Whatever Happened To The Quizmaster From Sabrina The Teenage Witch?
Long before Archie Andrews waxed poetic about the epic highs and lows of high school football on "Riverdale," Archie Comics made its first foray into live-action television with "Sabrina the Teenage Witch." Based on the Archie Comics character created in 1962, the series starred Melissa Joan Hart as the titular witch and aired from 1996 to 2003.
In Season 2, Alimi Ballard joined the cast of "Sabrina the Teenage Witch" as Albert the Quizmaster, a witch who routinely pops up to train Sabrina for her witch's license exam. "'Sabrina the Teenage Witch' [was a] show that really changed where you sit in the industry," Ballard said in an episode of Theater Corner, "because it's one of those shows that's perennial. People remember that show."
Ballard admitted that fans still recognize him from "Sabrina," calling it "a sweet thing that you share with people," but he's become known for several roles across film and television. In 1998, Ballard appeared in "Deep Impact," and he's known for playing Fusco in "Fast Five." Since the late '90s, Ballard has also secured a number of recurring roles on TV.
Alimi Ballard starred in Numb3rs and Queen of the South
Alimi Ballard kicked off the millennium with a recurring role in the Jessica Alba-starring "Dark Angel" from 2000 to 2001, but he considers his time as a cast member on "Numb3rs" as "bringing [him] from a young man to a real full-grown adult" (via Theater Corner). From 2005 to 2010, Ballard starred in the crime drama as Agent David Sinclair. Ballard credits his time on the series with giving him the stability to start a family, as well as forging friendships with co-stars Rob Morrow and David Krumholtz.
Following "Numb3rs," the procedural bug stuck, and Ballard has guest starred in series like "Rizzoli & Isles," "Bones," and "Criminal Minds." He also had a three-episode arc on "NCIS," as well as a three-season role on "CSI" from 2012 to 2015. During that time, he also kept busy voicing Falcon on Marvel's "The Super Hero Squad Show."
After a long time spent mostly playing law enforcement and heroes, Ballard relished playing an average Joe on Ava DuVernay's "Queen Sugar." "I got a chance to play an epidemiologist," he said in his interview with Theater Corner. "It was so great to play a guy who didn't know how to jump off a building or sling an AR-15." The actor also had fun flexing his villain muscles on "Queen of the South" from 2019 to 2021. In Seasons 4 and 5, he played Marcel Dumas, the leader of a gang in New Orleans. Most recently, he appeared in Peacock's mystery series "One Of Us Is Lying."
Ballard hasn't forgotten his "Sabrina" roots, and in 2013, he reunited with Melissa Joan Hart in an episode of her sitcom "Melissa & Joey."