Harry Lennix

Harry J. Lennix
Lennix at the San Diego Comic Con International in San Diego, California, July 20, 2013
Born	Harry Joseph Lennix III (1964-11-16) November 16, 1964 Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1989–present

Harry Joseph Lennix III (born November 16, 1964) is an American actor. He is best known for his roles as Terrence "Dresser" Williams in the Robert Townsend film The Five Heartbeats (1991) and as Boyd Langton in the Joss Whedon television series Dollhouse. Lennix currently co-stars as Harold Cooper, Assistant Director of the FBI Counterterrorism Division, on the NBC drama The Blacklist.

Early life

The youngest of four siblings, Lennix was born in Chicago, Illinois, to Lillian C. (née Vines), a laundress, and Harry Lennix, Jr., a machinist who was a Creole from Louisiana. Lennix attended Quigley Preparatory Seminary South and Northwestern University, where he majored in Acting and Direction. In his senior year at Northwestern, he was the coordinator of the African-American student organization, For Members Only. He taught music and civics for several years in the Chicago Public School system and is a frequent lecturer.

In 2009, he married Djena Graves.

Career

Lennix starred in the Showtime Networks made-for-cable television film Keep the Faith, Baby (2002) as Rev. Adam Clayton Powell, Jr., who was a legendary Harlem Congressman from 1944 to 1972; in the movie Titus (1999), based on Shakespeare's Titus Andronicus, as Aaron the Moor; and in the ABC television series Commander in Chief. Lennix currently co-stars as Harold Cooper, Assistant Director of the FBI Counterterrorism Division, on the NBC drama The Blacklist, which debuted September 23, 2013.

In film, Lennix has had supporting roles such as The Five Heartbeats (1991), Get on the Bus (1996), Love & Basketball (2000), The Matrix series (1999-2003), Ray (2004), Barbershop 2: Back in Business (2004), Stomp the Yard (2007), and State of Play (2009).

In television, he had a recurring role in Diagnosis: Murder as Agent Ron Wagner as well as a voice-over role in the Legion of Super Heroes animated series. He also had a recurring role in the sixth season of 24 as fictional Muslim civil rights activist Walid Al-Rezani. He appeared on the series House M.D. as a paralyzed jazz trumpet player, and in six episodes of ER as Dr. Greg Fischer. He also appeared in the episode "The Blame Game" of the first season of Ally McBeal. He played the parts of Boyd Langton in Joss Whedon's series Dollhouse and U.S. president Barack Obama in the comedy sketch show Little Britain USA.

In 2007, he was an official festival judge at the first annual Noor Iranian Film Festival.

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1989	The Package	Field Soldier
1989	A Mother's Courage: The Mary Thomas Story	Nero	Television film
1991	The Case of the Defiant Daughter	Prosecutor Keith Warner	Television film
1991	The Five Heartbeats	Dresser
1992	Mo' Money	Tom Dilton	as Harry J. Lennix
1992	Bob Roberts	Franklin Dockett
1992	In the Best Interest of the Children	Tim Coffey	Television film
1994	Vanishing Son II	Andre Laine	Television film
1994	Vanishing Son IV	Andre Laine	Television film
1994	Guarding Tess	Kenny Young
1995	Clockers	Bill Walker
1996	Get on the Bus	Randall
1997	Chicago Cab, aka Hellcab	Irate Boyfriend	as Harry J. Lennix
1999	Titus	Aaron	Satellite Award for Best Supporting Actor – Motion Picture Drama
2000	Love & Basketball	Nathan Wright
2002	Pumpkin	Robert Meary
2002	Collateral Damage	Agent Dray
2002	Keep the Faith, Baby	Adam Clayton Powell, Jr.	Television film Black Reel Award for Best Actor in a Television Movie/Mini-Series Nominated—NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Actor in a Television Movie, Mini-Series or Dramatic Special Nominated—Satellite Award for Best Actor – Miniseries or Television Film
2003	The Matrix Reloaded	Commander Lock
2003	The Human Stain	Mr. Silk
2003	The Matrix Revolutions	Commander Lock
2004	Chrystal	Kalid
2004	Barbershop 2: Back in Business	Quentin Leroux
2004	Suspect Zero	Rich Charleton
2004	Ray	Joe Adams	Nominated—Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture
2006	Sharif Don't Like It	Tom
2007	Stomp the Yard	Nate
2007	Resurrecting the Champ	Bob Satterfield, Jr.
2007	Across the Universe	Army Sergeant
2009	State of Play	Det. Donald Bell
2010	Mr. Sophistication	Ron Waters
2012	A Beautiful Soul	Jeff Freeze
2013	H4	King Henry IV
2013	Man of Steel	General Swanwick
2014	Cru (C.R.U.)	Diego Glass
2015	Justice League: Throne of Atlantis	Black Manta	Voice
2015	Chi-Raq	Commissioner Blades
2016	Timeless	Johnson
2016	Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice	General Swanwick

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1995–1996	The Client	Daniel Holbrook	3 episodes
1997	ER	Dr. Greg Fischer	6 episodes
1997–1998	Diagnosis Murder	Agent Ron Wagner	6 episodes
1997	Living Single	Clayton Simmons	Episode: "The Best Laid Plans"
1998	Ally McBeal	Ballard	Episode: "The Blame Game"
1998	The Practice	Dr. Cloves's attorney	Episode: "The Pursuit of Dignity"
1999	Judging Amy	Mr. Newman	Episode: "An Impartial Bias"
1999	JAG	Agent John Nichols	Episode: "Contemptuous Words"
2003	The Practice	Asst. Attorney General Parker	Episode: "Final Judgment"
2005	House M.D.	John Henry Giles	Episode: "DNR"
2005–2006	Commander in Chief	Jim Gardner	19 episodes Nominated—NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series
2007	24	Walid Al-Rezani	5 episodes
2008	Little Britain USA	President of the United States	4 episodes
2009–2010	Dollhouse	Boyd Langton	25 episodes
2011	Law & Order: LA	Agent Bossy	Episode: "Plummer Park"
2012–2013	Emily Owens M.D.	Tim Dupre	6 episodes
2013–present	The Blacklist	Harold Cooper	49 episodes
2013	Quick Draw	Sheriff Nat Love	Episode: "Nicodemus"

External links

• Harry Lennix at the Internet Movie Database
• Harry Lennix at AllMovie