Kenneth "Chi" McBride is an American actor. He starred as high school principal Steven Harper on the series Boston Public, Emerson Cod on Pushing Daisies, Detective Laverne Winston on the Fox drama Human Target, and more recently Detective Don Owen in the short-lived CBS crime drama Golden Boy. He notably played in a main role as Captain Lou Grover of the Five-0 taskforce in the CBS drama Hawaii Five-0 until the show's cancellation in 2020. He has also appeared in films such as Gone in 60 Seconds; The Terminal; I, Robot; Roll Bounce; and Draft Day.
Early life
McBride was born in Chicago, Illinois, from which his stage name, pronounced "shy," derives. He was raised in the Seventh-day Adventist religion and attended Shiloh Academy, now known as Chicago SDA Academy, a Seventh-day Adventist school. He graduated from high school at the age of 16. McBride originally planned to pursue a career in music. After studying several instruments and singing with gospel choirs in his native Chicago, he relocated to Atlanta, Georgia in 1986 to work for AT&T as a billing clerk.
Career
His first success in show business came with the hit song "He's the Champ", which parodied the marriage of boxer Mike Tyson and actress Robin Givens. Based on the tune's success, McBride was signed by Esquire Records and he joined the rhythm and blues band Covert. Convinced he should try his hand in front of the camera, the singer moved to Los Angeles and, billed as "Chi", landed guest spots on Fox's In Living Color and NBC's The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air as well as a featured role in the TV movie . In 1998, he was a co-star of Mercury Rising, alongside Bruce Willis. He was later given the role of Principal Steven Harper on the series Boston Public. Much of McBride's work sees him playing right-hand man to the hero, as in the films Mercury Rising and The Terminal. He is notable for his television roles on Boston Public, The John Larroquette Show, House, The Secret Diary of Desmond Pfeiffer, Killer Instinct and Pushing Daisies. McBride's film credits include Cradle 2 the Grave, The Distinguished Gentleman, Gone in 60 Seconds, The Frighteners, Narc, The Terminal, Disney's The Kid,I, Robot, Roll Bounce, Annapolis, Hoodlum, Undercover Brother, Let's Go to Prison and The Brothers Solomon. McBride portrayed eight different characters in the play Nagataki Sake, directed by Robert Downey, Sr. He starred in Human Target as Winston, business partner of Christopher Chance. The show premiered on January 17, 2010, on the Fox Broadcasting Company. Starting in 2013, he starred on Hawaii Five-0 as Captain Lou Grover. He previously worked with co-star Scott Caan in Gone in 60 Seconds.
