What Is Lance Gross's Net Worth?
Lance Gross is an American actor and model who has a net worth of $1.5 million. Lance Gross is best known for portraying Calvin Payne on Tyler Perry's cable television sitcom "House of Payne" which has aired over 300 episodes – more than any other television series with a predominantly African American cast – and which has netted him four NAACP Awards.
Early Years
Lance Gross was born on July 8, 1981, in Oakland, California. He is the son of a Ghanaian father and an African American mother.
Lance graduated from Bonanza High School in Nevada and attended Howard University, a private, federally chartered historically black research university in Washington, D.C., where he earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in theater. After college, Gross studied acting at the Ivanna Chubbuck Studio and the Tasha Smith Acting Studio.
Modeling
Lance began his modeling career by working for Costa Rican fashion designer Karl Kani, the originator of the urban street fashion worn by many of the hip-hop elite. Gross went on to model in campaigns for American fashion designers Perry Ellis and Marc Jacobs. He has also appeared in music videos for Mary J. Blige, Rihanna, and Mariah Carey.
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Television
In 2006, Lance appeared in the sitcoms "Eve" and "The Bernie Mac Show." That same year, he was cast as young professional Calvin Payne in Tyler Perry's new sitcom "House of Payne" which concerned a multi-generational Atlanta family all living under one roof.
In 2014, Gross starred in the political drama "Crisis" on NBC, and the following year, he guest-starred as Dr. Ethan Boyd in two episodes of the medical drama "Grey's Anatomy" and joined the cast of the American supernatural drama series "Sleepy Hollow," which aired on Fox.
From 2017 to 2019, Lance portrayed Maurice Jetter in the musical drama series "Star." In 2018, he took a recurring role on the television sitcom "The Paynes," which served as a sequel to "House of Payne" and aired on the Oprah Winfrey Network. That same year, Gross co-starred in the mini-series "The Bobby Brown Story," in which he played musical performer Bobby Brown's brother-in-law Steven Sealy.
In 2021, Lance starred as Tyrique Chapman in the Fox dramatic television series "Our Kind of People," which follows the lives of upper-class African Americans who summer in Oak Bluffs, Massachusetts.
Film
Gross made his film debut in 2008 in the romantic comedy-drama "Meet the Browns," which starred Angela Bassett. Lance next appeared in the 2010 film "Our Family Wedding" with America Ferrera.
In 2012, Gross starred in the independent film "The Last Fall," which is about a retired football player struggling with personal and financial difficulties.
The 2013 film "Temptation: Confessions of a Marriage Counselor" was a romantic drama that paired Gross with Jurnee Smollett.
Lance starred in the Netflix American crime drama "Deuces" in 2016 and, in 2017, the crime drama "When Love Kills: The Falicia Blakely Story" about a teenage mother who becomes a stripper, pimp and predator. The film received two nominations at the 49th NAACP Image Awards.
In 2021, Gross played the leading role in the crime drama film "Dutch." He starred in the romantic comedy "Unthinkably Good Things" in 2022 and, the next year, in the action thriller "Call Her King."
Accolades
Lance has won four National Association for the Advancement of Colored People Image Awards for "Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series" for his role in "House of Payne."
In 2021, Gross was initiated into Kappa Alpha Psi, a historically African American fraternity founded at Indiana University Bloomington in 1911.
Talents
Lance is a skilled photographer who has published a book of his photographs called "Dijon: A Journey Through Lens." He is also skilled on the piano and the drums.
Philanthropy
Gross has donated to several worthwhile causes, such as the Boys & Girls Club of America and the United Negro College Fund.
Personal Life
Lance became engaged to American actress Eva Marcille, who he had been dating for two years, in 2008. They separated in 2010, and on May 23, 2015, Gross married fashion stylist Rebecca Jefferson. They have two children, daughter Berkeley (born in 2014) and son Lennon (born in 2018).
