J. August Richards

J. August Richards is an American television actor who was best known for playing the vampire hunter Charles Gunn on all five seasons of the fantasy drama "Angel" (The WB, 2000-04).

Born in Washington, D.C. and raised in the Maryland suburb of Bladensburg, Richards knew from a very young age that he wanted to be an actor. He attended a prestigious performing arts high school in Suitland, Maryland, where he honed his craft for acting by appearing in several school productions a year. After high school Richards received a scholarship to attend the acting program at the University of Southern California (USC).

While attending USC, Richards wowed both his teachers and fellow students with his sublime performances on stage, and before long was drawing the attention of television casting agents. One such casting agent just happened to be working on "The Cosby Show" (NBC, 1984-1992), and cast Richards in a small part on the series. His episode aired in 1988. It was Richards' first ever screen acting role. After graduating from USC, Richards started nabbing bit parts on TV shows like "JAG" (NBC/CBS, 1995-2005) and "Chicago Hope" (CBS, 1994-2000), and managed to work steadily as a TV guest star throughout the 90s.

Then in the year 2000 he received his first big break when he was cast as Charles Gunn on "Angel." Richards remained on "Angel" for all five of the show's seasons. After "Angel" ended its run in 2004, Richards continued working steadily on TV, mostly in guest starring roles. That all changed in 2013, however, when he was cast as Deathlok on the superhero series "Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D." (ABC, 2013- ). Richards appeared on 11 episodes of the series from 2013 to 2015. Then in 2016 he was cast in the ABC crime drama "Notorious" (ABC, 2016- ). That series premiered on ABC in September of 2016, and was based on the life of the powerhouse celebrity defense attorney, Mark Geragos.