Danny Glover

Danny Lebern Glover (/ˈɡlʌvər/; born July 22, 1946) is an American actor, film director, and political activist. He is known for his lead role as Roger Murtaughin the Lethal Weapon film series. He also has leading roles in the films The Color Purple (1985), To Sleep with Anger (1990), Predator 2 (1990), Angels in the Outfield (1994) and Operation Dumbo Drop (1995). Glover has prominent supporting roles in Silverado (1985), Witness (1985), Saw (2004), Shooter (2007), 2012 (2009), Death at a Funeral (2010), Beyond the Lights (2014), Dirty Grandpa (2016), and Sorry to Bother You (2018). He has appeared in many other films, television shows, and theatrical productions, and is an active supporter of various humanitarian and political causes.
== Early life ==
Glover was born in San Francisco, the son of Carrie (Hunley) and James Glover.[1] His parents, who worked as postal workers, were highly active in the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), working to advance equal rights.[2] Glover's mother, daughter of a midwife, was born in Louisville, Georgia and graduated from Paine College in Augusta, Georgia.[3] As an adolescent and a young adult, Glover suffered from epilepsy but has not suffered a seizure since age 35.[4] He attended George Washington High Schoolin San Francisco.[citation needed] He attended San Francisco State University(SFSU) in the late 1960s but did not graduate. SFSU later awarded him an honorary degree.[5] Glover trained at the Black Actors' Workshop of the American Conservatory Theater.[6]
== Career ==
Glover originally worked in city administration working on community development[citation needed] before transitioning to theater. He has said:
His first theater involvement was with the American Conservatory Theater, a regional training program in San Francisco.[8] Glover also trained with Jean Shelton at the Shelton Actors Lab in San Francisco. In an interview on Inside the Actors Studio, Glover credited Jean Shelton for much of his development as an actor. Deciding that he wanted to be an actor, Glover resigned from his city administration job and soon began his career as a stage actor. Glover then moved to Los Angeles for more opportunities in acting, where he would later go on to co-found the Robey Theatre Company with actor Ben Guillory in honor of the actor and concert singer Paul Robeson in Los Angeles in 1994.[citation needed]
Glover has had a variety of film, stage, and television roles, and is best known for playing Los Angeles police Sergeant Roger Murtaugh in the Lethal Weaponseries of action films, starring alongside Mel Gibson, and Joe Pesci. Later he once again starred with Gary Busey in the blockbuster Predator 2. He also starred as the husband to Whoopi Goldberg's character Celie in the celebrated literary adaptation The Color Purple, and as Lieutenant James McFee in the film Witness. In 1994 he made his directorial debut with the Showtime channel short film Override.
Also in 1994, Glover and actor Ben Guillory founded the Robey Theatre Companyin Los Angeles, focusing on theatre by and about Black people. During his career, he has made several cameos, appearing, for example, in the Michael Jackson video "Liberian Girl" of 1987. Glover earned top billing for the first time in Predator 2, the sequel to the-science-fiction action film Predator. That same year he starred in Charles Burnett's To Sleep with Anger, for which he won the Independent Spirit Award for Best Male Lead.
In common with Humphrey Bogart, Elliott Gould, and Robert Mitchum, who have played Raymond Chandler's private eye detective Philip Marlowe, Glover played the role in the episode "Red Wind" of the Showtime network's 1995 series Fallen Angels. In 1997, under his former production company banner Carrie Films, Glover executive produced numerous films of first time directors including Pamm Malveaux's neo-noir short film Final Act starring Joe Morton, which aired on the Independent Film Channel. In addition, Glover has been a voice actor in many children's movies. Glover was featured in the popular 2001 film The Royal Tenenbaums, also starring Gwyneth Paltrow, Anjelica Huston, Ben Stiller and Owen Wilson.
In 2004, he appeared in the low-budget horror film Saw as Detective David Tapp. In 2005, Glover and Joslyn Barnes announced plans to make No FEAR,[9] a film about Dr. Marsha Coleman-Adebayo's experience. Coleman-Adebayo won a 2000 jury trial against the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The jury found the EPA guilty of violating the civil rights of Coleman-Adebayo on the basis of race, sex, color and a hostile work environment, under the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Coleman-Adebayo was terminated shortly after she revealed the environmental and human disaster taking place in the Brits, South Africa, vanadium mines. Her experience inspired passage of the Notification and Federal Employee Anti-discrimination and Retaliation Act of 2002 (No-FEAR Act). As of 2013 the No Fear title has not appeared but The Marsha Coleman-Adebayo Story was announced as the next major project of No Fear Media Productions.[10]
Glover portrayed David Keaton in the film The Exonerated - a real-life story of Keaton's experience of being arrested, jailed and then freed from death row.
In 2009, Glover performed in The People Speak a documentary feature film that uses dramatic and musical performances of the letters, diaries, and speeches of everyday Americans, based on historian Howard Zinn's "A People's History of the United States".[11]
Glover played President Wilson, the President of the United States in 2012, a disaster film directed by Roland Emmerich and released in theaters November 13, 2009. In 2010, Glover participated in a Spanish film called I Want to Be a Soldier. In 2012, he starred in the film Donovan's Echo.
Glover co-starred in the science fiction comedy film Sorry to Bother You,[12]which was released in theaters on July 6, 2018.[13]
=== Planned directorial debut ===
Glover sought to make a film biography of Toussaint Louverture for his directorial debut. In May 2006, the film had included cast members Wesley Snipes, Angela Bassett, Don Cheadle, Jonathan Rhys Meyers, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Roger Guenveur Smith, Mos Def, Isaach de Bankolé, and Richard Bohringer. Production, estimated to cost $30 million, was planned to begin in Poland, filming from late 2006 into early 2007.[14] In May 2007, President of VenezuelaHugo Chávez contributed $18 million to fund the production of Toussaint for Glover, who is a prominent U.S. supporter of Chávez. The contribution annoyed some Venezuelan filmmakers, who said the money could have funded other homegrown films and that Glover's film was not even about Venezuela.[15][16] In April 2008, the Venezuelan National Assembly authorized an additional $9,840,505 for Glover's film, which is still in planning.[17]
=== Public appearances ===
Glover appeared at London Film and Comic Con 2013 at Earls Court 2 over 2.5 days during Friday 5th to Sunday, July 7. He participated in a panel discussion in McComb, Mississippi on July 16, 2015.[18] The event, co-sponsored by The Gloster Project and Jubilee Performing Arts Center, included noted authors Terry McMillan and Quincy Troupe.
On January 30, 2015, Glover was the Keynote Speaker and 2015 Honoree for the MLK Celebration Series at the Rhode Island School of Design (Providence, RI). Glover used his career and personal story to speak on the topic "Creativity and Democracy: Social Change through the Arts." At the University of the Virgin Islands, Glover gave a heartwarming speech that encouraged the graduates in their upcoming journey.[19]
It was announced in July 2018 that Glover will be the featured guest at the Port Townsend Film Festival in Washington State.
== Personal life ==
Glover married Asake Bomani in 1975 and they have a daughter, Mandisa, born in 1976. Glover and Bomani divorced in 1999. Glover married Eliane Cavalleiro in 2009.
Glover purchased a 6,000-square-foot (560 m2) house in Dunthorpe, Oregon, in 1999.[20][21] As of 2011, he no longer lived in Oregon.[22]
On April 16, 2010, Glover was arrested in Maryland during a protest by SEIUworkers for Sodexo's alleged unfair and illegal treatment of workers.[23] He was given a citation and later released. The Associated Press reports "Glover and others stepped past yellow police tape and were asked to step back three times at Sodexo headquarters. When they refused, Starks says officers arrested them."[24]
== Activism ==
=== Civil rights activism ===
While attending San Francisco State University (SFSU), Glover was a member of the Black Students' Union,[25] which, along with the Third World Liberation Front and the American Federation of Teachers, collaborated in a five-month student-led strike to establish a Department of Black Studies. The strike was the longest student walkout in U.S. history.[26] It helped create not only the first Department of Black Studies but also the first School of Ethnic Studies in the United States.
Hari Dillon, current president of the Vanguard Public Foundation, was a fellow striker at SFSU. Glover later co-chaired Vanguard's board. He is also a board member of the Algebra Project, the Black AIDS Institute, Walden House and Cheryl Byron's Something Positive Dance Group. He was charged with disorderly conduct and unlawful assembly after being arrested outside the Sudanese Embassy in Washington during a protest over Sudan's humanitarian crisis in Darfur.[27]
In 1999, he used his leverage as a former San Francisco cab driver to raise awareness about African Americans being passed over for white passengers. In response, Rudolph Giuliani launched Operation Refusal, which suspended the licenses of cab drivers who favored white passengers over black ones.
Glover's long history of union activism includes support for the United Farm Workers, UNITE HERE, and numerous service unions.[28] In March 2010, Glover supported 375 Union workers in Ohio by calling upon all actors at the 2010 Academy Awards to boycott Hugo Boss suits following announcement of Hugo Boss's decision to close a manufacturing plant in Ohio after a proposed pay decrease from $13 to $8.30 an hour was rejected by the Workers United Union.[29]
On November 1, 2011, Glover spoke to the crowd at Occupy Oakland on the day before the Oakland General Strike where thousands of protestors shut down the Port of Oakland.[30]
=== Political activism ===
Play media
Glover was an early supporter of former North Carolina Senator John Edwardsin the 2008 Democratic presidential primaries until Edwards' withdrawal,[31]although some news reports indicated that he had endorsed Ohio Congressman Dennis Kucinich,[32] whom he had endorsed in 2004.[33] After Edwards dropped out, Glover then endorsed Barack Obama.[34] In February 2016, Glover endorsed Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders for the Democratic presidential nomination.[35]
Glover was an outspoken critic of George W. Bush, calling him a known racist. "Yes, he's racist. We all knew that. As Texas's governor, Bush led a penitentiary system that executed more people than all the other U.S. states together. And most of the people who died were Afro-Americans or Hispanics."[36]
Glover's support of California Proposition 7 (2008) led him to use his voice in an automated phone call to generate support for the measure before the election.[37]
On the foreign policy of the Obama administration, Glover said: "I think the Obama administration has followed the same playbook, to a large extent, almost verbatim, as the Bush administration. I don't see anything different... On the domestic side, look here: What's so clear is that this country from the outset is projecting the interests of wealth and property. Look at the bailout of Wall Street. Why not the bailout of Main Street? He may be just a different face, and that face may happen to be black, and if it were Hillary Clinton, it would happen to be a woman.... But what choices do they have within the structure?"[38]
Glover wrote the foreword to Phyllis Bennis' book, Challenging Empire: How People, Governments, and the UN Defy US Power.[citation needed] Glover is also a member of the board of directors of the Center for Economic and Policy Research, a think tank led by economist Dean Baker.
=== International ===
==== Africa ====
Glover is an active board member of the TransAfrica Forum.[39] On April 6, 2009, Glover was given a chieftaincy title in Imo State, Nigeria.[40] Glover was given the title Enyioma of Nkwerre, which means A Good Friend in the language of the Igbo people of Eastern Nigeria.
==== Brazil ====
In 2018, Glover, as the UN Goodwill Ambassador, met with Lula to express solidarity and support for his presidential candidacy. During a trip to Brazil, he also met with the family of Marielle Franco, the City Council member and LGBTactivist murdered in Rio de Janeiro.[41]
==== Caribbean and HaitiEdit ====
On January 13, 2010, Glover compared the scale and devastation of the 2010 Haiti earthquake to the predicament other island nations may face as a result of the failed Copenhagen summit the previous year. Glover said: "...the threat of what happens to Haiti is a threat that can happen anywhere in the Caribbean to these island nations... they're all in peril because of global warming... because of climate change... when we did what we did at the climate summit in Copenhagen, this is the response, this is what happens..."[42] In the same statement, he called for a new form of international partnership with Haiti and other Caribbean nations and praised Venezuela, Brazil, and Cuba, for already accepting this partnership.
==== Iraq War ====
Danny Glover has been an outspoken critic of the Iraq War before the war began in March 2003. In February 2003, he was one of the featured speakers at Justin Herman Plaza in San Francisco where other notable speakers included names such as author Alice Walker, singer Joan Baez, United Farm Workers co-founder Dolores Huerta and Rep. Barbara Lee, D-Oakland. Glover was a signatory to the April 2003 anti-war letter "To the Conscience of the World" that criticized the unilateral American invasion of Iraq that led to "massive loss of civilian life" and "devastation of one of the cultural patrimonies of humanity".[43] During an anti-war demonstration in Downtown Oakland in March 2003, Glover praised the community leaders for their anti-war efforts saying that "They're on the front lines because they are trying to make a better America.... The world has come together and said 'no' to this war – and we must stand with them."
==== Venezuela ====
In January 2006, Harry Belafonte led a delegation of activists, including Glover and activist/professor Cornel West, in a meeting with President of VenezuelaHugo Chávez. In 2006, Glover began working on a film about Toussaint Louverture, who led the 18th century revolt in Haiti. It was reported that Chavez supported the film, "hoping the historical epic will sprinkle Hollywood stardust on his effort to mobilise world public opinion against imperialism and western oppression."[44][45] In 2007, Glover agreed with Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez that the Touissant Louverture film would be financed by Venezuela. On May 19, 2007, the National Assembly of Venezuela approved $18,000,000 that, according to the Venezuelan government, was delivered to Danny Glover to begin filming.[46] The following year, on April 9, 2008, the National Assembly of Venezuela, at the request of the Chávez, approved another $9,000,000 to be handed to Glover in order to "continue" the filming of the film about Touissant. Surprisingly, in an interview dated January 5, 2015, published in Filmmakermagazine, Glover says, “The film that we always missed is a movie on the Haitian revolution and Toussaint Louverture. The company is fortuitously named after him and that was the movie that I wanted to do. We’ve developed a script. We thought we were going to get it done four years ago. We thought we were going to be making it right now. But also there are other kinds of things that intrigue me.” There is no mention by Danny Glover of the millions of dollars that he received from the government of Hugo Chávez.[47] The total amount disbursed by Venezuela was $28,000,000,[48] however the film has still never been made.
Glover was also a board member of TeleSUR, a media network primarily funded by the Venezuelan government.[44] During the beginning of the 2014 Venezuela Protests, Glover shared his support to Chávez's successor, President Nicolas Maduro, calling members of his government "the stewards" of Venezuela's democracy. Glover also told Venezuelan government supporters to go fight for the sovereignty of Maduro's government.[49] Through the crisis in Bolivarian Venezuela, Glover continued to show his support for the Bolivarian government and President Maduro's administration.[48]
==== Israel ====
On September 2, 2009, Glover signed an open letter of objection to the inclusion of a series of films intended to showcase Tel Aviv at the Toronto International Film Festival.[50]
=== Music ===
Glover has become an active member of board of directors of The Jazz Foundation of America.[51] Danny became involved with The Jazz Foundation in 2005, and has been a featured host for their annual benefit A Great Night in Harlem[52] for several years, as well appearing as a celebrity MC at other events for the foundation. In 2006, Britain's leading African theatre company Tiata Fahodzi appointed Glover as one of its three Patrons, joining Chiwetel Ejioforand Jocelyn Jee Esien opening the organization's tenth-anniversary celebrations (Sunday, February 2, 2008) at the Theatre Royal Stratford East, London.
== Honors and awards ==
In 2010, Glover delivered the Commencement Address and was awarded an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree from Utah State University.[53]
Also in 2010, Starr King School for the Ministry awarded the Doctorate of Humane Letters (Litterarum Humanarum Doctor), in absentia, to Mr. Glover. His call to humanity to see itself as the recipient of a legacy of caring and commitment that began with prior parental and religious communities and that it should carry on for the sake of those who will follow are in alignment with Starr King's values. Mr. Glover was awarded the doctorate specifically for his long history of passionate activism, including support for the United Farm Workers, UNITE HERE, The Algebra Project, The Black AIDS Institute, as well as his humanitarian efforts on behalf of the Haiti earthquake victims, literacy and civil rights and his fight against unjust labor practices. Mr. Glover is co-founder and CEO of Louverture Films, dedicated to the development and production of films of historical relevance, social purpose, commercial value and artistic integrity; we honored his commitment to using film to lift up and advance social justice issues, such as his then recently released project "Trouble the Water", a documentary about New Orleans in the aftermath of hurricane Katrina. Glover has had a close association with Starr King School through his role as guest lecturer in its course on Non Violent Social Change and lending his support and presence to events sponsored by Starr King's Masters of Arts in Social Change (MASC) program.
He was also the recipient of a tribute paid by the Deauville American Film Festival in France on September 7, 2011.[citation needed]
Glover was awarded the Cuban National Medal of Friendship by the Cuban Council of State on December 29, 2016 in a ceremony in Havana for his solidarity with the Cuban 5 during their time of incarceration in the United States.[54][55][56]
== Filmography ==
=== Film ===
Year 	Title 	Role 	Notes 	
1979 	Escape from Alcatraz 	Inmate 	Acting debut 	
1981 	Chu Chu and the Philly Flash 	Morgan 	 	
1982 	Deadly Drifter 	Jojo/Roland 	Alternative title: Out 	
1984 	Iceman 	Loomis 	 	
1984 	Places in the Heart 	Moze 	 	
1985 	Witness 	Det. Lt. James McFee 	 	
1985 	Silverado 	Malachi 'Mal' Johnson 	 	
1985 	The Color Purple 	Mr. Albert Johnson 	 	
1987 	Lethal Weapon 	Sergeant Roger Murtaugh 	 	
1988 	Bat*21 	Capt. Bartholomew Clark 	 	
1989 	Lethal Weapon 2 	Roger Murtaugh 	 	
1990 	To Sleep with Anger 	Harry 	Independent Spirit Award for Best Male Lead 	
1990 	Predator 2 	Lt. Mike Harrigan 	 	
1991 	Flight of the Intruder 	Cmdr. Frank 'Dooke' Camparelli 	 	
1991 	A Rage in Harlem 	Easy Money 	 	
1991 	Grand Canyon 	Simon 	 	
1991 	Pure Luck 	Raymond Campanella 	 	
1992 	Lethal Weapon 3 	Roger Murtaugh 	 	
1993 	The Saint of Fort Washington 	Jerry / Narrator 	 	
1993 	Bopha! 	Micah Mangena 	 	
1994 	Maverick 	Bank Robber 	Uncredited Cameo 	
1994 	Angels in the Outfield 	George Knox 	 	
1994 	Override 	 	Director, TV short 	
1995 	Operation Dumbo Drop 	Capt. Sam Cahill 	 	
1997 	Wild America 	Bigfoot 	Uncredited Cameo 	
1997 	The Rainmaker 	Judge Tyrone Kipler 	Uncredited Cameo 	
1997 	Gone Fishin' 	Gus Green 	 	
1997 	The Prince of Egypt 	Jethro 	Voice only 	
1997 	Switchback 	Bob Goodall 	 	
1997 	Antz 	Barbatus 	Voice only 	
1998 	Lethal Weapon 4 	Roger Murtaugh 	 	
1998 	Beloved 	Paul D. Garner 	 	
1999 	Our Friend, Martin 	Train Conductor 	Voice only 	
2000 	Boesman and Lena 	Boesman 	 	
2001 	3 A.M. 	Charles "Hershey" Riley 	 	
2001 	The Royal Tenenbaums 	Henry Sherman 	 	
2002 	Just a Dream 	 	Director
Nominated—Daytime Emmy Award[57] for Outstanding Directing for a Children/Youth/Family Special	
2004 	The Cookout 	Judge Crowley 	 	
2004 	Saw 	Detective David Tapp 	 	
2005 	Manderlay 	Wilhelm 	 	
2005 	Missing in America 	Jake Neeley 	 	
2006 	Bamako 	Cow-boy 	 	
2006 	Barnyard 	Miles 	Voice 	
2006 	The Shaggy Dog 	Ken Hollister 	 	
2006 	Dreamgirls 	Marty Madison 	 	
2007 	Shooter 	Colonel Isaac Johnson 	 	
2007 	Poor Boy's Game 	George 	Nominated—Genie Award for Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role 	
2007 	Battle for Terra 	President Chen 	Voice only 	
2007 	Honeydripper 	Tyrone Purvis 	 	
2007 	Miranda Regresa 	John Doe 	 	
2008 	Be Kind Rewind 	Mr. Fletcher 	 	
2008 	Gospel Hill 	John Malcolm 	 	
2008 	Tiny Tears 	Himself 	 	
2008 	Blindness 	Old man with the black eye patch/Narrator	 	
2008 	The Garden 	Himself 	 	
2008 	Saw V 	Detective David Tapp 	Cameo and archive footage from Saw 	
2008 	Unstable Fables: Tortoise vs. Hare 	Walter Tortoise 	Voice 	
2009 	Night Train 	Miles 	 	
2009 	Down for Life 	Mr. Shannon 	 	
2009 	The People Speak 	Himself 	Documentary 	
2009 	The Harimaya Bridge 	Joseph Holder 	 	
2009 	2012 	President Wilson 	Nominated—NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture	
2009 	At the End of Slavery 	Narrator 	 	
2010 	Stride 	James 'Honeybear' Powell 	 	
2010 	Death at a Funeral 	Uncle Russell 	 	
2010 	Dear Alice 	Franzis 	Original title: För kärleken 	
2010 	Legendary 	Harry "Red" Newman 	 	
2010 	Alpha and Omega 	Winston 	Voice 	
2010 	Son of Morning 	Gabriel Peters 	 	
2010 	Age of the Dragons 	Ahab 	 	
2010 	Mooz-lum 	Dean Francis 	 	
2010 	I Want to Be a Soldier 	The Principal 	 	
2010 	Five Minarets in New York 	Marcus 	Original title: New York'ta Beş Minare 	
2011 	Heart of Blackness 	Vaudreuil 	 	
2011 	Donovan's Echo 	Donovan 	 	
2012 	Highland Park 	Ed 	 	
2012 	LUV 	Arthur 	 	
2012 	Sins Expiation 	Father Leonard 	 	
2012 	The Savoy King: Chick Webb & the Music That Changed America 	Count Basie 	Voice 	
2013 	Space Warriors 	Commander 	 	
2013 	Chasing Shakespeare 	William Ward 	 	
2013[58]	Tula: The Revolt 	Shinishi[59] 	 	
2013 	Extraction 	Colonel[60] 	 	
2013 	Alpha and Omega 2: A Howl-iday Adventure 	Winston[61] 	 	
2014 	Bad Asses 	Bernie Pope 	 	
2014 	Rage 	Detective St. John 	 	
2014 	Beyond the Lights 	Captain David Nicol 	 	
2014 	Supremacy 	Mr. Walker 	 	
2014 	S.O.S - Sights of Death 	Sponge 	 	
2014 	Yellowbird 	Darius (voice) 	English version 	
2014 	Day of the Mummy 	Carl 	 	
2014 	2047: The Final War 	Sponge 	Italian film also known as 2047: Sights of Death 	
2015 	Bad Asses on the Bayou 	Bernie Pope 	 	
2015 	Checkmate 	Elohim 	 	
2015 	Gridlocked 	Sully 	 	
2015 	Waffle Street 	Edward Collins 	 	
2015 	About Scout 	Red Freston 	 	
2015 	Diablo 	Benjamin Carver 	 	
2015 	Andron 	Chancellor Gordon 	 	
2016 	Dirty Grandpa 	Stinky 	 	
2016 	Complete Unknown 	Roger 	 	
2016 	Back in the Day 	Eddie "Rocks" Travor 	 	
2016 	Mr. Pig 	Ambrose 	Nominated—Ariel Award for Best Actor 	
2016 	93 Days 	Dr. Benjamin Ohiaeri[62] 	 	
2016 	Almost Christmas 	Walter 	 	
2016 	Dark Web 	The Boss 	 	
2016 	Pushing Dead 	Bob 	 	
2016 	Monster Trucks 	Mr. Weathers 	 	
2017 	Vagabonds 	Uncle Issa 	Short Film 	
2017 	Extortion 	Constable Haagen 	 	
2017 	The Good Catholic 	Father Victor 	 	
2017 	Donald Trump, The Koch Brothers & Their War on Climate Science.[63]	Narrator 	 	
2017 	Buckout Road 	Victor 	 	
2018 	Proud Mary 	Benny 	 	
2018 	Sorry to Bother You 	Langston 	 	
2018 	Come Sunday 	Gilbert Pearson 	 	
2018 	The Old Man and the Gun 	Teddy Green 	 	
2018 	Death Race: Beyond Anarchy 	Baltimore Bob 	Direct to video 	
2018 	Killing Winston Jones 	Washington Carver 	In post-production 	
2019 	The Last Black Man in San Francisco 	Grandpa 	In post-production 	
TBA 	The Dead Don't Die 	Hank Thompson 	 	
=== Television ===
Year 	Title 	Role 	Notes
1979 	B. J. and the Bear 	Matt Thomas, TV Reporter	1 episode, uncredited
1979 	Lou Grant 	Leroy 	1 episode
1979 	Paris 	 	1 episode
1980 	Palmerstown, U.S.A. 	Harley 	Unknown episodes
1981 	Keeping On 	Lester 	Television movie
1981 	The Greatest American Hero 	Vice officer 	1 episode
1981 	Hill Street Blues 	Jesse John Hudson 	4 episodes
1981 	Gimme a Break! 	Bill 	1 episode
1983 	The Face of Rage 	Gary 	Television movie
1983 	Chiefs 	Marshall Peters 	Miniseries
1983 	Memorial Day 	Willie Monroe 	Television movie
1985 	And the Children Shall Lead 	William 	Television movie
1986 	Tall Tales & Legends 	John Henry 	1 episode
1987 	Place at the Table 	 	Television movie
1987 	Mandela 	Nelson Mandela 	Television movie
Nominated—Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor - Miniseries or a Movie
1989 	A Raisin in the Sun 	Walter Lee Younger 	Television movie
1989 	Lonesome Dove 	Joshua Deets 	Miniseries
Nominated—Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor - Miniseries or a Movie. (See also Bose Ikard)
1989 	Dead Man Out 	Dr. Alex Marsh 	Television movie 
Alternative title: Dead Man Walking
1989 	Saturday Night Live 	Roger Murtaugh 	1 episode
1991 	Captain Planet and the Planeteers	Professor Apollo (voice)	1 episode
1992 	The Talking Eggs 	Narrator 	Television movie
1993 	Alex Haley's Queen 	Alec Haley 	Miniseries
NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Actor in a Television Movie, Mini-Series or Dramatic Special
1995 	Fallen Angels 	Philip Marlowe 	1 episode
Nominated—Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actor - Drama Series
1996 	America's Dream 	Silas 	Television movie (segment "Long Black Song")
1997 	Buffalo Soldiers 	Sgt. Washington Wyatt 	Television movie
2000 	Freedom Song 	Will Walker 	Television movie
Nominated—Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor - Miniseries or a Movie
Nominated—Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Miniseries or Television Movie
2003 	Good Fences 	Tom Spader 	Television movie
2003 	Biography 	Narrator 	1 episode
2003 	The Law and Mr. Lee 	Henry Lee 	Television movie
2004 	Legend of Earthsea 	Ogion 	Miniseries
2005 	The Exonerated 	David 	Television movie
2005 	ER 	Charlie Pratt, Sr. 	4 episodes
2006 	Take 3 	Col. Weldon 	Television movie
2007–2008	Brothers & Sisters 	Isaac Marshall 	6 episodes
2009 	My Name Is Earl 	Thomas Monroe 	1 episode
2010 	Human Target 	Client 	1 episode
2011 	Psych 	Mel Hornsby 	1 episode
2011 	Leverage 	Charlie Lawson 	1 episode, "The Van Gogh Job"
2012 	Touch[64] 	Professor Arthur Teller 	Co-starring role
2012 	Hannah's Law 	Ison Dart 	Television movie
2013 	American Dad! 	Krampus(voice) 	1 episode, "Minstrel Krampus"
2013 	Muhammad Ali's Greatest Fight 	Thurgood Marshall 	Television movie
2014 	Skittles (Midas Touch) Advert 	Midas Touch 	Currently airing
2016 	Criminal Minds 	Hank Morgan 	1 episode, "Derek"
2016 	Mozart in the Jungle 	Mayor 	1 episode, "My Heart Opens to Your Voice"
2017 	Tour de Pharmacy 	Slim Robinson 	Television movie
2017 	Cold Case Files 	Narrator 	Documentary series
2017 	The Christmas Train 	Max Powers 	Television movie
== Awards ==
List of awards
Award 	Year	Category 	Title of work
CableACE Award 	1989	Actor in a Movie or Miniseries 	Mandela
CableACE Award 	1996	Dramatic or Theatrical Special 	America's Dream (Shared with David Knoller, Carolyn McDonald, Ron Stacker Thompson, and Ashley Tyler)
CableACE Award 	1996	Actor in a Dramatic Special or Series 	America's Dream
NAACP Image Awards 	1989	Outstanding Lead Actor in a Motion Picture 	Lethal Weapon
NAACP Image Awards 	1990	Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series, Mini-Series or Television Movie	Mandela
NAACP Image Awards 	1995	Outstanding Lead Actor in a Television Movie or Mini-Series 	Queen
NAACP Image Awards 	1999	Outstanding Lead Actor in a Motion Picture 	Beloved
NAACP Image Awards 	2001	Outstanding Actor in a Television Movie, Mini-Series or Dramatic Special 	Freedom Song
Independent Spirit Award 	1991	Best Male Lead 	To Sleep With Anger
Jamerican International Film Festival 	2002	Lifetime Achievement Award 	
Karlovy Vary International Film Festival 	2008	Festival President's Award 	
Los Angeles Pan African Film Festival 	2003	Lifetime Achievement Award 	
MTV Movie Award 	1993	Best On-Screen Duo 	Lethal Weapon 3 (Shared with Mel Gibson)
San Francisco International Film Festival	1993	Piper-Heidsieck Award 	
Women in Film Crystal Awards 	1994	Humanitarian Award 	
Category:American male film actors