ABC drama “The Nine” (2006–2007), and Emerson Cod on the ABC comedy-drama “Pushing Daisies” (2007–2009). “Pushing Daisies” earned 17 Primetime Emmy nominations, and it received a Golden Globe nomination for Best Television Series – Musical or Comedy in 2008.

From 2010 to 2011, McBride starred as Detective Laverne Winston on the Fox series “Human Target.” Around this time, he guest-starred on “Psych” (2010), “How I Met Your Mother” (2011), and “Suits” (2011; 2015), and he had a recurring role as Garland Brice on the TNT medical drama “HawthoRNe” (2011). Chi appeared in the films “The Family Tree” (2011), “Fruit of Labor” (2011), “Pawn Shop Chronicles” (2013), “Home Sweet Hell” (2015), and “Unspoken: Diary of an Assassin” (2017), and he co-starred with Kevin Costner, Jennifer Garner, and Denis Leary in the 2014 sports drama “Draft Day.” He played Detective Don Owen on the crime drama “Golden Boy” (2013), Captain Lou Grover on “Hawaii Five-0” (2013–2020), and Archie Betts on “How We Roll” (2022), which all aired on CBS, and he guest-starred on “This Is Us” in 2021.

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Personal Life

Chi is married to Julissa Marquez, and they have welcomed one child together.

Award Nominations

For “Pushing Daisies,” McBride earned two Gold Derby Award nominations for Comedy Supporting Actor as well as two Online Film & Television Association Award nominations and an International Online Cinema Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series. Chi received Online Film & Television Association Award nominations for Best Actor in a New Drama Series and Best Actor in a Drama Series for “Boston Public,” and the show also earned him an AFI Award nomination for Actor of the Year – Male – TV Series, a Satellite Award nomination for Best Actor in a Series, Drama, and a Television Critics Association Award nomination for Individual Achievement in Drama.