Dennis Haysbert | |
|---|---|
 Haysbert in 2015 | |
| Born | Dennis Dexter Haysbert (1954-06-02)June 2, 1954 (age 71) San Mateo, California, U.S. |
| Occupation | Actor |
| Years active | 1978–present |
| Spouses | |
| Children | 2 |
Dennis Dexter Haysbert (born June 2, 1954) is an American actor. He is known for his roles as PresidentDavid Palmer on the first five seasons of24, baseball player Pedro Cerrano in theMajor League film trilogy, Secret Service agentTim Collin in the political thriller filmAbsolute Power, Sergeant Major Jonas Blane on the CBS military action drama seriesThe Unit, andGod on the Netflix showLucifer. He has also appeared in the filmsLove Field,Navy SEALS,Heat,Waiting to Exhale, andFar from Heaven, as well as the science fiction seriesIncorporated. He is currently the narrator for theA&E Network'sAmerican Justice television series.
Haysbert was born inSan Mateo, California, the son of Gladys (née Minor), a homemaker and house cleaner, and Charles Whitney Haysbert Sr., a deputysheriff and airline security guard.[1][2] He is the eighth of nine children, having two sisters and six brothers. His parents were fromLouisiana.[3] Haysbert was raisedBaptist.[3]
Haysbert graduated fromSan Mateo High School in 1972.[4] After high school, being 6 ft 5 in height, he was offered athletic scholarships but instead chose to study acting at theAmerican Academy of Dramatic Arts.
Haysbert has been acting in film and television since 1978, starting with a guest role inThe White Shadow. His television guest starring roles includeLou Grant,Growing Pains,Laverne & Shirley,The A-Team,Night Court,Dallas,The Incredible Hulk,Magnum, P.I.,Buck Rogers in the 25th Century, andDuckman. In 1993, he had a featured role inReturn to Lonesome Dove as outlaw Cherokee Jack Jackson. In 1999, Haysbert starred withEric Close inNow and Again, which was cancelled after one season.
In 2001, Haysbert rose to prominence when he was cast in24 asU.S. SenatorDavid Palmer, who served as the first blackU.S. President (in the context of the show) during the second and third seasons. He also returned as a guest star in the last six episodes of season 4 and the first episode of season 5. He was nominated for aGolden Globe and for aGolden Satellite Award in 2002 for this role. Haysbert stated in an interview for the show that the three men he admires most—Jimmy Carter,Bill Clinton, andColin Powell—collectively embody his idea of what a President should be.[5] Haysbert believes that his playing of David Palmer on24 helpedBarack Obama—whom Haysbert supported—to win the2008 Democratic presidential nomination.[6][7]
Haysbert was the first actor to portrayDC Comics characterKilowog, a member of theGreen Lantern Corps, in a medium outside of comics. He provided the voice of Kilowog on various episodes ofJustice League andJustice League Unlimited. On March 4, 2006, Haysbert guest-starred on theSaturday Night Live episode hosted byNatalie Portman as the host of a live-action/animatedTV Funhouse cartoon called "Belated Black History Moment." In his role, Haysbert paid homage to fictional short-lived Saturday morning cartoons featuring black characters, such asLadysmith Black Mambazo in Outer Space. He also portrayedNelson Mandela inGoodbye Bafana (also released under the nameThe Color of Freedom). Haysbert portrayed the lead character Sergeant Major Jonas Blane in theCBS military action-dramaThe Unit. He hosted and narrated theMilitary History Channel presentation ofSecrets of Pearl Harbor, which documented hisscuba dives with a film team onWorld War II-era Japanese andAmerican warships in thePacific Theater. In March 2013, Haysbert narrated the documentaryThe World According to Dick Cheney on theShowtime television channel. On May 19, 2014, Haysbert also featured in the fifth episode of the fourth season ofThe Boondocks as Reverend Sturdy Harris. In 2015, Haysbert played Detective John Almond inBackstrom.
Since September 6, 2015, Haysbert's has been the opening voice introducing NBC'sMeet the Press.
In November 2016, Haysbert began his co-starring role inIncorporated. Set in a dystopian future run by corporations, Haysbert plays Julian, a ruthless security head working for one of the larger corporations.Ben Affleck andMatt Damon are co-executive producers on the series, which was shot inBritish Columbia, Canada, and airs onShowcase in Canada andSyfy in the U.S.
He was also cast to play God for the second half of the fifth season ofLucifer.
On August 20, 2021,A&E announced that Haysbert would host a revival ofAmerican Justice, replacing longtime narratorBill Kurtis.[8]
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In 1989, Haysbert made his first major role as Pedro Cerrano, avoodoo-practicing Cuban refugeebaseball player, inMajor League. Haysbert followed that up with a role in 1990'sNavy SEALs, which also starredCharlie Sheen and Michael Biehn, before moving on to another baseball film,Mr. Baseball withTom Selleck. In 1991, he also starred inK-9000, where he played a police officer named Nick Sanrio. In 1992, he co-starred withMichelle Pfeiffer inLove Field, a film about a series of events occurring contemporaneously with the assassination and funeral of PresidentJohn F. Kennedy.[9] In 1994, Haysbert reprised his role as Cerrano inMajor League II. This was followed by minor appearances inWaiting to Exhale,Heat, andAbsolute Power. In 1998, Haysbert made another appearance as Cerrano inMajor League: Back to the Minors. In 1999, Haysbert played a police detective in three films:The Minus Man,The Thirteenth Floor, andRandom Hearts. In 2000, Haysbert played the role of Zeke McCall inLove & Basketball.
In 2002, Haysbert played the role of gardener Raymond Deagan inFar from Heaven. He won three awards (Satellite Award, Black Reel Award, and Washington DC Area Film Critics Association Award) for Best Supporting Actor for that role. In 2005, he had a supporting role inSam Mendes's film,Jarhead. In 2007, Haysbert returned to the big screen to portrayNelson Mandela inGoodbye Bafana and an FBI agent inBreach. In 2012, he voiced General Hologram inWreck-It Ralph[10] and served as an official judge for theNoor Iranian Film Festival. He replaced the deceasedMichael Clarke Duncan as Manute inSin City: A Dame to Kill For (2014).[11] In 2014, Haysbert played the role of Dean Fairbanks inDear White People and General LyonsDead Rising: Watchtower.[12]
In December 2018, it was announced that Haysbert was to star in theNetflix psychological thrillerSecret Obsession.[13] The film was released on July 18, 2019.[14]
Haysbert is one of two official spokesmen (along withDean Winters) for theAllstate Insurance Company. His commercials typically end with one of the two Allstate Corporation official slogans, either "Are you in good hands?" or "That's Allstate's stand." However, his commercials have combined the two with "That's Allstate's stand. Are you in good hands?" He has also appeared in Spanish-language commercials with the line "Con Allstate, Estás En Buenas Manos." (With Allstate, you're in good hands.) In his role as spokesman for Allstate, Haysbert officiated the coin toss prior to the2007 Sugar Bowl betweenLSU andNotre Dame.[15]
In 2008, Haysbert was featured in national television ads to raise public awareness aboutlending discrimination. The ads were commissioned by theU.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development'sOffice of Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity.[16] In one of these ads, Haysbert warns consumers about lenders' targeting minorities for inferior loan products.[17]
For the2006 college football season, Haysbert didvoice work for ticket sales promotions forBrigham Young University. He did it as a favor to his younger brother Adam, who playedwide receiver at BYU in the early 1980s.[18]
Haysbert also voices theMilitary Channel's commercials with their official slogan: "The Military Channel. Go Behind the Lines."
Haysbert has also done voice work for variousvideo games, such asIrving Lambert inTom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Pandora Tomorrow, the narrator inCall of Duty: Finest Hour and reprising his television role of David Palmer in24: The Game.
In June 2010, Haysbert joined the cast ofDavid Mamet'sRace on Broadway as character Henry Brown, performing alongside actorsEddie Izzard,Richard Thomas and Afton Williamson. The play ran until August 21, 2010.
Haysbert was married to Elena Simms from 1980 to 1984, and Lynn Griffith from 1989 to 2001. He has two children with Griffith.
Haysbert announced in April 2009 that he was starting a production company.[19] His first project was to be a documentary for HBO about an up-and-coming boxer.[20]
During the 2010 California elections, Haysbert supported Democratic incumbentBarbara Boxer by appearing with her at campaign events and recording radio commercials.[21][22]
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1979 | Scoring | Lt. Harrigan | |
| 1985 | A Summer to Remember | Sheriff Pierce | |
| 1989 | Major League | Pedro Cerrano | |
| 1990 | Navy SEALs | Chief Special Warfare Operator Billy Graham | |
| 1992 | Mr. Baseball | Max "Hammer" Dubois | |
| Love Field | Paul Cater | ||
| 1993 | Suture | Clay Arlington | |
| Alex Haley's Queen | Davis | ||
| 1994 | Major League II | Pedro Cerrano | |
| 1995 | Heat | Donald Breedan | |
| Waiting to Exhale | Kenneth Dawkins | ||
| 1996 | Amanda | Seven/Sir Jordan | |
| 1997 | Absolute Power | Tim Collin | |
| 1998 | How to Make the Cruelest Month | Manhattan Parks | |
| Major League: Back to the Minors | Pedro Cerrano | ||
| Standoff | Ty 'Bama' Jones | ||
| 1999 | The Minus Man | Graves | |
| The Thirteenth Floor | Detective Larry McBain | ||
| Random Hearts | Detective George Beaufort | ||
| 2000 | What's Cooking? | Ronald Williams | |
| Love & Basketball | Zeke McCall | ||
| 2002 | Ticker | FBI Agent | Segment from theBMW short film seriesThe Hire |
| Far from Heaven | Raymond Deagan | Satellite Award for Best Supporting Actor - Motion Picture Washington D.C. Area Film Critics Association Award for Best Supporting Actor Nominated —Chlotrudis Award for Best Supporting Actor | |
| 2003 | Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas | Kale | Voice[23] |
| 2005 | Jarhead | Major Lincoln | |
| 2007 | Goodbye Bafana | Nelson Mandela | |
| Breach | Dean Plesac | ||
| 2011 | The Details | Lincoln | |
| Kung Fu Panda 2 | Master Storming Ox | Voice[23] | |
| Field of Dreams 2: Lockout | Mann | Short film | |
| Kung Fu Panda: Secrets of the Masters | Master Storming Ox | Voice[23] | |
| 2012 | LUV | Mr. Fish | |
| Wreck-It Ralph | General Hologram | Voice[23] | |
| 2013 | Welcome to the Jungle | Mr. Crawford | |
| The Black Moses | Sir. Lynden O. Pindling | ||
| 2014 | Mr. Peabody & Sherman | Judge | Voice[23] |
| Think Like a Man Too | Uncle Eddie | ||
| Life of a King | Searcy | ||
| Sin City: A Dame to Kill For | Manute | ||
| Men, Women & Children | Secretluvur | ||
| Sniper: Legacy | Colonel Gabriel Stone | Direct-to-video | |
| Dear White People | The Dean | ||
| 2015 | Experimenter | Ossie Davis | |
| Dead Rising: Watchtower | General Lyons | Digital film | |
| Ted 2 | Fertility Doctor | ||
| 2016 | Jarhead 3: The Siege | Major Lincoln | Direct-to-video |
| Dead Rising: Endgame | General Lyons | Digital film | |
| Sniper: Ghost Shooter | Colonel Gabriel Stone | Direct-to-video | |
| 2017 | Fist Fight | Superintendent Johnson | |
| The Dark Tower | Steven Deschain | ||
| Naked | Reginald Swope | ||
| Kodachrome | Larry | ||
| 2019 | Breakthrough | Dr. Garrett | |
| Secret Obsession | Detective Frank Page | ||
| Playing with Fire | Commander Richards | ||
| 2022 | No Exit | Ed | |
| Chip 'n Dale: Rescue Rangers | Zipper | Voice[23] | |
| Sniper: Rogue Mission | Colonel Gabriel Stone | Direct-to-video[24] | |
| 2023 | Flamin' Hot | Clarence C. Baker | |
| Sniper: G.R.I.T. – Global Response & Intelligence Team | Colonel Gabriel Stone | Direct-to-video | |
| 2024 | Summer Camp | Tommy | |
| Lost & Found in Cleveland | Marty Anderson | ||
| In Fidelity | Hoyt Johnston | ||
| 2026 | Send Help | TBA | Post-production |
| TBA | Silent Retreat | TBA | Post-production |
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1978 | Lou Grant | Victor | Episode: "Schools" |
| 1979 | The White Shadow | Basketball Player | Episode: "Wanna Bet?" |
| Laverne & Shirley | Navy Shore Patrolman | Episode: "What Do You Do with a Drunken Sailor?" | |
| 1980 | Quincy M.E. | Fred | Episode: "New Blood" |
| The Incredible Hulk | Guard | Episode: "Nine Hours" | |
| Galactica 1980 | Colonial Warrior | Episode: "Space Croppers" (Miscredited as "The Creature") | |
| 1980–81 | Buck Rogers in the 25th Century | Various | 5 episodes |
| 1981 | Quincy M.E. | Driver | Episode: "Headhunter" |
| Grambling's White Tiger | James "Shack" Harris | Television film | |
| 1981–82 | Code Red | Stuff Wade | 8 episodes |
| 1983 | The A-Team | Psych Ward Staff | Episode: "One More Time" |
| 1983 | The Yellow Rose | Military Police Officer | Episode: "Trail's End" |
| 1984 | Dallas | Dr. Forbes | Episode: "Killer at Large" |
| Riptide | Odell | Episode: "Father's Day" | |
| Gimme a Break! | Rev. Winfield | Episode: "Baby of the Family" | |
| 1984–85 | Off the Rack | Cletus Maxwell | 7 episodes |
| 1985 | Magnum P.I. | Lieutenant Jameson, USN | Episode: "Blood and Honor" |
| What's Happening Now!! | Policeman | Episode: "I'll Be Homeless for Christmas" | |
| Growing Pains | Police Officer | Episode: "Weekend Fantasy" | |
| 1986 | The Fall Guy | Jeremy Wolf | Episode: "Trial by Fire" |
| 227 | Sgt. Hall | Episode: "Redecorating Blues" | |
| Scarecrow and Mrs. King | Kimambo | Episode: "Billy's Lost Weekend" | |
| The Young and the Restless | Ron Clark | 8 episodes | |
| 1987 | Growing Pains | Officer Wright | Episode: "Gone But Not Forgotten" |
| Knots Landing | Police Officer | Episode: "The Unraveling" | |
| Easy Street | Chip | Episode: "The Country Club" | |
| Valerie | Dr. Ervin | Episode: "Oedipus Wrecks" | |
| Our House | Unknown | Episode: "Sounds from a Silent Clock: Part 2" | |
| The Facts of Life | Sgt. Evans | Episode: "Before the Fall" | |
| 1988 | Growing Pains | Frank | Episode: "State of the Union" |
| Out of This World | Rev. Williams | Episode: "a.k.a. Dad" | |
| Crime Story | Franklin Himes | 2 episodes | |
| 1988–89 | Just the Ten of Us | Coach Duane Johnson | 9 episodes |
| 1989 | Night Court | James Morgan | Episode: "Pen Pal" |
| The Robert Guillaume Show | Mr. Peterson | Episode: "Guaranteed Not to Shrink" | |
| 1991 | K-9000 | Nick Sanrio | Television film |
| 1993 | Alex Haley's Queen | Davis | Television film |
| Return to Lonesome Dove | Jack Jackson | 3 episodes | |
| American Playhouse | Rev. Oliver Crawford | Episode: "Hallelujah" | |
| 1998 | The New Batman Adventures | Barkley James | Voice, episode: "Mean Seasons"[23] |
| 1998–99 | Superman: The Animated Series | Agent #1/Doctor #1 | Voice, 2 episodes[23] |
| 1999 | Godzilla: The Series | General Ekwensi | Voice, episode: "Monster Wars Part 1" |
| 1999–2000 | Now and Again | Dr. Theodore Morris | 22 episodes Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actor on Television Nominated —Satellite Award for Best Actor – Television Series Drama |
| 2001 | Soul Food | Rick Grant | 2 episodes |
| The Outer Limits | Joshua Finch | Episode: "Rule of Law" | |
| 2001–06 | 24 | David Palmer | 81 episodes Nominated —Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor - Series, Miniseries or Television Film Nominated —Satellite Award for Best Supporting Actor - Television Series Nominated —NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Actor in a Drama Series (2003, 2004) Nominated —NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series Nominated —Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series (2003, 2005) |
| 2001–03 | Static Shock | Chief Barnsdale | Voice, 4 episodes[23] |
| 2001–04 | Justice League | Kilowog | Voice, 4 episodes[23] |
| 2006–09 | The Unit | Sergeant Major Jonas Blane | 69 episodes Nominated —NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Actor in a Drama Series (2007–2009) |
| 2013 | Newsreaders | Det. Fenster Landau | Episode: "CCSI: Boston" |
| Axe Cop | Frog | Voice, episode: "Super Axe" | |
| 2013–14 | Trophy Wife | Russ Bradley Morrison | 2 episodes |
| 2014 | The Boondocks | Sturdy Harris | Voice, episode: "Freedom Ride or Die" |
| How Murray Saved Christmas | Narrator | Television special | |
| 2015 | Blue Bloods | Deputy Chief Donald Kent | Episode: "New Rules"[25] |
| Backstrom | Detective Almond | 13 episodes | |
| 2016 | The Grinder | Special Agent | Episode: "Delusions of Grinder" |
| Brooklyn Nine-Nine | Bob Annderson | 2 episodes | |
| Undercover[26] | Rudy Jones | 5 episodes | |
| 2016–17 | Incorporated | Julian | Recurring |
| 2017 | Shots Fired | Mr. Terry | Episode: "Hour Two: Betrayal of Trust"; uncredited |
| 2018 | Reverie | Charlie Ventana | Recurring |
| 2019–21 | Puppy Dog Pals | Crash | Voice; 2 episodes |
| 2019 | Surveillance | Barry Wilkinson | Television film |
| 2020 | Home Movie: The Princess Bride | Prince Humperdinck | Episode: "Chapter Eight: Ultimate Suffering"[27] |
| 2020–21 | Lucifer | God | 5 episodes |
| 2021 | Masters of the Universe: Revelation | King Grayskull | Voice, episode: "The Forge at the Forest of Forever"[23] |
| 2021–present | American Justice | Narrator | 23 episodes |
| 2023 | Paul T. Goldman | Agent Portman | 3 episodes |
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2004 | Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Pandora Tomorrow | Irving Lambert[23] | |
| Call of Duty: Finest Hour | Narrator | ||
| 2006 | 24: The Game | David Palmer[23] |
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 | Race | Henry Brown |
