This person was born on the 28 th December 1954 in Mount Vernon, New York City. He was a natural performer learning from his Minister father the power of performance. At 14 his mother and father split up and he was sent away to boarding school. When he left school he went on to Fordham University and he attained a B A in Journalism. From leaving University he moved to San Francisco and it was there his intrest in acting grew. He won a scholarship in American Conservatory Theatre and after 12 months being with group he managed to get his first major film role as Roger Porter in a film called Carbon Copy.

After his part in that film he got a part in the long-running TV series St Elsewhere which gave his acting career a real boost. It was this role that brought him lots of Hollywood roles such as Steve Biko - Cry Freedom, Reuben James - For Queen And Country, Napolean Stone - Heart Condition, Bleek Giliam - Mo' Better Blues & Private Trip - Glory.

By 1993 he had already been nominated for an oscar for Best supporting Actor and Best Actor Award. He had a run of leading roles after that such as Don Pedro - Much Ado About Nothing, Gray Grantham - The Pelican Brief, Joe Miller - Philadelphia, Lt. Commander Ron Hunter - Crimson Tide & Lt. Parker Barnes - Virtuosity.

His roles then became very varied, he did roles in comedies, Super natural Thrillers, Real life Stories & he even played an Angel!! Some of the characters he played in those films were Dudley - The Preachers Wife, John Hobbes - Fallen, Anthony Hubbard - The Siege, Coach Herman Boone - Remember The Titans & Lincoln Rhyme - The Bone Collector.

Finally some of his more recent roles were as John Quincy Archibald in the film John Q, also as the Creasy in which he played Dakota Fanning's bodyguard. But one of his most memorable roles was playing the title role in Spike Lee's Malcolm X he is of course