The handsome African-American performer left high school midway through, and joined the burgeoning New York City rap scene. By 1987, he was a successful musician and during the next few years offered such rap and pop hits as "I Need Love" and "Mama Said Knock You Out", which earned him a Grammy. He also recorded several albums, selling more than 20 million units in all.
LL Cool J's early TV appearances were as a singer or a participant on public affairs-oriented programs in which he ostensibly gave voice to those of his generation and social background. He was a guest star on the 1987 ABC special "Diana Ross...Red Hot Rhythm & Blues" and joined Dr. Ruth Westheimer on "What's Up, Dr. Ruth?" (Lifetime, 1989) to discuss the sexual attitudes of teens. On the 1992 Disney special "Simply Mad About the Movies", LL Cool J sang a send-up of "Who's Afraid of the Big Bad Wolf?" and he hosted "Breakthroughs: Amazing Things to Come" (NBC, 1995), a reality-based show projecting future inventions. In addition to his sitcom, he also had a small acting role in "Right to Remain Silent" (Showtime, 1996).
His feature film work has also won LL Cool J some notice, particularly his co-starring effort with Robin Williams in "Toys" (1992). He had made his film debut playing a cop in the Michael J. Fox-James Woods "buddy" crime thriller "The Hard Way" (1991) and provided a song for "Strictly Business" (also 1991). In 1995, he starred as a down-and-out disc jockey in Debbie Allen's feature directorial debut "Out of Sync" (1995). That same year, LL Cool J was also seen as one of the performing rap stars in music documentary "The Show". 1998 saw the performer take on the newly popular teen horror genre, with a featured acting role in "Halloween: H20".
Moving from horror to thriller, the actor gave a charming performance as the cook on a doomed scientific vessel who attempts to escape a band of super-intelligent sharks in director Renny Harlin's wildly absurd but always enjoyable "Deep Blue Sea" (1999). LL Cool J next tackled a series of dramatic roles, including playing an NFL pro for director Oliver Stone in 1999's "Any Given Sunday" and playing a nefarious drug dealer who fancies himself as God in the 1999 crime drama "In Too Deep." Lighter roles came with a small part in the goofball action flick "Charlie's Angels" (2000); a leading part in the dark comedy "Kingdom Come" (2001) as part of a dysfunctional family squabbling as they lay their patriarch to rest; and, unfortunately, as one of the athletic leads in the disastrous remake of the deadly sports thriller "Rollerball" (2002).
Now occasionally billed as James Todd Smith, LL Cool J took the lead in the witty romantic comedy "Deliver Us From Eva" (2003), playing a cash-strapped lothario who's hired by three men to romance their controlling, tough, trust-fund managing sister-in-law Eva (Gabrielle Union) and thus free up their lives and finances. He also had a supporting role in the big-budget, action-oriented film adaptation of the 70s crime drama "S.W.A.T." (2003), playing David 'Deke' Kay, part of LAPD's elite special tactics unit. In “Mindhunters” (2005), he played a Philadelphia cop given special permission to observe a team of FBI agents-to-be on a remote island during an intensive training exercise that suddenly turns much too real. In a welcome departure, the actor was used to great effect as the sweet, sensitive love interest of a woman (Queen Latifah) who believes she has only three weeks to live in the warm, escapist confection "Last Holiday" (2006).