Biography
Joseph C. Phillips is an Actor, Writer, Entrepreneur, Lover of cooking and Western films.
Joseph is currently a Fellow at the Centennial Institute out of Colorado Christian College. In 2010 Joseph was a Fellow at the Robert J. Dole Institute of Politics at the University of Kansas, where he is taught a seven-week course entitled “Black Conservatism in America.” Joseph designed and wrote the curriculum, organized and secured the guest speakers, and is responsible for moderating and facilitating class discussions and interviews.
Joseph was also named a 2005 Abraham Lincoln Fellow at the Claremont Institute. The Lincoln Fellowship Program invites government employees, employees of public policy research institutions, and those in the print and broadcast media to study American politics and to discuss how the statesmanship and political thought of the Founders and Lincoln should guide policymakers today.
Joseph is also currently a director on the State Board of the California African American Museum; an appointment made in 2005 by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. As a director, Joseph chairs the accessions committee, which is responsible for approving all art or artifacts that are donated to or purchased for the museums collection.
For eight years Joseph wrote a syndicated weekly column, entitled, “The Way I see It.”
The column appeared inmore than 30 publications across the country as well as in the web daily’s, Townhall.com, The Daily Caller, and Big Hollywood.com.His essays have been published in Newsweek, Los Angeles Daily News, Essence Magazine, USA Today, and CNN.com. His first book, “He Talk Like a White Boy,” spent several weeks on the Denver Post best seller list. Joseph has also contributed political and cultural commentary to The Glenn Beck Show, CNN, BET Tonight, BET Nightly News, The Dennis Miller Show, America’s Black Forum, was for 3 years a regular commentator on National Public Radio’s the Tavis Smiley Show, appeared as a regular commentator on NPR’s News and Notes and currently offers regular commentary on American Urban Radio Networks Straight Talk, Back bone radio with John Andrews and is a sought after guest on radio programs across the country.
Joseph has become a much sought after public speaker and has addressed more than one hundred schools, colleges and universities, and civic and political organizations across the country. For five years he has worked as a motivational speaker with the Los Angeles County Sheriff Department’s “VIDA” program. The program is designed for at-risk youth and seeks to alter negative behavior, direct young people away from the criminal element, and prevent them from becoming further involved in the criminal justice system.
His interest in community service has led to Mr. Phillips involvement with the Special Olympics; The Green Chimneys Foundation, of which he was an advisory board member; The Red Cross, and the Big Brothers of Greater Los Angeles. He continues to work with the San Fernando Valley Rescue Mission to provide food and clothing to the homeless, and has spent the last several years coaching youth football. Phillips is also an ambassador for the Sickle Cell Disease Association of America and is the current National spokesman for Project Alpha.
Project Alpha is a partnership of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity Incorporated and the March of Dimes. The program is designed to address teenage pregnancy, sexual and physical abuse, and sexually transmitted disease, through workshops featuring short films and speakers offering straight talk about responsible and respectful sexual behavior.
Joseph is a member of the Screen Actors Guild, American Federation of Television and Radio Artists, Actors Equity Association, the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences, and Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity Incorporated.
Joseph is perhaps best known for the role of Lt. Martin Kendall, Lisa Bonet’s husband, on the hit series The Cosby Show. He was also a three time NAACP Image Award Nominee for his portrayal of Attorney Justus Ward on the Daytime Drama General Hospital. For two seasons he appeared as Mayor Morgan Douglas on the CBS series The District, recurred as Marcus Johnson on the hit CBS series Without A Trace, appeared as JT Morse on the Fox Series, Vanished, and most recently recurred on the new NBC series The Event.
His feature film credits include starring roles in Strictly Business, Let’s Talk About Sex and Midnight Blue. Phillips’ many theatrical credits include starring roles in the Broadway production of Six Degrees of Separation, the Kennedy Center and American Playhouse productions of A Raisin in the Sun, starring Danny Glover and Esther Rolle, and the off- Broadway production of Coriolanus with Christopher Walken and Irene Worth. Mr. Phillips also had the honor of creating the title role in Dreaming Emmett, Pulitzer and Nobel Prize winning author Toni Morrison’s only theatrical play. Joseph’s solo performance piece, Professor Lombooza Lomboo was a featured production at the National Black Theatre Festival and the Minnesota Fringe Festival. In 2009, Phillips won an NAACP Theatre Award for Best Supporting Actor.
He is also a graduate of culinary school and has had recipes published in Soap Opera Digest, Essence Magazine and the best selling cookbook, Cooking with Regis And Kathy Lee, and served as the Celebrity Chairman for Real Men Cook, Los Angeles.
In May of 2012, Joseph opened a small Restaurant in Encino California. The restaurant, Daddy J’s WingShack, features Joseph’s original recipes and has received rave reviews.
However, his greatest passion is Nicole, his wife of 20 years, and their three children, Connor, Ellis, and Samuel.
