Joe Morton

Not to be confused with Joseph Morton (correspondent) or Joseph Morton (governor).

Joe Morton
Morton in 2019
Born	Joseph Thomas Morton Jr. (1947-10-18) October 18, 1947 (age 77) New York City, U.S.
Alma mater	Hofstra University
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1970–present
Spouse	Nora Chavooshian ​ ​ (m. 1985;div. 2006)​
Children	3

Joseph Thomas Morton Jr. (born October 18, 1947) is an American stage, television and film actor. He has worked with film director John Sayles in The Brother from Another Planet (1984), City of Hope (1991) and Lone Star (1996). Other films he has appeared in include Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991), Of Mice and Men (1992), Speed (1994), Apt Pupil (1998), Blues Brothers 2000 (1998), What Lies Beneath (2000), Ali (2001), Paycheck (2003), Stealth (2005), American Gangster (2007), Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016), Justice League (2017), and Zack Snyder's Justice League (2021). ^[1]

His television work includes his role as Eli Pope, Olivia Pope's father, in Scandal , for which he won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series in 2014, ^[2] and the role of Henry Deacon on the TV series Eureka .

In 2019, Morton narrated the Audible program, The Water Dancer , by Ta-Nehisi Coates.

Early life

Morton was born in Harlem, New York City, the son of Evelyn, a secretary, and Joseph Thomas Morton Sr., a U.S. Army intelligence officer. ^{[3] [4]} Because of his father's military service, he spent parts of his childhood in West Germany and Okinawa. ^[5] When Morton was 10 years old, his father died. ^[6]

Morton was raised Catholic and attended a Catholic military school for a time. He was an altar boy and considered becoming a priest. ^{[7] [8]}

Morton graduated from Andrew Jackson High School ^[9] and studied drama at Hofstra University. ^[10]

Career

Morton made his Broadway debut in Hair , appeared in Salvation , and was nominated for a Tony Award for Raisin . He has appeared in over 70 films, including John Sayles' The Brother from Another Planet (as The Brother), Terminator 2: Judgment Day (as Dr. Miles Bennett Dyson) and Blues Brothers 2000 (as Cabel "Cab" Chamberlain, as the son of Curtis, played by the late Cab Calloway). He also played Police Lieutenant Herb "Mac" McMahon, in Speed . On daytime, Morton has had roles on Search for Tomorrow (1973–74), Another World (1983–84), and All My Children (2002). ^[11] In 2002, he appeared on the London stage in the play Art.

Morton has made many notable TV guest appearances, including his appearances as Dr. Steven Hamilton in the first two seasons of Smallville . He starred in the Sanford and Son spin-off Grady (1975–76), M*A*S*H* (battalion aid surgeon Capt. Nick Saunders, 1976), Under One Roof (1995) and E-Ring (2005). He portrayed the jack-of-all-trades scientist Henry Deacon as a regular on Syfy Channel's Eureka (2006–12). Morton played the role of Eli Pope on the hit drama Scandal , a role for which he received the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series. ^[11]

In 2016, Morton portrayed the activist and comedian Dick Gregory in the play Turn Me Loose at the Westside Theatre in Manhattan. ^[12] Morton portrayed Dr. Silas Stone, father of Victor Stone/Cyborg, in a cameo role in the 2016 film Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice , part of the DC Extended Universe. He reprised the character in the film Justice League (2017) and more extensively in its director's cut. ^[13]

From 2018 to 2020, Morton co-starred as Reverend Arthur Finer in the CBS series God Friended Me . ^[14] Morton directed three episodes of God Friended Me, and has directing credits for four other TV series. ^[11]

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1977	Between the Lines	Ahmed
1978	Lawman Without a Gun	Louis	Television film
1979	...And Justice for All	Prison Doctor
1980	Death Penalty	William Terry	Television film
1981	We're Fighting Back	Elgin Jones
1982	The Clairvoyant	Detective Rich
1983	Curse of the Pink Panther	Charlie
1984	A Good Sport	-	Television film
	The Brother from Another Planet	The Brother
1985	Trouble in Mind	Solo
1986	Crossroads	Scratch's assistant
1987	Stranded	Sheriff McMahon
1988	Terrorist on Trial: The United States vs. Salim Ajami	Tandy	Television film
	Alone in the Neon Jungle	Ken Fraker
	Zelly and Me	Earl
	The Good Mother	Frank Williams
	Police Story: Burnout	Sgt. Jeff Allen	Television film
1989	Tap	Nicky
	Howard Beach: Making The Case for Murder	Cedric Sandiford	Television film
1990	Challenger	Dr. Ronald McNair
	The Lost Platoon	World War II Soldier
1991	City of Hope	Wynn
	Terminator 2: Judgment Day	Dr. Miles Bennett Dyson
1992	Legacy of Lies	Samuel Flowers	Television film
	Of Mice and Men	Crooks
	Forever Young	Cameron
1994	The Inkwell	Kenny Tate
	Speed	Lieutenant Herb "Mac" McMahon
1995	In the Shadow of Evil	Lt. Royce	Television film
	The Walking Dead	Sergeant Barkley
1996	Lone Star	Delmore Payne
	Executive Decision	Sergeant Campbell "Cappy" Matheny
	Jack Reed: Death and Vengeance	Gordon Thomas	Television film
1997	The Pest	Mr. Kent
	Miss Evers' Boys	Dr. Sam Brodus	Television film
	Speed 2: Cruise Control	Captain Herb "Mac" McMahon
	Trouble on the Corner	Detective Bill
1998	Blues Brothers 2000	Cabel Chamberlain
	Apt Pupil	Dan Richler
	When It Clicks	Cato Caldwell Douglass	Short
1999	Mutiny	Thurgood Marshall	Television film
	The Astronaut's Wife	Sherman Reese
	Y2K	Martin Lowell	Television film
2000	What Lies Beneath	Dr. Drayton
	Ali: An American Hero	Malcolm X	Television film
	Bounce	Jim Weller
2001	Ali	Chauncey Eskridge
2002	Dragonfly	Hugh Campbell
	The Fritz Pollard Story	Host	Television film
2003	Jasper, Texas	Walter Diggles
	Crossing	Uncle Stan	Short
	Thoughtcrimes	John Harper	Television film
	Paycheck	Agent Dodge
2004	Breaking Dawn	Professor Simon
2005	Gone But Not Forgotten	Reggie Stewart	Television film
	Back in the Day	Rev. James Packer
	Stealth	Dick Marshfield
	Lenny the Wonder Dog	Dr. Island
2006	The Night Listener	Ashe
2007	American Gangster	Charlie Williams
	Badland	Max Astin
2008	Wherever You Are	Dr. Livingston
2009	La Linea	Hodges
2010	The Mulberry Tree	Samuel R. Freeman
2013	Home	Donald Hall
2015	Cleveland Abduction	Agent Solano	Television film
2016	Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice	Silas Stone	Cameo
	All the Way	Roy Wilkins	Television film
2017	Justice League	Silas Stone
2019	Godzilla: King of the Monsters	Houston Brooks
	A Million Eyes	Fern	Short
2020	Trinity's Triumph [15]	Monsignor Heck
2021	Zack Snyder's Justice League	Silas Stone	Director's cut of Justice League

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1970	Bracken's World	Yule Buford	Episode: "Love It or Leave It, Change It or Lose It"
	Mission: Impossible	Clerk	Episode: "Hunted"
1973–1974	Search for Tomorrow	Dr. James Foster	Main role
1975	Sanford and Son	Hal Marshall	Episode: "The Family Man"
1975–1976	Grady	Hal Marshall	Main role
1976	M*A*S*H	Captain Saunders	Episode: "Der Tag"
	What's Happening!!	Department Store Manager	Episode: "The Birthday Present"
1978	Watch Your Mouth	Raymond Geeter	Main role
1979	Guiding Light	Dan Stennis	Episode: "Episode #1.8295"
1983	American Playhouse	Carl Hatch	Recurring: season 2
	Another World	Dr. Abel Marsh	Main role
1985	Miami Vice	Lt. Jack Davis	Episode: "The Maze"
1986	Who's the Boss?	Limo Driver	Episode: "Mona's Limo"
1987–1989	The Equalizer	Slate/Carter Brock	Guest: season 2; recurring: season 4
1989	A Man Called Hawk	Rev. Marvin Lewis	Episode: "Choice of Chance"
	One Life to Live	Judge Romero	Episode: "Episode dated 22 May 1989"
1990–1991	Equal Justice	Mike James	Main role
1992	Law & Order	Roland Books	Episode: "Conspiracy"
	A Different World	Byron Douglas III	Recurring: season 5
1993	TriBeCa	Carlton Thomas	Main role
1994	Homicide: Life on the Street	Sam Thorn	2 episodes
	New York Undercover	Dean/Dinah	Episode: "Blondes Have More Fun"
1995	Under One Roof	Ron Langston	Main role
	New York News	Mitch Cotter	Episode: "Fun City"
1996	Nova	Narrator	Episode: "Shark Attack!"
	Touched by an Angel	Jake Stone	Episode: "Jacob's Ladder"
1997	Prince Street	Lieutenant Tom Warner	Main role
1998	Dellaventura	Councilman Caulder	Episode: "David & Goliath"
1998–1999	Mercy Point	Dr. Grote Maxwell	Main role
2000	The X-Files	Martin Wells	Episode: "Redrum"
2000–2005	Law & Order	Leon Chiles	Recurring: seasons 10 & 11, 14 & 15
2001–2002	Smallville	Steven Hamilton	Recurring: season 1; guest: season 2
2002	All My Children	Zeke McMillan	Episode: "#1.8387"
	The Practice	U.S. Attorney	Episode: "Fire Proof"
	Touched by an Angel	Martin	Episode: "The Impossible Dream"
2003	Law & Order: Special Victims Unit	Ray Bevins	Episode: "Grief"
2004	Whoopi	Martin James	Episode: "Sins of the Sister"
	The Jury	James Byron Milton	Episode: "Last Rites"
2005	House	Senator Gary H. Wright	Episode: "Role Model"
	JAG	Elroy Johnson	Episode: "Unknown Soldier"
	CSI: NY	Chief Dwight Hillborne	2 episodes
2005–2006	E-Ring	Steve Algazi	Recurring
2006–2012	Eureka	Henry Deacon	Main role
2007	Numbers	Reporter	Episode: "Graphic"
2008	Boston Legal	Attorney Steve Duprey	Episode: "Indecent Proposals"
2009	Great Performances	Eugene Bullard	Episode: "Harlem in Montmartre: A Paris Jazz Story"
	Warehouse 13	Reverend John Hill	Episode: "Regrets"
	Brothers & Sisters	Peter Madsen	2 episodes
2009–2011	The Good Wife	Daniel Golden	Recurring: season 1; guest: season 3
2010	White Collar	Kyle Bancroft	Episode: "Prisoner's Dilemma"
2012	Coma	Dr. Nelson	Episode: "Part One & Two"
2013–2018	Scandal	Eli Rowan Pope	Recurring: seasons 2–4, main: seasons 5–7
2015	Proof	Dr. Charles Richmond	Main role
2015–2016	Grace and Frankie	Jason	2 episodes
2018–2020	God Friended Me	Rev. Arthur Finer	Main role
2019–2020	The Politician	Marcus	Guest: season 1; recurring: season 2
2021–2022	Our Kind of People	Teddy Franklin	Main role

Radio

Year	Title	Role
2021	Marvel's Wastelanders: Hawkeye	Ringmaster

Video games

Year	Title	Role
2003	Ghost Hunter	Professor Richmond

Awards and nominations

Year	Association	Category	Nominated work	Result
1974	Tony Award	Best Actor in a Musical	Raisin	Nominated
	Theatre World Award			Honoree
1991	Fangoria Chainsaw Awards	Best Supporting Actor	Terminator 2: Judgment Day	Nominated
2008	Screen Actors Guild Awards	Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture	American Gangster
2014	Critics' Choice Television Awards	Best Guest Performer in a Drama Series	Scandal
	NAACP Image Awards	Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series		Won
	Primetime Emmy Awards	Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series
2015	NAACP Image Awards	Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series
2016
2017				Nominated
2018	Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle Awards	Lead Performance in a Play [16]	Turn Me Loose	Won
2020	Audie Award	Literary Fiction and Classics [17]	The Water Dancer by Ta-Nehisi Coates

References

1. "Joe Morton: The Line (2008)". Yovideo. Archived from the original on March 10, 2012. Retrieved April 24, 2012.
2. Sandberg, Bryn Elise; Goldberg, Leslie (August 16, 2014). "Emmys: 'Scandal's' Joe Morton Takes Home Trophy". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved March 9, 2019.
3. Verel, Patrick (August 2012). "Joe Morton to Teach at Fordham". Fordham University (Press release). Archived from the original on January 17, 2016. Retrieved March 25, 2016.
4. "Joe Morton Biography". Yahoo Movies . Archived from the original on May 22, 2011. Retrieved June 16, 2015.
5. Maykuth, Andrew. "The avenging actor". maykuth.com. Retrieved June 16, 2015.
6. Sheridan, Patricia (August 17, 2015). "Patricia Sheridan's Breakfast With ... Joe Morton". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette . Archived from the original on June 13, 2018. Retrieved May 12, 2016.
7. "The mysteries of "God Friended Me": Brandon Micheal Hall and the rest of the cast talk about the hit TV show - CBS News". www.cbsnews.com. September 22, 2019. Retrieved January 15, 2024.
8. Hill, Michael E. (December 3, 1989). "JOE MORTON". Washington Post. ISSN   0190-8286 . Retrieved January 15, 2024.
9. "Joe Morton | Biography and Filmography | 1947". Hollywood.com . February 26, 2015. Archived from the original on March 28, 2016. Retrieved June 19, 2016.
10. Greenberg, Ginny (August 21, 2014). "Alum Joe Morton Wins Emmy for Scandal". Hofstra University . Retrieved March 25, 2016.
11. "Joe Morton - IMDb". IMDb.com. Retrieved March 9, 2019.
12. McCall, Tulis (May 31, 2016). Carboni, Monique (ed.). "Off-Broadway Theatre Review: Turn Me Loose". New York Theatre Guide. Archived from the original on July 1, 2016. Retrieved February 18, 2019.
13. Meslow, Scott (November 16, 2017). "Justice League's Biggest Sin: Wasting Its Great Actors". GQ. Retrieved March 9, 2019.
14. Gay, Verne. "Joe Morton talks 'God Friended Me,' 'Scandal' and dropping out of Hofstra". NewsDay.com. Newsday. Retrieved March 9, 2019.
15. Yellin, Deena (April 27, 2023). "A NJ pastor's coming-of-age tale about young priests makes its big-screen debut Thursday". NorthJersey.com. Retrieved March 9, 2024.
16. Carras, Christi (March 19, 2018). "'Hamilton,' 'Rotterdam' Tie for Top Award From L.A. Drama Critics". Variety . Retrieved March 22, 2018.
17. Maher, John (March 3, 2020). "A Buoyant 2020 Audie Awards Celebrates 'The Only Plane in the Sky,' Stephen King". Publishers Weekly .

External links

• Joe Morton at IMDb  
• Joe Morton at TV Guide
• Joe Morton at the Internet Broadway Database
• Joe Morton at the Internet Off-Broadway Database
• Joe Morton sings "The Devil's Lonely Fire" from Badland.