Sam Sarpong: Actor and musician who was also one of the first black models to carve out a successful catwalk career
Sarpong died after jumping off a bridge in Pasadena; police had spent seven hours trying to talk him down
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Your support makes all the difference.One of Tommy Hilfiger's first black models, Sam Sarpong became the face of the brand for six years and went on to appear in dozens of films and television programmes and sell more than a million records.
The brother of the presenter June Sarpong, a regular panellist on the Loose Women daytime talk show, he grew up in Leytonstone with his sisters, but moved with his father to Los Angeles when he was 11. He was a promising high school basketball player, and had aspirations to a sporting career, but when that didn't work out he turned to modelling and acting.
He made his first appearance – uncredited – in the teen drama series My So-Called Life in 1994, and carved out a successful catwalk career, working with Hilfiger, Gucci, Versace and Louis Vuitton. He was twice named by Today's Black Woman magazine in their "Fifty Most Beautiful People" list, and featured in Us Weekly's "Hot 100 Young Hollywood with Style" list in 2007.
He is probably best known as an actor for his part in the TV adaptation of Bizet's Carmen, Carmen: A Hip Hopera, which starred Beyoncé Knowles, while other his roles included Love Don't Cost a Thing, Keeping Up with the Steins, Anchor Baby and No Weapons. He was a co-host on MTV's Yo Momma series for three seasons and sold more than a million records with his group The League. He credited his father for his success, saying: "I went from barely being able to pay my bills to being an international model. I made a lot of money early. Luckily I had my father to guide me." He died after jumping off a bridge in Pasadena; police had spent seven hours trying to talk him down.
EVE THOMAS
Samuel Osei Sarpong, actor, model and presenter: born London 19 December 1975; died Pasadena, California 26 October 2015.
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