<Ul> <Li> Actor </Li> <Li> personal trainer </Li> </Ul> <Tr> <Th> Years active </Th> <Td> 2009--present </Td> </Tr> <P> Tyler Lepley (March 24, 1987) is an American actor, best known for his portrayal of Benjamin "Benny" Young on the Tyler Perry produced The Have and the Have Nots; which is the first scripted television series to air on the Oprah Winfrey Network . </P> <P> Lepley was born and raised in Philadelphia by his mother and stepfather, who has been in his life since the age of 6 . Lepley is Italian on his mother's side and Jamaican on his biological father's side . Lepley revealed that he was teased as a child because he was the only black kid in his school . He graduated from Central Bucks High School West in Doylestown . Lepley did several sports including track, football, basketball, karate--as a young child--and boxing but focused more on football as he got older . Lepley played football in high school under the name Tyler Dinnis . In June 2003, he suffered an injury which nearly ended his football career and later underwent surgery . By the summer of 2004, Lepley was back on the field and was selected as the MVP at sports camp for Villanova University . He attended Kutztown University on a football scholarship . Lepley played football for the university until the fall of 2007 when he and another player were suspended for fighting . While Lepley was reinstated to the college, his football career was over and he was charged with a misdemeanor . Lepley went on to graduate from Kutztown in 2010 with a degree in criminal justice . But because of his record, Lepley could not find a job in the field . Instead, he found work as gas station attendant, at sandwich shop and also worked as a bookie . Knowing it would not end well, Lepley accepted a friend's offer to relocate to Los Angeles in 2011 and found work as a personal trainer at Iron Fitness Gym in Santa Monica . </P>

Who plays benny on have and have nots