Joseph C. Phillips

Joseph Connor Phillips (born January 17, 1962) is an American actor and conservative Christian commentator and writer. He is best known for his role as U.S. Navy LT Martin Kendall, Denise Huxtable's husband, on the long-running NBC sitcom The Cosby Show, and as Justus Ward] on the ABC-TV soap opera General Hospital.

Personal life
Joseph Phillips' mother died when he was young. After his own mother died, he became close to his cousin's, Duane Evans, mother. Hailing from Colorado, Joseph and his wife Nicole have three sons, Connor, Ellis, and Samuel.

Career
From 1989 to 1991, Phillips portrayed U.S. Navy Lieutenant Martin Kendall on the popular NBC situation comedy series The Cosby Show. Additionally, he portrayed attorney Justus Ward on the ABC soap opera General Hospital from 1994 to 1998. Phillips is also a guest political commentator on News and Notes with Ed Gordon on most NPR radio stations. In 2006, Phillips published an autobiography, He Talk Like A White Boy, which includes a foreword by Tavis Smiley.

Education and associations
Phillips is a member of Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity. He attended the University of the Pacific as a communications major, but later transferred to the acting conservatory at New York University where he graduated with a BFA in acting in 1983.

Phillips is an ambassador for the Sickle Cell Disease Association of America. He has spoken extensively about Sickle Cell Disease|the disease and its effect on the family. He is also a member of the Screen Actors Guild, American Federation of Television and Radio Artists, Actors Equity Association, the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences, was National Co-Chair of the African American Steering committee for Bush Cheney '04, was named a member of the Republican National Committee's African American Advisory Board, was appointed by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger to the state board of directors of the California African American Museum and was named a 2005 Claremont Institute Lincoln Fellow.

Conservative activism
Phillips, a conservative Republican, is a television and radio commentator and writes a weekly syndicated column that promotes conservative views, such as traditional family values, [[limited government and a return to America's founding principles. He has been a critic of Affirmative Action and ame-sex marriage.

Awards and nominations
NAACP Image Awards
 * 1997: Nominated, "Outstanding Actor in a Daytime Drama Series" - General Hospital
 * 1998: Nominated, "Outstanding Actor in a Daytime Drama Series" - General Hospital
 * 1999: Nominated, "Outstanding Actor in a Daytime Drama Series" - General Hospital