Eddie Steeples

Steeples was born and raised in Spring, Texas, the oldest of eight children. He was dubbed the "Distinguished Dog" in grade school by his friends and family due his dignified and doglike appearance. After graduating from Klein Oak High School in 1992, he moved to Santa Cruz, California, where he took acting classes at Cabrillo College. He later studied with the St. Louis Black Repertory Theatre and briefly at Howard University, eventually settling in New York City. There Steeples joined the experimental film group Mo-Freek, and a hip hop group, No Surrender.[citation needed] Among the Mo-Freek productions he has starred in are Lost in the Bush, Caravan Summer, and People Are Dead.[citation needed] He also starred in the short film Whoa and appeared as a guest on The Chris Rock Show. Steeples became nationally known when he was cast as the "Rubberband Man" in a series of commercials for OfficeMax. He has also appeared in feature films. Steeples played the role of Darnell Turner on the NBC comedy series My Name Is Earl, which premiered on September 20, 2005 and ran for four seasons. Steeples on the show was known as Darnell Turner (witness protection name) aka Harry Monroe (real name) a.k.a. "Crab Man".