Tyler Lepley

Lepley was born and raised in Philadelphia by his mother and stepfather, who has been in his life since the age of 6.{{cite web|url=http://dopemag.net/2013/07/2163/|title=Jaclyn Betham & Ty Lepley – The DOPE MAG Interviews |work=Pure DOPE Magazine|date=July 2013|access-date=January 3, 2017}}{{cite web|url=http://www.philly.com/philly/columnists/jenice_armstrong/20130617_Celebrating_Success__An_actor_almost_by_accident__Doylestown_s_Ty_Lepley_is_determined_to_make_it.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170112212908/http://www.philly.com/philly/columnists/jenice_armstrong/20130617_Celebrating_Success__An_actor_almost_by_accident__Doylestown_s_Ty_Lepley_is_determined_to_make_it.html|archive-date=January 12, 2017|title=Celebrating Success: An actor almost by accident, Doylestown's Ty Lepley is determined to make it|first=Jenice|last=Armstrong|date=June 17, 2013|work=The Philadelphia Inquirer|access-date=August 21, 2016}} Lepley is Italian on his mother's side and Jamaican on his biological father's side.{{cite web|url=https://lasentinel.net/off-the-field-and-on-set-with-actor-tyler-lepley.html|title=Off The Field And On Set With Actor Tyler Lepley|first=Zon|last=D'Amour|work=Los Angeles Sentinel|date=June 22, 2016|access-date=January 3, 2017}} Lepley revealed that he was teased as a child because he was the only biracial kid in his school. He graduated from Central Bucks High School West in Doylestown. Lepley did several sports including track, football, basketball, karate—as a young child—and boxing but focused more on football as he got older.{{cite web|url=http://www.vibe.com/2016/09/tyler-lepley-ringside-interview/|title=From East To West: Tyler Lepley Rises To His First Lead Role On TV One's 'Ringside'|first=Jenelle|last=Taylor|work=Vibe|date=September 4, 2016|access-date=January 3, 2017}}{{cite journal|title=Breaking Out & Breaking Hearts|department=Kover Story|journal=Krave|pages=6–10|date=October 2014}}

Lepley played football in high school under the name Tyler Dinnis. In June 2003, he suffered an injury which nearly ended his football career and later underwent surgery. By the summer of 2004, Lepley was back on the field and was selected as the MVP at sports camp for Villanova University.{{cite web|url=http://articles.philly.com/2004-10-15/sports/25390708_1_tyler-dinnis-central-bucks-west-college-scouts|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150922074427/http://articles.philly.com/2004-10-15/sports/25390708_1_tyler-dinnis-central-bucks-west-college-scouts|archive-date=September 22, 2015|title=Making up for lost time C.B. West's Tyler Dinnis is on a tear|work=The Philadelphia Inquirer|first=Joe|last=Santoliquito|date=October 15, 2004|access-date=August 21, 2016}} He attended Kutztown University on a football scholarship.{{cite web|url=http://rollingout.com/2016/03/03/tyler-lepley-from-personal-trainer-to-unexpected-tv-star/|title=TYLER LEPLEY: FROM PERSONAL TRAINER TO UNEXPECTED TV STAR|date=March 3, 2016|first1=Demi|last1=Lobo|first2=Kacie|last2=Whaley|work=Rolling Out|access-date=August 21, 2016}} Lepley played football for the university until the fall of 2007. Lepley went on to graduate from Kutztown in 2010 with a degree in criminal justice. Lepley accepted a friend's offer to relocate to Los Angeles in 2011 and found work as a personal trainer at Iron Fitness Gym in Santa Monica.{{cite web|url=http://hydrogen-mag.com/archives/4131|title=Focus Feature: Tyler Lepley|work=Hydrogen Mag|date=June 21, 2013|access-date=August 21, 2016}}

About three months after he settled in Los Angeles, Lepley was discovered by a producer at a boxing gym who invited him to audition. From that meeting, he booked a lead role in an independent horror movie, Slumber Party Slaughter. Lepley, reluctantly took his agent's advice to get serious about acting and enrolled in acting classes and he soon made his acting debut in an episode of The CW's 90210. In 2013, he booked the role of Benny on Tyler Perry's The Haves and the Have Nots after a long casting process. Lepley was quite surprised when Perry came to the audition dressed as his famous Madea character because he was shooting a movie at the time. Lepley also appeared in the 2013 comedy Baggage Claim starring Paula Patton.

In early 2016, Lepley booked the lead role of Jaxon in the made-for-television film, produced by Swirl Films Ringside, directed by Russ Parr. The film premiered in September 2016 TV One. His costars included Everybody Hates Chris actor Tequan Richmond and R&B singer Sevyn Streeter. In 2019, Lepley was cast a series regular in the Starz drama, P-Valley.{{cite web|url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-feed/tyler-lepley-joins-starz-pole-dancer-drama-p-valley-1194377|title=Tyler Lepley Joins Starz Pole Dancer Drama 'P-Valley' as Series Regular|date=March 13, 2019|first=Mia|last=Galuppo|work=The Hollywood Reporter|publisher=Valence Media|access-date=July 11, 2020}} In 2020, he was cast in Harlem Tracy Oliver Amazon comedy series.{{Cite web|url=https://deadline.com/2020/02/tyler-lepley-tracy-oliver-amazon-comedy-series-1202851151/|title=Tyler Lepley Joins Tracy Oliver's Amazon Comedy Series|first1=Denise|last1=Petski|date=February 4, 2020}}

{{reflist}}

• {{IMDb name|4495842}}

{{Portalbar|Biography|Philadelphia|Film|Television}}

{{authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lepley, Tyler}}

Category:1987 births

Category:Male actors from Philadelphia

Category:American male television actors

Category:Living people

Category:American people of Italian descent

Category:American actors of Jamaican descent

Category:Kutztown University of Pennsylvania alumni