# Glynn Turman

Glynn Turman (born January 31, 1947) is an American actor. First coming to attention as a child actor in the original 1959 Broadway production of A Raisin in the Sun, Turman is known for his roles as Lew Miles on the prime-time soap opera Peyton Place (1968–1969), high school student Leroy "Preach" Jackson in the 1975 coming-of-age film Cooley High, math professor and retired Army colonel Bradford Taylor on the NBC sitcom A Different World (1988–1993), and Baltimore mayor Clarence Royce on the HBO drama series The Wire. He received the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series for his role on the HBO drama series In Treatment.
Turman also portrayed Jeremiah Kaan on the Showtime series House of Lies, Doctor Senator in the fourth season of the FX black comedy crime drama series Fargo, and starred in the 2020 Netflix film Ma Rainey's Black Bottom.

## Early life

Turman was born in New York City. According to a DNA analysis, Turman shares maternal ancestry with the Edo people of Nigeria. Turman studied at High School of Performing Arts located in the Manhattan burrough of New York City, graduating in 1965.

## Career

Turman had his first prominent acting role at the age of 12 as Travis Younger in the original Broadway production of Lorraine Hansberry's classic play, A Raisin in the Sun, opposite Sidney Poitier, Ruby Dee, Claudia McNeil, Ivan Dixon, Louis Gossett Jr., Lonne Elder III, John Fiedler and Diana Sands. After graduating high school, he apprenticed in regional and repertory companies throughout the US, including Tyrone Guthrie's Repertory Theatre, in which he performed in late 1960s productions of Good Boys, Harper's Ferry, The Visit, and The House of Atreus. He made his Los Angeles stage debut in William Hanley’s Slow Dance on the Killing Ground. A 1974 performance in The Wine Sellers earned him a Los Angeles Critics Award nomination and a Dramalogue Award. The play was also produced on Broadway as What The Wine Sellers Buy.
Turman won his first NAACP Image Award for his work in the play Eyes of the American. He received his second NAACP Image award for directing Deadwood Dick at the Inner City Cultural Center in Los Angeles.
On television, he has directed episodes of The Parent 'Hood, Hangin' with Mr. Cooper, A Different World, and The Wayans Bros.
Turman began his film career in the 1970s with blaxploitation flicks including Five on the Black Hand Side (1973), Thomasine & Bushrod (1974) and Together Brothers (1974), then progressed to roles in Cooley High (1975), plus The River Niger (1976), J. D.'s Revenge (1976) and A Hero Ain't Nothin' but a Sandwich (1978). TV movies included Carter's Army, the prestigious Centennial, Attica, and Minstrel Man, for which he won his third NAACP Image Award.
Turman appeared in TV movies Race to Freedom: The Underground Railroad in 1994, Buffalo Soldiers, and Freedom Song. More notable films include Penitentiary II (1982), Gremlins (1984), Deep Cover (1992), How Stella Got Her Groove Back (1998), Men of Honor (2000), Sahara (2005), Kings of the Evening (2007), Burlesque (2010) and Super 8 (2011). In 2004, he joined the HBO series The Wire portraying the recurring role of Mayor Clarence Royce, becoming a full-time regular in 2006. His portrayal of Mayor Royce earned him an NAACP Image Award nomination for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series in 2007.
Since The Wire, Turman guest-starred as a patient in the Scrubs episode "My Last Words". Turman's other television appearances include Hawaii Five-O (as Harley Dartson, 1973, "Tricks Are Not Treats"), the Twilight Zone segment "Paladin of the Lost Hour" (co-starring Danny Kaye with a script by Harlan Ellison), Matlock, Millennium, and the sitcom All of Us. In 2008, he won a Primetime Emmy award for his guest appearance on the HBO series In Treatment. He appeared in the ABC series Detroit 1-8-7. He has performed and produced a one-man show, Movin' Man, about his life.
Turman auditioned for the role of Han Solo in Star Wars. In a 2007 interview, Turman recalled: "That was in George Lucas' book. Apparently George Lucas had me in mind for the role, and then thought that there might be too much controversy between a white Princess Leia and a black Han Solo – because those were the times – and he didn't want to get into that. At the time, I had no idea. I just went to the audition, did it and got out of there." In 2012, he began appearing in House of Lies on Showtime as the father of the characters played by Don Cheadle and Larenz Tate. In 2016, he appeared in the Oprah Winfrey Network TV show Queen Sugar in which he played the father, Ernest Bordelon.
In 2017, Turman was cast as Nate Lahey Sr. in 10 episodes in seasons 4 and 5 of the ABC drama How to Get Away With Murder. His character is the imprisoned father of Nate Lahey (Billy Brown), a former police officer, detective and lover to series star Annalise Keating (Viola Davis). In 2018, Turman appeared on the legal drama Suits as Vic.
Turman recently appeared in the ABC limited series Women of the Movement in 2021, playing Mose Wright, Emmett Till's great-uncle. Truman also makes a cameo appearance as Mickey in 80 for Brady opposite Rita Moreno, Lily Tomlin, Jane Fonda and Sally Field.
Turman founded Camp Gid D Up to teach horse skills and values to urban youth in southern California and has been co-grand marshal for the Bill Pickett Invitational Rodeo, celebrating black cowboys, for nearly 40 years.

## Filmography
### Film

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 1971 | Honky | Sailor | |
| 1972 | A.W.O.L. | Mohammed G. | |
| 1973 | Five on the Black Hand Side | Gideon Brooks | |
| 1974 | Thomasine & Bushrod | Jomo J. Anderson | |
| 1974 | The Nine Lives of Fritz the Cat | (voice) | |
| 1974 | Together Brothers | Dr. Johnson | |
| 1975 | Cooley High | Leroy "Preach" Jackson | |
| 1976 | The River Niger | Jeff Williams | |
| 1976 | J. D.'s Revenge | Isaac "Ike" Hendrix | |
| 1977 | The Serpent's Egg | Monroe | |
| 1978 | A Hero Ain't Nothin' but a Sandwich | Nigeria | |
| 1982 | Penitentiary II | Charles Johnson | |
| 1984 | Gremlins | Roy Hanson | |
| 1986 | Out of Bounds | Lieutenant Delgado | |
| 1992 | Deep Cover | Russell Stevens Sr. | |
| 1994 | The Inkwell | Spencer Phillips | |
| 1996 | Subterfuge | Stallworth Hubbs | |
| 1996 | Psalms from the Underground | - | Short |
| 1998 | How Stella Got Her Groove Back | Dr. Shakespeare | |
| 1999 | Light It Up | Principal Allan Armstrong | |
| 2000 | The Visit | Parole Board Member Reingold | |
| 2000 | Men of Honor | Chief Floyd | |
| 2001 | Air Rage | Ted Bigelow | Video |
| 2004 | The Seat Filler | Derrick's Dad | |
| 2005 | Sahara | Dr. Frank Hopper | |
| 2007 | City Teacher | Kevin Sawyer | |
| 2007 | Kings of the Evening | Clarence Brown | |
| 2009 | Preaching to the Pastor | Bishop Hightower | |
| 2010 | Takers | Chief Detective Duncan | |
| 2010 | Burlesque | Harold Saint | |
| 2011 | Bright | Beamon | Short |
| 2011 | Supremacy | Frank Walker | Short |
| 2011 | Super 8 | Dr. Woodward | |
| 2011 | Forcin' the Blues | - | Short |
| 2012 | John Dies at the End | Detective Appleton | |
| 2012 | Who Killed Soul Glow? | - | |
| 2012 | The Obama Effect | Slim Sugar | |
| 2012 | The Pastor's Secrets | - | |
| 2013 | Act Like You Love Me | David | |
| 2014 | Dakota's Summer | Isaac Benson | |
| 2015 | Last Chance | Judge Kramer | Short |
| 2016 | Juney Smith's Black American Film Collection | City Teacher 1 | Video |
| 2016 | Race | Harry Davis | |
| 2018 | Solace | Clay | |
| 2018 | Bumblebee | General Whalen | |
| 2019 | Windows on the World | Lou | |
| 2019 | Justine | Papa Don | |
| 2019 | Sextuplets | Leland | |
| 2020 | The Way Back | Doc | |
| 2020 | Ma Rainey's Black Bottom | Toledo | |
| 2022 | The Devil You Know | Lloyd Cowans | |
| 2023 | 80 for Brady | Mickey | |
| 2023 | Rustin | A. Philip Randolph | |
| 2023 | Outlaw Johnny Black | Bullseye Black | |
| 2024 | Horizon: An American Saga – Chapter 2 | | |
| TBA | Horizon: An American Saga – Chapter 3 | | Filming |

### Television

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 1961 | The Play of the Week | - | Episode: "Black Monday" |
| 1968 | Daktari | Usumbu | Episode: "Once Upon a Fang" |
| 1968–69 | Peyton Place | Lew Miles | Main cast (season 5) |
| 1969 | Julia | Jimmy James | Episode: "The Undergraduate" & "For Whom the Wedding Bell Tolls" |
| 1969 | CBS Playhouse | Jackson | Episode: "Sadbird" |
| 1970–71 | Room 222 | Vic | Episode: "Dreams of Glory" & "Opportunity Room" |
| 1970 | Carter's Army | Pvt. George Brightman | TV movie |
| 1971 | In Search of America | Bodhi | TV movie |
| 1971 | Storefront Lawyers | - | Episode: "Marathon" |
| 1971 | Insight | Sam | Episode: "Bird on the Mast" |
| 1972 | The Mod Squad | Lonnie | Episode: "Kill Gently, Sweet Jessie" |
| 1972 | The Doris Day Show | Chris Davis | Episode: "The Great Talent Raid" |
| 1973 | Cannon | Jamal | Episode: "Deadly Heritage" |
| 1973 | Hawaii Five-O | Harley Dartson | Episode: "Tricks Are Not Treats" |
| 1973 | The Rookies | Jimmy Webster | Episode: "Blood Brother" |
| 1975 | Ceremonies in Dark Old Men | Theo | TV movie |
| 1975 | The Blue Knight | Edwin Beall | Episode: "Pilot" |
| 1976–78 | Visions | Axis | Episode: "The Tapestry/Circles" & "Charlie Smith and the Fritter Tree" |
| 1977 | Minstrel Man | Harry Brown, Jr. | TV movie |
| 1977 | The Tony Randall Show | William | Episode: "New Found Franklin" |
| 1978 | ABC Afterschool Special | Lenny Johnson | Episode: "The Rag Tag Champs" |
| 1978 | Katie: Portrait of a Centerfold | Preston de Cordiva | TV movie |
| 1978 | The Paper Chase | Raymond Livingston | Episode: "Moot Court" |
| 1978–79 | Centennial | Nate Person | Miniseries |
| 1980 | Attica | Raymond Franklin | TV movie |
| 1980 | The White Shadow | Ron Taylor | Episode: "A Few Good Men" |
| 1980 | Palmerstown, U.S.A. | C.J. Freeman | Episode: "The Old Sister" |
| 1981 | Thornwell | James Thornwell | TV movie |
| 1982 | The Greatest American Hero | Captain Le Clerc | Episode: "The Devil and the Deep Blue Sea" |
| 1982 | Cass Malloy | Officer Woodrow Freeman | Pilot for She's the Sheriff |
| 1982 | Fame | Ben Pettit | Episode: "Class Act" |
| 1983 | Manimal | Ty Earl | Episode: "Manimal" |
| 1983 | Lottery! | - | Episode: "Detroit: The Price of Freedom" |
| 1984 | The Love Boat | Tyrone | Episode: "Ace's Valet/Mother Comes First/Hit or Miss America" |
| 1984 | Fantasy Island | Joe Wilson | Episode: "Bojangles and the Dancer/Deuces Are Wild" |
| 1984 | Secrets of a Married Man | Jesse | TV movie |
| 1984 | T. J. Hooker | Norman Powell | Episode: "Anatomy of a Killing" |
| 1984 | Hot Pursuit | Mitch Simpson | Episode: "Goodbye... I Love You" |
| 1984 | This Is the Life | - | Episode: "Reprise for the Lord" |
| 1985 | Riptide | Tyrone Diamond | Episode: "Prisoner of War" |
| 1985 | American Playhouse | Joshua | Episode: "Charlotte Forten's Mission: Experiment in Freedom" |
| 1985 | Detective in the House | - | Episode: "Whatever Happened To...?" |
| 1985 | Hail to the Chief | LaRue Hawkes | Episode: "Pilot" |
| 1985 | The Twilight Zone | Billy Kinetta | Episode: "Teacher's Aide/Paladin of the Lost Hour" |
| 1985 | The Grand Baby | - | TV movie |
| 1985 | Murder, She Wrote | Ben Coleman | Episode: "Murder to a Jazz Beat" |
| 1986 | The Redd Foxx Show | Rod Tyler | Episode: "High School Blues" |
| 1986 | The Magical World of Disney | Lloyd Lyman | Episode: "Ask Max" |
| 1986 | Murder, She Wrote | Stan Lassiter | Episode: "Deadline for Murder" |
| 1987 | Matlock | Maj. Dennis Orlando | Episode: "The Court-Martial: Part 1 & 2" |
| 1987 | CBS Summer Playhouse | Roger Donnely | Episode: "Doctors Wilde" |
| 1987 | J.J. Starbuck | Lt. Caspersons | Episode: "Pilot" |
| 1989 | Murder, She Wrote | Earl Browder | Episode: "Jack and Bill" |
| 1988–93 | A Different World | Colonel Bradford Taylor | Main cast (season 2-6) |
| 1990 | Freddy's Nightmares | Dr. Redman | Episode: "Life Sentence" |
| 1994 | Race to Freedom: The Underground Railroad | Solomon | TV movie |
| 1994 | Someone Else's Child | Judge Roullard | TV movie |
| 1996 | The Lazarus Man | - | Episode: "Panorama" |
| 1996 | Rebound: The Legend of Earl "The Goat" Manigault | Coach Powell | TV movie |
| 1996 | Circle of Pain | - | TV movie |
| 1997 | Millennium | James Glen | Episode: "Wide Open" |
| 1997 | Buffalo Soldiers | Sgt. Joshua 'Joyu' Judges Ruth | TV movie |
| 1999 | The Magnificent Seven | Achilles Thompson | Episode: "Achilles" |
| 2000 | Freedom Song | T-Bone Lanier | TV movie |
| 2000 | Strange World | Wade Beecher | Episode: "Skin" |
| 2000 | Touched by an Angel | Sheriff Ernie Guthrie | Episode: "Finger of God" |
| 2000–02 | Resurrection Blvd. | Bobby Davis | Recurring cast |
| 2001 | Fire & Ice | Robert Aimes Sr. | TV movie |
| 2001 | Big Apple | Ted Olsen | Main cast |
| 2001 | JAG | Sub Captain | Episode: "Mixed Messages" |
| 2003 | The Lyon's Den | Phil Cherot | Episode: "Duty to Save" |
| 2003 | Law & Order: Criminal Intent | Roy Hines | Episode: "Pravda" |
| 2004–05 | The Bernie Mac Show | Carl McCullough | Episode: "Family Reunion" & "Who Gives This Bride" |
| 2004–08 | The Wire | Mayor Clarence V. Royce | Recurring cast (season 3), main cast (season 4), guest (season 5) |
| 2006 | Law & Order: Special Victims Unit | Dr. Young | Episode: "Infected" |
| 2006 | All of Us | Earl James | Recurring cast (season 4) |
| 2008 | Murder 101 | Sheriff Bob Monroe | Episode: "New Age" |
| 2008 | Players at the Poker Palace | Black Bart | Episode: "The Shoot Out" |
| 2008 | Night Life | - | TV movie |
| 2008 | Cold Case | Al Towert | Episode: "Glory Days" |
| 2008 | ER | Mr. Holmes | Episode: "Parental Guidance" |
| 2008–09 | In Treatment | Alex Prince, Sr. | Supporting cast: season 1-2 |
| 2009 | Scrubs | George Valentine | Episode: "My Last Words" |
| 2009 | Southland | Captain | Episode: "Two Gangs" |
| 2009 | FlashForward | Senator Noland | Episode: "Gimme Some Truth" |
| 2010 | Detroit 1-8-7 | Reverend Clinton P. Huey | Episode: "Shelter" |
| 2010–11 | The Defenders | Judge Bob Owens | Recurring cast |
| 2011 | Funny or Die Presents | Chief Huckey | Episode #2.10 |
| 2012 | Alcatraz | Emmitt Little | Episode: "Clarence Montgomery" |
| 2012 | NCIS: Los Angeles | James Pierce | Episode: "Out of the Past" |
| 2012 | Revolution | Major David Kipling | Episode: "Nobody's Fault But Mine" |
| 2012–16 | House of Lies | Jeremiah Kaan | Main cast |
| 2013 | Criminal Minds | Charles Johnson | Episode: "Strange Fruit" |
| 2015 | Proof | Colonel James Tyler | Episode: "St. Luke's" |
| 2016–22 | Queen Sugar | Ernest Bordelon | 3 episodes |
| 2017 | Graves | Lenny | Episode: "Not All Who Wander Are Lost" & "Spark Meet Gasoline" |
| 2017 | Brothered Up | Frank Williams | TV movie |
| 2018 | Suits | Vic | Episode: "Bad Man" |
| 2018–19 | How to Get Away with Murder | Nate Lahey Sr. | Recurring cast (season 4-5) |
| 2019 | Better Things | Rocket | Episode: "Nesting" |
| 2019 | Documentary Now! | Julius Baxter | Episode: "Long Gone" |
| 2019 | American Gods | Reverend Hutchins | Episode: "The Ways of the Dead" |
| 2019 | The Red Line | Nathan Gordon | Recurring cast |
| 2019 | Claws | Calvin Sims | Recurring cast (season 3) |
| 2019 | Mr. Mercedes | Judge Bernard Raines | Recurring cast (season 3) |
| 2019 | Power | Gabriel | Episode: "No One Can Stop Me" |
| 2020 | Black-ish | Billy Blade | Episode: "Earl, Interrupted" |
| 2020 | Close Enough | (voice) | Episode: "Prank War/Cool Moms" |
| 2020 | Power Book II: Ghost | Gabriel | Episode: "Exceeding Expectations" |
| 2020 | Fargo | Doctor Senator | Recurring cast (season 4) |
| 2021–23 | Stillwater | Mr. Morgan (voice) | 2 episodes |
| 2022–23 | The Proud Family: Louder and Prouder | Pa (voice) | 2 episodes |
| 2022 | Women of the Movement | Mose Wright | Main role |
| 2022 | FBI: Most Wanted | Terry Daniels | Episode: "Greatest Hits" |
| 2022 | Guillermo del Toro's Cabinet of Curiosities | Sheriff Nate Craven | Episode: "The Autopsy" |
| 2023 | Black Cake | Charles Mitch | Recurring role |
| 2023–24 | Percy Jackson and the Olympians | Chiron | Recurring role |
| 2024 | The Big Cigar | Walter Newton | Upcoming miniseries |
| 2025 | Paradise (2025 TV series) | Xavier's Father | Episode: "The Architect of Social Well-Being" |

### Podcasts

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 2020 | Day by Day | Rex (voice) | Episode: "Two Turtles" |

## Awards and nominations

| Year | Award | Category | Title | Result | Ref. |
| 2007 | NAACP Image Awards | Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series | The Wire | Nominated | |
| 2008 | Primetime Emmy Awards | Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series | In Treatment | Won | |
| 2008 | San Diego Black Film Festival | Best Supporting Actor | Kings of the Evening | Won | |
| 2015 | NAACP Image Awards | Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series | House of Lies | Nominated | |
| 2019 | Primetime Emmy Awards | Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series | How to Get Away with Murder | Nominated | |
| 2020 | Los Angeles Film Critics Association | Best Supporting Actor | Ma Rainey's Black Bottom | Won | |
| 2020 | National Society of Film Critics | Best Supporting Actor | Ma Rainey's Black Bottom | Runner-up | |
| 2021 | Critics' Choice Television Awards | Best Supporting Actor in a Movie/Miniseries | Fargo | Nominated | |
| 2021 | Critics' Choice Movie Awards | Best Acting Ensemble | Ma Rainey's Black Bottom | Nominated | |
| 2021 | Independent Spirit Awards | Best Supporting Male | Ma Rainey's Black Bottom | Nominated | |
| 2021 | NAACP Image Awards | Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture | Ma Rainey's Black Bottom | Nominated | [20] [21] |
| 2021 | NAACP Image Awards | Outstanding Ensemble Cast in a Motion Picture | Ma Rainey's Black Bottom | Won | [20] [21] |
| 2021 | Screen Actors Guild Awards | Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture | Ma Rainey's Black Bottom | Nominated | |