Rare Fashion - A Global Perspective

RARE Fashion Magazine Exclusive Feature
Ricco Ross: The Actor Who Refused to Stay Inside the Frame
By Ja'Dee Murphy, Chief Editor, RARE Fashion Magazine – Fashion Around the World
All photography courtesy of celebrity photographer Steven Williams.

Some careers are measured by awards and fame, but Ricco Ross has built his legacy through resilience, reinvention, and artistic purpose. Born in Chicago and raised in Pembroke, Illinois, Ross grew up in a family of eleven children and transformed humble beginnings into an international career. After earning his MFA from UCLA, he quickly found success with recurring roles on Hill Street Blues and The Young and the Restless. Refusing to be confined by typecasting, he left Hollywood to study at the London Academy of Music & Dramatic Art, a decision that led to thirteen years of performing abroad while also modeling in France and Italy and choosing acting over a professional basketball career.

Ross's remarkable body of work spans film, television, theater, and international productions. Best known as Private Frost in Aliens, he has also appeared in Mission: Impossible, Babylon 5, Highlander, Beverly Hills, 90210, JAG, ER, P-Valley, and Beauty in Black. Beyond acting, he is a writer, producer, CEO of Can You Dig It, and a second-term SAG-AFTRA board member, continuing to advocate for performers while expanding his creative influence throughout the entertainment industry.

For RARE Fashion Magazine, Ricco Ross represents more than professional success—he embodies integrity, authenticity, and purpose. Despite an extraordinary international career, Ross considers his greatest achievement to be his family: his wife, Julie Shannon Ross, his children Aisha, Rami, Makaila, and Miles, and his godson Nicolas. His journey reminds us that while careers are built one role at a time, true legacy is built through character, compassion, and the lives we touch along the way.