Full Name Karim Dule Hill Role Actor Occupation Actor, tap dancer Height 1.78 m | Years active 1988–present Name Dule Hill | |
 | ||
Parents Bertholomu Hillshire, Jennifer Hillshire Movies and TV shows Similar People James Roday, Maggie Lawson, Nicole Lyn, Timothy Omundson, Corbin Bernsen Profiles | ||
Actor Dule Hill Discusses His New Movie "Sleight"
How Shawn met Gus: 'Psych' stars recall 1st meeting
Karim Dulé Hill (/ˈduːleɪ/) is an American actor and tap dancer. He has played personal presidential aide and Deputy Special Assistant to the Chief of Staff Charlie Young on the NBC drama television series The West Wing for which he received an Emmy nomination for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series, and pharmaceutical salesman-private detective Burton "Gus" Guster on the USA Network television comedy-drama Psych. He has also had minor roles in the movies Holes and She's All That. Hill also serves as a member of the Screen Actors Guild Hollywood Board of Directors.
Contents
- Actor Dule Hill Discusses His New Movie Sleight
- How Shawn met Gus Psych stars recall 1st meeting
- Early life
- Career
- Personal life
- Awards and honors
- References
Early life
Hill was born in East Brunswick, New Jersey, to parents Jennifer and Bertholemu Hillshire (both are from Jamaica). He studied ballet from an early age, and performed in the musical The Tap Dance Kid as Savion Glover's understudy on Broadway, then played the part on the show's national tour. Hill graduated in 1993 from Sayreville War Memorial High School, in Sayreville, New Jersey, and studied business finance at Seton Hall University and acting at William Esper Studio. While at Seton Hall, he accepted a role on Jim Henson's CityKids.
Career
In 1985, 10-year-old Dulé performed a tap dance number on the MDA telethon. When his music couldn't be found for his routine, telethon host Jerry Lewis helped by having the orchestra play another song while Dulé performed.
His first film role, in Sugar Hill, came in 1993 during his second senior year of high school. During his time at Seton Hall, he was cast in a starring role in Bring in 'da Noise, Bring in 'da Funk on Broadway.
In 1999 Hill was cast on The West Wing as Charlie Young, personal aide to President Josiah Bartlet (played by Martin Sheen). During the sixth season of the series, Charlie became a Special Aide to the Chief of Staff. Hill starred as Charlie for six seasons before he chose to leave the show at the beginning of the seventh season (September 2005) to star in the pilot for the new television show Psych for the USA Network, which premiered July 7, 2006. However, when the announcement was made that The West Wing would be ending in May 2006, Hill returned for the show's last episodes.
Hill also had roles in She's All That in 1999 starring Freddie Prinze, Jr. and Rachael Leigh Cook (he later reunited with Cook & Prinze in Psych), as a Los Angeles doctor named Owen in the movie and series 10.5, and the Disney movie Holes as Sam the Onion Man (the movie itself was referenced in the Psych episode "65 Million Years Off"), and in The Guardian.
Hill also has appeared on Broadway in Stick Fly (December 2011 to February 2012) and After Midnight (November 2013).
Personal life
Hill married actress Nicole Lyn in 2004. Hill filed for legal separation from her in 2012 citing irreconcilable differences.