Stephen McKinley Henderson

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Stephen McKinley Henderson
StephenMcKinkleyHendersonAmherstHS (cropped).png
Henderson presenting at Amherst Central High School on March 29, 2018
Born (1949-08-31) August 31, 1949 (age 75)
Kansas City, Missouri, U.S.
Education Lincoln University, Missouri
Juilliard School
North Carolina School of the Arts (BFA)
Purdue University, West Lafayette (MA)
OccupationActor
Years active1979–present
Spouse
Pamela Reed
​
(m. 1978)​
Children1 [1]

Stephen McKinley Henderson (born August 31, 1949) is an American actor. [2] Henderson trained at Juilliard School for acting and later became a resident member of the Repertory Theatre of St. Louis from 1976 to 1981. He came to prominence as a character actor often performing the plays of August Wilson. He has received nominations for two Tony Awards, a Drama Desk Award, and two Screen Actors Guild Awards. Vulture named Henderson as one of "The 32 Greatest Character Actors Working Today". [3]

Contents

Henderson made his Broadway debut in Wilson's King Hedley II in 2001. He later earned Tony Award nominations for his performances in Wilson's Fences in 2010 and Stephen Adly Guirgis's Between Riverside and Crazy in 2023. He also acted in the Broadway revival of A Raisin in the Sun in 2014. He made his film debut in A Pleasure Doing Business (1979) and has since appeared in Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close (2011), Lincoln (2012), Fences (2016), Manchester by the Sea (2016), Lady Bird (2017), Dune (2021), Causeway (2022), Beau Is Afraid (2023), and Civil War (2024).

His television debut came in 1984 in PBS's The Killing Floor . He has since appeared in Law & Order (1995–2010), Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (2005–2006), The Newsroom (2013), The Blacklist (2018), Wu-Tang: An American Saga (2019–2020), and Devs (2020).

Early life and education

Henderson was born in Kansas City, Missouri, the son of Ruby Naomi and Elihue Henderson. [4] He spent a year at Lincoln University, Missouri and was originally part of Group 1 at the Juilliard School Drama Division before he left. He finished his BFA in Acting at the North Carolina School of the Arts (1972). He later studied at Purdue University where he received his Master of Arts in Theatre (1977). He also spent summer sessions at Rose Bruford College in London and William Esper Studios in New York City. [5]

Career

Henderson is known mostly for his stage work. He won the 2015 Obie Award for Best Actor for his starring role of Walter "Pops" Washington in the Atlantic Theatre Company and Second Stage productions of the Pulitzer Prize-winning play Between Riverside and Crazy . [6] He portrayed Jim Bono in the Broadway revival of August Wilson's Fences , starring Denzel Washington, for which Henderson received a nomination for a Tony Award as a supporting actor, as well as the Richard Seff Award from Actor's Equity; he reprised the role in Washington's 2016 film adaptation. On Broadway, he has performed in Drowning Crow, the revival of Ma Rainey's Black Bottom , and the premiere of King Hedley II . Henderson is recognized as a veteran performer of August Wilson's oeuvre. [7]

His signature August Wilson role is the gossipy Turnbo in Jitney , for which he won a Drama Desk Award as part of the ensemble. He had created the role in the 1996 premiere at the Pittsburgh Public Theater, then honed it (as Wilson was honing the script) in other regional theaters before its arrival Off-Broadway in 2000. Though it did not transfer to Broadway, he and the core of the cast took Jitney to London where it won the 2002 Olivier Award for best new play. In addition, he appeared in A Raisin in the Sun and directed Zooman and the Sign . With the LAByrinth Theatre Company, he portrayed Pontius Pilate in The Last Days of Judas Iscariot . He appeared as Van Helsing in the Broadway production of Dracula, the Musical . In 2023, he was presented with a Lifetime Achievement Award at the Lucille Lortel Awards ceremony. [8]

His films include his role as Cooper's husband in the TV movie Marie (1985), Bobo in A Raisin in the Sun (1989), Arthur in Everyday People (2004), [9] Lester in the film Tower Heist (2011), White House servant William Slade in Steven Spielberg's film Lincoln (2012), along with roles in the films Keane (2004), If You Could Say It in Words (2008), and Dune (2021). In 2016, Henderson appeared in Kenneth Lonergan's Manchester by the Sea , starring Casey Affleck and Michelle Williams, playing the boss of Affleck's character. The following year, he played the role of Father Leviatch in Greta Gerwig's 2017 film Lady Bird .

In addition to his films, Henderson was a series regular on the FOX series New Amsterdam, which premiered in early 2008. His other television work includes Law & Order , Law & Order: Special Victims Unit , The Newsroom , Law & Order: Criminal Intent , Tyler Perry's House of Payne , Third Watch , Blue Bloods , and Devs .

Filmography

Film

Key
†Denotes works that have not yet been released
YearTitleRole(s)Notes
1979A Pleasure Doing BusinessBank teller
1985 Marie Cooper's husband
2004 Everyday People Arthur
Keane Garage employee
2006Waltzing AnnaPete
2008 If You Could Say It in Words Baseball fan
2009 The Good Heart Psychiatrist
2011 Tower Heist Lester
Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close Walt the locksmith
2012 Red Hook Summer Deacon Yancy
Lincoln William Slade
2014 Da Sweet Blood of Jesus Deacon Yancy
The RomansBirdman
2016 Manchester by the Sea Mr. Emery
The American Side Stickney
All at Once Robert
Fences Jim Bono
2017 Lady Bird Father Leviatch
2019 Native Son Mr. Green
The True Adventures of Wolfboy Nicholas
2020 Bruised Pops
2021 Dune Thufir Hawat
2022 Causeway Dr. Lucas
2023 Beau Is Afraid Therapist
2024 Dune: Part Two Thufir HawatDeleted scenes
Civil War Sammy
2025 Good Fortune †TBAPost-production
TBA The Dutchman †TBAPost-production [10]

Television

YearTitleRole(s)Notes
1984 The Killing Floor James CheeksTelevision film
1989 A Raisin in the Sun BoboTelevision film
1995–2010 Law & Order Judge Marc Kramer7 episodes
1995 New York News Sherman WakesEpisode: "Fun City"
2000 Third Watch BoudreauxEpisode: "Know Thyself"
2001 Law & Order: Criminal Intent AbernathyEpisode: "The Faithful"
2005–2006 Law & Order: Special Victims Unit Judge Bernard2 episodes
2006 Conviction Judge2 episodes
2008 New Amsterdam Omar YorkMain cast, 8 episodes
2008 Brotherhood 2 episodes
2008 Tyler Perry's House of Payne Fred JonesEpisode: Father's Day
2012 Blue Bloods Judge Harlan HaywoodEpisode: "Reagan V. Reagan"
2012 The Newsroom Solomon Hancock3 episodes
2012 Elementary Groundskeeper EdisonEpisode: "One Way to Get Off"
2017 Survivor's Remorse SolomonEpisode: "Future Plans"
2018 The Resident Darryl PhillipsEpisode: "The Elopement"
2018 The Blacklist Dr. Francis WoernerEpisode: "Nicholas T. Moore (No. 110)"
2018 Strangers Billy Caldwell2 episodes
2018 Fear the Walking Dead ClaytonEpisode: "Blackjack"
2019 Proven Innocent Judge FryEpisode: "Acceptable Losses"
2019–2021 Wu-Tang: An American Saga Uncle Hollis3 episodes
2020 Devs StewartMiniseries; 8 episodes
2020 Run JohnEpisode: "Run"
2024 Extended Family Dr. Eldridge DavenportEpisode: "The Consequences of Gaming"
2024 The Madness IsiahMiniseries
2024 A Man on the Inside Calbert Graham5 episodes

Theatre

YearTitleRole(s)Venue
1986 A Raisin in the Sun Bobo Union Square Theatre, Off-Broadway
1994 Zooman and the Sign Emmett Tate McGinn/Cazale Theatre, Off-Broadway
2000 Jitney Turnbo Second Stage Theater, Off-Broadway
2001 King Hedley II Stool Pigeon Virginia Theatre, Broadway
2003 Ma Rainey's Black Bottom Slow Drag Royale Theatre, Broadway
2004Drowning CrowSammy Bow Biltmore Theatre, Broadway
2004–2005 Dracula, the Musical Abraham Van Helsing Belasco Theatre, Broadway
2005 The Last Days of Judas Iscariot Pontius Pilate/Uncle Pino The Public Theater, Off-Broadway
2006 Seven Guitars Red Carter Peter Norton Space, Off-Broadway
2007 King Hedley II Elmore Peter Norton Space, Off-Broadway
2010 Fences Jim Bono Cort Theatre, Broadway
2014 A Raisin in the Sun Bobo Ethel Barrymore Theatre, Broadway
2014 Between Riverside and Crazy Walter "Pops" Washington Linda Gross Theater, Off-Broadway
2015 Second Stage Theater, Off-Broadway
2017 A Doll's House, Part 2 Torvald Helmer John Golden Theatre, Broadway
2022–2023 Between Riverside and Crazy Walter "Pops" Washington Helen Hayes Theatre, Broadway

Awards and nominations

YearAwardCategoryNomineeResult
2000 Drama Desk Award Outstanding Ensemble Performance Jitney Won
2010 Tony Award Best Featured Actor in a Play Fences Nominated
2015 Drama Desk Award Outstanding Actor in a Play Between Riverside and Crazy Nominated
Drama League Award Distinguished PerformanceNominated
Outer Critics Circle Award Outstanding Actor in a PlayNominated
Lucille Lortel Award Outstanding Lead Actor in a PlayWon
2016 Screen Actors Guild Award Outstanding Cast in a Motion Picture Fences Nominated
2017 Lady Bird Nominated
2023 Tony Award Best Actor in a Play Between Riverside and Crazy Nominated
Lucille Lortel Award Lifetime Achievement AwardWon
Drama Desk Award Harold Prince Lifetime Achievement AwardWon

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References

  1. ↑ Teeman, Tim (May 29, 2023). "Stephen McKinley Henderson, Retire? Just Show Him the Script". The Daily Beast.
  2. ↑ Stephen McKinley Henderson. americantheatrewing.org
  3. ↑ "Best Character Actors Working Today". Vulture. March 22, 2021. Retrieved December 24, 2022.
  4. ↑ Stephen Henderson Biography (1949–). Filmreference.com. Retrieved on September 23, 2016.
  5. ↑ "The Spectrum The Independent Student Publication of The University of Buffalo".
  6. ↑ 2015 Obie Award Winners Announced. Obie Awards. Retrieved on September 23, 2016.
  7. ↑ Brantley, Ben (April 27, 2010). "It's No More Mr. Nice Guy for This Everyman". The New York Times . Retrieved January 6, 2020.
  8. ↑ 2023 Lucille Lortel Awards Nominations. Lucille Lortel Awards. Retrieved on May 8, 2023.
  9. ↑ "Everyday People" website. Hbo.com (November 12, 2011). Retrieved on 2016-09-23.
  10. ↑ "André Holland, Zazie Beetz And Stephen McKinley Henderson To Star In Film Adaptation Of Amiri Baraka's 'The Dutchman'". Yahoo News. September 27, 2023. Retrieved October 1, 2023.
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