Alex Désert (born July 18, 1968) is an American actor and musician known for his roles in the TV series The Flash, The Heights with Jamie Walters, Becker with Ted Danson, and Boy Meets World, as well as the voice of Nick Fury for The Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes. Désert has been seen in Mom and Grey’s Anatomy. Other television credits include Tyler Perry’s House of Payne, House, Reno 911!, and The Sarah Silverman Program. In 2020, he started voicing Carl Carlson and Lou on The Simpsons.
Early life
Désert was born in New York City on July 18, 1968. He graduated from Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School.
Career
His motion picture credits include the independent hit Swingers, Playing God, High Fidelity, Bob Funk and PCU with Jeremy Piven, David Spade and Jon Favreau, and Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day, from Disney Studios.
Désert has lent his voice to various animated series and video games including; Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes as Nick Fury; as Wise in the web series The LeBrons; Crystal Dynamic’s Tomb Raider; and, Scarface: The World is Yours. He also portrayed the auto-tuned pimp Zimos in the 2011 THQ release, Saints Row: The Third; In the World of Warcraft expansion Battle for Azeroth he portrayed the loa Bwonsamdi.
In addition to his acting career, Désert is one of the lead singers in Hepcat, a ska/reggae band that has toured the United States, Australia and Europe with bands such as The Mighty Mighty Bosstones and The Specials. Having released four albums, Hepcat’s exposure has included national magazine features and an appearance on Late Night with Conan O’Brien. He also lends his vocal talents to the Los Angeles-based reggae collective The Lions.
In 2020, he took over the role of Carl Carlson and Lou from Hank Azaria on The Simpsons in light of the George Floyd protests, starting with “Undercover Burns”, which premiered on September 27, 2020.
Filmography
Film
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1994 | PCU | Mullaney | |
| 1996 | Swingers | Charles | Credited as Alex Desert |
| 1997 | Playing God | Bartender | |
| 2000 | High Fidelity | Louis | Credited as Alex Desert |
| 2003 | Masked and Anonymous | Valentine | |
| 2003 | Chicken Party | Durell Mills | Short film |
| 2004 | Death of the Day | Young Vance / The Masked Avenger | Short film |
| 2005 | Pretty Persuasion | Joe (Security Guard) | |
| 2009 | Bob Funk | Sonny | |
| 2010 | Lego: The Adventures of Clutch Powers | Skelly (voice) | Direct-to-video |
| 2014 | Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day | Mr. Rogue | |
| 2015 | Isaac and Quincy | Quincy | Short film |
| 2016 | Losing in Love | Bob | |
| 2017 | Alvin and the Alien | Alien (voice) | Short film |
| 2020 | Louden | Louden | Short film |
Television
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1988-1989 | TV 101 | Holden Hines | 13 episodes |
| 1989 | Free Spirit | Jeremy | Episode: “Too Much of a Good Thing” |
| 1990 | A Different World | Livingston | Episode: “The Power of the Pen” |
| 1990-1991 | The Flash | Julio Mendez | 22 episodes Credited as Alex Desert |
| 1990 | CBS Schoolbreak Special | Jordan | Episode: “The Girl with the Crazy Brother” |
| 1990 | Beverly Hills, 90210 | Robinson | Episode: “Class of Beverly Hills” |
| 1992 | The Heights | Stan Lee | 13 episodes |
| 1993 | Lush Life | Lester | Television movie Credited as Alex Desert |
| 1994 | Galaxy Beat | Larry Longspan | Television short |
| 1995-1996 | Boy Meets World | Eli Williams / The Hepcat | 16 episodes |
| 1998-2004 | Becker | Jake Malinak | Main cast 129 episodes |
| 2004 | Harry Greene and Eugene | Unknown episodes | |
| 2006 | Katie Sullivan | Alex | Television movie |
| 2007 | The Sarah Silverman Program | Eugene | Episode: “Face Wars” |
| 2008 | Reno 911! | Thaddeus Owens III | Episode: “Strong Sister” Credited as Alex Desert |
| 2008 | Wolverine and the X-Men | Nick Fury (voice) | Episode: “Wolverine vs. Hulk” |
| 2008 | Rita Rocks | Frank | Episode: “The Crying Game” |
| 2009 | House | Jay-Bird | Episode: “Broken” |
| 2010 | Dirty Backs | Killer Greg | Television miniseries Unknown episodes |
| 2010-2013 | The Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes | Nick Fury, Jack Fury, Damocles Officer (voices) | 16 episodes |
| 2011 | Let’s Do This! | General Sam Tundiki | Television movie |
| 2011-2014 | The LeBrons | Wise (voice) | 23 episodes |
| 2012 | Let It Shine | Levi | Television movie |
| 2012 | Let’s Do This! | Dr. David Zucco | Television movie |
| 2012 | In Session with Jonathan Pessin | Dr. Alex | Episode: “Pilot” |
| 2014 | Grey’s Anatomy | Miles Green | Credited as Alex Desert Episode: “Take It Back” |
| 2014 | Mom | Wes | Credited as Alex Desert Episode: “Toilet Wine and the Earl of Sandwich” |
| 2014 | Doc McStuffins | Sam the Snake, Serpent Sam (voice) | 2 episodes |
| 2014 | Scandal | Bill Warren | Episode: “The Key” Credited as Alex Desert |
| 2015 | Public Morals | Diamond Jack | Episode: “Collection Day” |
| 2015 | Invisible Sister | Mr. Perkins | Television movie |
| 2016 | Better Call Saul | Officer Baker | Episode: “Switch” |
| 2016-2017 | The Flash | Captain Julio Mendez | Episodes: “Flashpoint” and “Untouchable” |
| 2016-2019 | Better Things | Donte | 5 episodes Credited as Alex Desert |
| 2016 | Sing It! | Barry | 10 episodes |
| 2016 | How to Get Away with Murder | Keith Travers | Episode: “It’s About Frank” |
| 2017 | Once Upon a Time | Stanum / Tin Man | Episode: “Where Bluebirds Fly” |
| 2017-2019 | The Stinky & Dirty Show | Steam, Carry (voices) | 3 episodes |
| 2017-2020 | Spider-Man | Jefferson Davis / Swarm (voice) | 3 episodes |
| 2018 | Station 19 | Oliver | Episode: “Hot Box” |
| 2018-2019 | Mr. Pickles | Mr. Bojenkins (voice) | 8 episodes |
| 2018 | Freaky Friday | Mike Harper | Television movie |
| 2019–present | Momma Named Me Sheriff | Mr. Bojenkins (voice) / Additional Voices | 4 episodes |
| 2019 | Shameless | Union Jerry | Episode: “Which America?” |
| 2020 | Carmen Sandiego | Crawfish King, Waiter (voice) | Episode: “The Haunted Bayou Caper” |
| 2020–present | The Simpsons | Carl Carlson, Lou (voice) | Replacing Hank Azaria |
| 2021 | A League of Their Own | Edgar | Post-production |
Video games
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2006 | Tomb Raider: Legend | Zip | |
| 2008 | Tomb Raider: Underworld | ||
| 2009 | Eat Lead: The Return of Matt Hazard | Sonny Tang, Space Marine | |
| 2011 | Saints Row: The Third | Zimos | |
| 2012 | Avengers Initiative | Nick Fury | |
| 2013 | StarCraft II: Heart of the Swarm | Tempest | |
| 2013 | Saints Row IV | Zimos – Enter the Dominatrix DLC | |
| 2017 | Quake Champions | Sorlag | |
| 2018 | World of Warcraft: Battle for Azeroth | Bwonsamdi | |
| 2018 | Artifact | Farvhan the Draemer | |
| 2020 | Mafia: Definitive Edition | Additional Voices | Credited as Alex Desert |
| 2020 | World of Warcraft: ShadowlandsBwonsamdi Invisible sister |
Invisible sister
