- Nickname
- Mr. Harvey
- Harvey Reaves is an American actor born in Bolivar, TN. While other teens dreamed of becoming great athletes or musicians, Harvey was determined to become a great voiceover artist. His parents were his first voiceover clients. They owned a nightclub in West TN called Dr. Boogie's (later renamed The Pleasure Time Club). Harvey wrote & voiced all of their commercials beginning at age 15. It was during his college years at The University of TN that he became interested in acting. Always the overachiever, he took numerous theatre classes during the day for his college electives, & then would take evening acting classes at the local theatre in Knoxville. He became the first in his family (on both his Mother's & Father's side) to graduate from college. This was the beginning of many firsts for him. Two days before graduating college, he was offered a job at radio station U-102 in Knoxville, becoming the station's first Black DJ. Since he was the nighttime DJ, his days were free to put all of his actor training to good use. He got his start in acting working as a spokesperson for several companies in Knoxville, Nashville, & Atlanta. Harvey would perform in their TV commercials & in house training videos (known in the industry as industrial films). Harvey was the first Black spokesperson several of these companies ever had. He later transferred to radio station Peach 94.9 in Atlanta, where (once again) he was the station's first Black DJ in primetime. While in Atlanta, Harvey was able to take advantage of the burgeoning TV & Film production happening there. He eventually made the jump to Los Angeles where he immediately found work in TV & Film, commercials, & voiceovers. His personality, physical stature, & trusting voice make him ideal for playing authority figures - particularly police officers, doctors, & military officers.- IMDb Mini Biography By: Anonymous
- Gender / Gender identityMale
- Resonant authoritative voice
- He's often cast as authority figures such as policemen & federal agents. In commercials he's been cast as a doctor 4 times.
- From K-5th grade, attended St. Anselm, a private Catholic school on the south side of Chicago.
- Huge admirer of the late Pat Summitt - legendary basketball coach of the TN Lady Vols. Began a tradition of wearing a Pat Summitt t-shirt on the first day of shooting for every project he works on. The tradition continues to this day.
- His first stage performance was in a play about Benjamin Banneker. Harvey was 11. He played George Washington.
- Performed his first voiceover at age 15. Wanted to be a network promo announcer like his idols Danny Dark & Ernie Anderson.
- Resonant voice has been featured in over 3,000 voiceovers including narration, commercials, & promos.
- Most of my former students will tell you that Mr. Harvey can be very intense in the classroom. I teach the way Pat Summitt coached. Pat coached at full throttle during a game. She was a strong disciplinarian with her players, & I'm the same way with my students. My tough love teaching style did not make me the most popular teacher on campus, & I was called into the principal's office a couple of times. However, several of my favorite students have gone on to Harvard, Cornell, Wellesley, etc. I have no regrets.
- Twenty years from now, if they do an African American version of Game of Thrones, I have to play Tywin Lannister. I understand & appreciate all of his motivations. Other actors hope to get older & play King Lear. I want to get older & play Tywin Lannister.
- If I hadn't been an actor, I definitely would have become a federal agent. My first choices were FBI, DEA, or Secret Service. When I was a kid all of my friends wanted to be the bad guy like Al Capone. Not me. I wanted to be Elliot Ness or Wyatt Earp. I was always the cop when we played cops & robbers.
- The movie To Sir with Love had a major impact on my life. Sidney Poitier's performance made me want to be an actor. His character in the movie made me want to teach. I'm so fortunate to have done both. That being said, my favorite movie of all time is The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. I've seen it over 70 times. I can't stop watching it.
- My favorite TV character of all time is Hawk from Spenser: For Hire. Spenser wasn't a hit TV show, but I never missed an episode. I waited with anticipation for whenever Hawk would appear. He was the coolest, smoothest, toughest, & most charismatic guy I had ever seen. Avery Brooks was tailor made to play Hawk. He perfectly nailed it.
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