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Lamont Bentley

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Lamont Bentley
Born(1973-10-25)October 25, 1973
Milwaukee, Wisconsin, U.S.
DiedJanuary 19, 2005(2005-01-19) (aged 31)
Ventura County, California, U.S.
Resting placeForest Lawn Memorial Park, Hollywood Hills
Occupation(s)Actor, rapper
Years active1989–2005
Children2

Lamont Bentley (October 25, 1973 – January 19, 2005) was an American actor and rapper best known for his role as Hakeem Campbell on the UPN sitcom Moesha. Bentley was also known for his role as Crazy K in the 1995 horror film Tales from the Hood and C-Money in the 2001 film The Wash featuring Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg.

Early life

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Lamont Bentley was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin on October 25, 1973, the son of Donald Gardison and Loyce Bentley. Lamont grew up on Milwaukee's north side of town and attended Webster Middle School. He moved to Los Angeles with Loyce, who wished to pursue a career as a professional singer.[1]

Career

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Bentley dropped out of high school to pursue his own acting career, and had practiced autographs by the age of 12. He had to take odd jobs in movie theaters, a fish market, and a grocery store, among other places as he waited for his big break. His appearance enabled him to play the part of teens even into his twenties, and he landed a variety of small parts in television series and movies before landing bigger roles.

Debuting in a 1986 Starburst commercial, he began his career as a child actor appearing in television commercials and guest spots on various television series before landing a role on the short-lived but critically acclaimed television series South Central in 1994. His first feature film role came in the 1995 horror movie Tales from the Hood, about the inner-city ganglands, an anthology of four stories focused on the consequences of the gang lifestyle. In that particular film, he played Crazy K, a cold and angry character. He once played a teenage father who opted to stay home with his child instead of turn out for the high school football team in a public service television announcement. In 1995, South Central creator Ralph Farquhar cast Bentley in the series Moesha as Hakeem Campbell, the always hungry friend of Moesha, which ran for six seasons on UPN.[2]

After Moesha ended, Bentley continued acting while pursuing a career as a rapper in the highly anticipated recording group UPRIZE with Marché Meeks aka "Cartier" and Tyson Pearson "Typhoon".[3] In 2001, he appeared as C-Money in The Wash opposite Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg. That same year, he portrayed Tupac Shakur in the television biopic Too Legit: The MC Hammer Story. Bentley made one of his last onscreen appearances in Spike Lee's crime drama Sucker Free City.

Death

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Shortly after midnight on January 19, 2005, Bentley was driving alone when he was killed in a single-car accident in southern California's Ventura County. He was driving on Highway 118 near Simi Valley (30 miles northwest of Los Angeles). Witnesses to the accident stated that Bentley's vehicle was travelling at a high speed towards the Rocky Peak Fire Road off ramp. After running through a stop sign, the vehicle went through a chain-link fence situated across the street and rolled down an embankment. Bentley was ejected from the vehicle into traffic where five cars struck him.[4] He sustained multiple blunt force injuries and was pronounced dead at 12:23 a.m. Bentley was buried by his two daughters and his mother Loyce Bentley.[4] A memorial service for Bentley was held at Forest Lawn Memorial Home in Hollywood Hills, on January 24, 2005.[5] He was buried at Forest Lawn Memorial Park, Hollywood Hills.

Filmography

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Year Title Role Notes
1989 Duet Snake Episode: "Brother from Another Zip Code"
1990 Gabriel's Fire Teen Episode: "Windows"
1991 Equal Justice Childs Episode: "Courting Disaster"
1994 South Central Rashad 5 episodes
1995 Family Matters Andre Corleone Episode: "An Unlikely Match"
1995 CBS Schoolbreak Special Dom Episode: "What About Your Friends"
1995 Tales from the Hood Crazy K
1995 The Parent 'Hood Damon Episode: "Robert in the 'Hood"
1995 Courthouse Raymond Episode: "One Flew Over the Courthouse"
1996 The Client K-Boy-Kool Episode: "Motherless Child"
1996–2001 Moesha Hakeem Campbell 127 episodes
1997 A Day in the Life of Mia
1997 The Sentinel Marcus Watson Episode: "Pennies from Heaven"
1997 Buffalo Soldiers Corporal Sea Television movie
1998 NYPD Blue Arnell Episode: "Honeymoon at Viagra Falls"
1999 The Breaks Darryl
1999 Clueless Hakeem Campbell Episode: "Prom Misses, Prom Misses"
1999–2002 The Parkers Hakeem Campbell 3 episodes
2000 Soul Food Pruitt Episode: "Bad Luck"
2001 Ericah D'Marqus 2 episodes
2001 The Wash C-Money
2001 Too Legit: The MC Hammer Story Tupac Shakur Television movie
2002 The Proud Family Gary (Voice) Episode: "Hip-Hop Helicopter"
2004 Shards Thomas
2004 Sucker Free City Ahmir Television movie
2005 The Tenants Male Partygoer
2005 "Wifey" Movie
2009 A Day in the Life L Mob Released posthumously

References

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  1. ^ "Actor Lamont Bentley killed in car crash". USATODAY.com. January 19, 2005. Retrieved January 24, 2009.
  2. ^ Weintraub, Joanne (August 17, 1997). "Sitcom star dreams big". jsonline.com. Archived from the original on October 27, 2003. Retrieved January 24, 2009.
  3. ^ "Lamont Bentley". variety.com. January 20, 2005. Retrieved January 24, 2009.
  4. ^ a b Strickland, Daryl (January 21, 2005). "Actor Lamont Bentley, Known for Sitcom Role, Dies in Freeway Crash". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved November 5, 2012.
  5. ^ Garza, Jesse (January 24, 2005). "Talents of Milwaukee native remembered". Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: 3B.
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