Thomas Mikal Ford

Thomas Mikal Ford was an American actor and comedian who took drama lessons in high school, earned an Associate of Arts at Long Beach City College in 1985 and a Bachelor of Fine Arts in acting from the University of Southern California. He became best known as Tommy Strawn on the sitcom Martin, which aired from 1992 to 1997, and received an NAACP Image Award nomination in 1996 for that role. He went on to appear as Lieutenant Malcolm Barker on New York Undercover and as Mel Parker on The Parkers from 1999 to 2001. His film credits included Harlem Nights (1989) and Class Act. Ford also directed and produced the 1993 play South of Where We Live, directed the play Jonin' the same year, co-hosted the Texas Gospel Music Awards, wrote two children's books and directed the documentary Through My Lens Atl. He died in 2016.