Ice-T's Real Name: Tracy Lauren Marrow

Quick answer: Ice-T's documented full name is Tracy Lauren Marrow. Encyclopaedia Britannica records that form and gives his birth date as February 16, 1958, in Newark, New Jersey (Encyclopaedia Britannica; Encyclopedia.com).

Real name and early life

Britannica lists "Also known as: Tracy Lauren Marrow" and says he was born Tracy Marrow and grew up in Summit, New Jersey. His mother, Alice, died of a heart attack when he was in the third grade, and his father, Solomon, died of the same cause four years later. After high school he enlisted in the Army, where, Britannica says, he first encountered hip-hop after hearing the Sugarhill Gang's "Rapper's Delight." Encyclopedia.com identifies him as Tracy Marrow, born in 1958, and treats his later recording career and acting work as the public story under the name Ice-T.

Career highlights

In 1983 he released an early single, "Cold Wind-Madness/The Coldest Rap," Britannica says. He appeared in the film Breakin' the following year, and in 1987 he signed with Sire Records and released the album Rhyme Pays. He formed Rhyme Syndicate Records that year, recorded the title track for the film Colors (1988), and issued the confrontational The Iceberg (Freedom of Speech...Just Watch What You Say) (1989). In 1991 O.G. Original Gangster became his first top-20 Billboard 200 album; it included "New Jack Hustler," tied to the film New Jack City, in which he had a lead acting role. In 1992 his thrash-metal band Body Count released "Cop Killer," a song about police brutality that prompted boycotts and public condemnation, including from then President George H.W. Bush, Britannica records. Later solo albums included VI: Return of the Real (1996), Seventh Deadly Sin (1999), and Gangsta Rap (2006), which Britannica calls his final solo album. He continued to record with Body Count; in 2021 "Bum-Rush," from the album Carnivore (2020), won a Grammy for best metal performance. Since 2000 he has played Detective Odafin "Fin" Tutuola on NBC's Law & Order: Special Victims Unit. Encyclopedia.com likewise frames him as a rapper who became widely known for unflinching street narratives and a later public career as an actor and commentator.

Name notes for searchers

Tracy Lauren Marrow is the documented full name; he is known professionally as Ice-T. Searchers looking for the rapper behind Rhyme Pays or Body Count, or for Detective Fin on Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, are usually aiming at the same person.