Antoine McKay (born August 10, 1970) is an American actor, director and educator who appears as “Bunkie” in the hit TV primetime drama Empire and "Uncle Spike" in South Side.

Early life

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McKay was born in Inkster, Michigan to Ivory and Jelena McKay. McKay, who was the second of four children, attended St. Aloysius Elementary and graduated from Wayne Memorial High School.[1] McKay later attended Eastern Michigan University, where he studied theater.[2]

Career

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McKay developed an interest in performing early in life, but it wasn’t until he saw his older brother perform in a high school version of Oklahoma that he was finally inspired to pursue acting. McKay attended Eastern Michigan University in Ypsilanti, MI, where he studied theatre. McKay performed on Second City’s Main Stages[3] in Detroit and later relocated to Chicago[4] where he performed alongside actors like Keegan-Michael Key, Nyima Funk, Josh Funk and Marc Evan. McKay has also been a frequent performer and contributor to Chicago's Under the Gun Theater, performing alongside Mishu Hilmy.[5]

Personal life

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McKay is a long-time resident of Chicago. He is a father of six children (Noah McKay, Bailey McKay, Zachary McKay, Sadie McKay, Hannah McKay, and Elijah McKay) .[6]

Filmography

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References

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  1. ^ "'Empire' actor calls Metro Detroit home".
  2. ^ a b "Antoine McKay". IMDb.
  3. ^ "Antoine McKay - The Second City".
  4. ^ DeVore, Sheryl (10 February 2015). "Evanston actor finds fun in thug role on Fox's 'Empire'". Chicago Tribune.
  5. ^ Cutie, Jena Review of A Series of Random. Chicago Reader. Retrieved on December 3, 2015.
  6. ^ Gomez, Luis (18 March 2015). "Chicago enjoying 'Empire' close-up". Chicago Tribune.