Ice T Biography

The rapper and actor known at Ice-T was born Tracy Lauren Marrow in 1958 and grew up in Summit, New Jersey. As a young child, Ice-T encountered racial tensions even as early as elementary school, and the tragic loss of his mother to a heart attack when he was only in third grade made for an even more tumultuous childhood. The tragic loss of his father only a few years later sent Tracy to live with relatives for the rest of his formative years.

The move to Los Angeles placed Ice-T in the middle of the city’s gang culture and negative influences. It also, however, greatly influenced his growing love of music, and it wasn’t long before Ice-T began performing with friends in various groups. But music wasn’t enough to focus Ice-T on his education and future, and by the time he was seventeen he was selling drugs to support a girlfriend and child.

A turn to the Army resulted in a four-year tour for Marrow, during which time he developed a love of hip-hop. After leaving the military, he adopted the moniker Ice-T and began to pursue a career for himself as a musician. Shunning violence, gang life, and drugs, Ice-T instead focused on his craft, eventually winning an open mic competition which featured Kurtis Blow as one of the judges. The accomplishment led to the release of Ice-T’s debut single, “Cold Wind Madness,” in 1982. The song featured hardcore lyrics and thus did not receive heavy airplay, but established Ice-T’s career and slowly helped him to develop a following.

Ice-T spent a number of years collaborating with other artists and appearing as a featured performer on their works before releasing his debut album, Rhyme Pays, in 1987. The album was followed by: Power (1988), The Iceberg/Freedom of Speech… Just Watch What You Say (1989), O.G. Original Gangster (1991), Home Invasion (1993), The Seventh Deadly Sin (1999), and Gangsta Rap (2006.) But in the 1990’s, Ice-T also launched an acting career which has made him a highly recognizable celebrity, appearing in such films as: Surviving the Game (1994), Mean Guns (1997), The Heist (1999), Gangland (2000), 3000 Miles to Graceland (2001), and Santorini Blue (2010.) Ice-T has also appeared in roles on the television shows: New York Undercover, L.A. Heat, Law & Order, and Law & Order: Special Victim’s unit, on which he has enjoyed a recurring role since 2000.

Ice-T continues to record and perform as a musical artist, but also continues his acting career on Law & Order. Ice-T is also the author of four books – The Ice Opinion: Who Gives a Fuck? (1994), Ice: A Memoir of Gangster Life and Redemption – from South Central to Hollywood (2011), Kings of Vice (2011), and most recently, Mirror Image (2013.)