A History Of Liverpool Thespians - Daz Crawford

 

Daren Vinson 'Daz' Crawford was born on the 12th of November 1968 in Toxteth, Liverpool, the result of an affair his mother Barbara had with a married man. He says. "She didn't want me so I was brought up by my nan and my Aunty Pat. Although my mum used to visit, I had no idea who she was. I didn't find out the truth until I was 16." He obviously never dreamed of Hollywood when he was younger, as a teenager his only thoughts were about just needing food and a bed, anything else being a bonus. There were people around him as a kid, but he still felt 'different'. He recalls a moment when he was about 5 or 6, sitting on the sidewalk with his feet in the gutter playing with a stick and stone, and saying to himself: 'I never what to be in this place again', referring to the gutter. His mother was in and out of his young life but had told him she had adopted him so it was a shock for him discovering the truth when having to produce his birth certificate for the RAF. When he was 16 he told her he was thinking of joining the RAF on his 18th birthday but she persuaded him to join up there and then, then three weeks later she went off to Canada without saying goodbye. Having a disrupted childhood with no mother or father to speak of and coming from a broken family, Daz turned something negative in his young life to a positive and successful career in sports. Having joined the Royal Air Force, his training taught him team work and sportsmanship and saw him travel extensively including the Falkland Islands, Germany, Italy and the Desert Storm Campaign. In Germany the Air Force boxing coach, a fellow 'Scouser', Robbie Butler, spotted him and asked if he wanted him to train him and so that started his journey of boxing. He took an interest in many sports and studied the martial art of kung fu. At 18 as a heavyweight boxer he won the RAF championship three times and was ranked No.2 in the UK and 9th in the world, even reaching the England Seoul Olympic squad. He also became successful playing National League Basketball (UK). After landing his first job in a commercial for Faberge, Daz drew the attention of Ken Warick, the producer of 'American Idol', who was producing the UK version of American Gladiators at the time. It was his role as Diesel, with his steel-girder muscles and 6ft 5ins physique, on the popular British TV series 'Gladiators' (1992-2000), that helped launch Daz on a career in showbiz.

Daz spent years searching for his father and when found, began a personal and challenging journey reuniting with him, but after only knowing him a few years his father passed away. He returned to London in 1998 and started a modeling career in 1998 before getting involved in acting. He returned to Norwich, where he'd moved to with the RAF, and took part in drama workshops at the Maddermarket Theatre there and then went to The Actors Centre in London, where he found two American teachers, and studied the Meisner technique, then at the LA Actors Centre in Los Angeles. In that first year, he'd done commercials and modelling, but then got a phone call from Barbara Broccoli, the daughter of Cubby Broccoli, producer of all the James Bond films, who said, "We’ve got a little role for a Bond film, if you want to do it. It’s not a big role but if you want to do it…" So that got him, 'The World is Not Enough' (1999) and then another movie 'Attila' (2001) with Gerard Butler for USA Network, within weeks of Bond, then 'Ed Stone is Dead' (2002), a comedy which he did a guest star on, and then a major role in Wesley Snipe's 'Blade 11' (2002). This was just three years after he started acting and, along with some other projects, at that point he decided it was time to go to LA and 'Blade 11' was definitely a turning point for him. He also appeared in the comedy feature 'Caffeine' (2006), directed by John Cosgrove and opposite Emmy award-winner Katherine Heigl.

As Kebo in Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.

Continuing to work in the UK as requested he has appeared on TV in 'Casualty' (2003), 'NCIS' (2007), 'Gemini Division' (2008), 'Thor: Hammer of the Gods' (2009), 'Trenches' (2010), 'Grayson: Earth One' (2013), and recurring on Marvel's 'Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.' (2015) and 'Beast Mode' (2020), Daz has worked on numerous commercial campaigns including Farberge, Excedrin, Ford, Yop...  Some other credits include even trying his hand at Motion Capture for Sony Play Station 2's 'God of War' character 'Kratos' and Disney's 'Jungle Book' character Shere Khan (2016). Over the years he's been acting, he has been a producer on a couple of other movies, the 2007 action thriller, 'T.K.O.' and the 2005 crime thriller, 'Game Over'.

He also loves the art and channels his positive force into charity work for the under privileged children guiding them off the streets and into sports and theatre art. Having been asked, in his spare time he has visited schools across England, Ireland and Wales to talk with children about the importance of health and fitness and the dangers of drug abuse. He has also attended some children’s homes and schools in Los Angeles.

see also :- http://www.thefootballvoice.com/2024/06/a-history-of-liverpool-thespians_14.html