Lester Speight

Lester Speight was born on August 28, 1963, in Baltimore, Maryland. He attended Old Mill High School, where he excelled in football, track, and basketball, earning a place in the school’s Hall of Fame. Speight continued his athletic career at Morgan State University from 1981 to 1985, achieving Division I All-American status as a linebacker. After college, he pursued a career in professional football, trying out for the United States Football League (USFL) in 1985 and signing a significant contract with the Baltimore Stars. However, the USFL ceased operations before he played a season. He later had a brief association with the New York Giants as a replacement player during the 1987 NFL strike. Following his football endeavors, Speight transitioned into professional wrestling, performing as Rasta the Voodoo Man for organizations such as Global Wrestling Federation and Catch Wrestling Association until 1997.

In 1997, Speight shifted his focus to an acting career, building a diverse portfolio across film, television, and video games. A significant turning point came in 2003 when he starred as Terry Tate: Office Linebacker in a series of Reebok commercials. These commercials gained widespread recognition, particularly after airing during Super Bowl XXXVII, and were acclaimed by The Hollywood Reporter as the most-watched Super Bowl spots that year. The role led to further opportunities, including a recurring role as Calvin Scott on the ABC series “My Wife and Kids.” He also made guest appearances on network television shows such as “Prison Break,” “Bones,” “Cold Case,” and “NCIS: Los Angeles.”

Speight’s film credits include appearances alongside prominent actors in movies like “Norbit” (2007) as Blue Latimore, “Harold & Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay” (2008) as Dr. Jonavan White, and “Transformers: Dark of the Moon” (2011) as Hardcore Eddy. Beyond live-action roles, Speight gained a substantial following for his voice acting work as Augustus Cole, also known as Cole Train, in the “Gears of War” video game franchise for the Xbox 360. This character was modeled after Speight and incorporated elements of his Office Linebacker persona. His performance earned him the G-Phoria award for Best Voiceover in 2007, and he has reprised the role in multiple sequels, including “Gears of War 2,” “Gears of War 3,” “Gears of War: Judgment,” “Gears of War 4,” “Gears 5,” and “Gears Tactics.”