Ernie Hudson

**Earnest Lee "Ernie" Hudson** is an American character actor. Having appeared in dozens of film and television roles throughout his career, he is perhaps best known for his roles as Winston Zeddemore in the Ghostbusters film series, Sergeant Darryl Albrecht in The Crow (1994), and Warden Leo Glynn on HBO's Oz.

## Early life

Hudson was born in Benton Harbor, Michigan. He never knew his father. His mother, Maggie Donald, died of tuberculosis when he was two months old. He was subsequently raised by his maternal grandmother, Arrana Donald.

Hudson joined the United States Marine Corps straight from High School, dismissed after only three months due to asthma, before he moved to Detroit, Michigan. He became the resident playwright at Concept East, the oldest black theatre company in the United States. He enrolled at Wayne State University to further develop his writing and acting skills. He established the Actors' Ensemble Theatre where he and other talented young black writers directed and appeared in their own works. Later, he enrolled and subsequently graduated from Yale School of Drama.

In an interview with Belief.net, Hudson stated that he is a practicing Christian, but does not believe that "one church is the right one."

## Career

One of Hudson's early films was in Penitentiary II (1982) starring Leon Isaac Kennedy. He landed various guest roles on television series such as The Dukes of Hazzard and The A-Team. He was on the television series Fantasy Island in a first-season episode as a voodoo man named Jamu. Hudson gained fame playing Winston Zeddemore, who enlists with the Ghostbusters in the feature film Ghostbusters (1984) and its 1989 sequel. He also auditioned to reprise the role for the animated series, The Real Ghostbusters, but it was given to Arsenio Hall. He had a major supporting role as the mentally challenged handyman Solomon in The Hand that Rocks the Cradle (1992).

Hudson was cast as Warden Leo Glynn on HBO's series Oz. On Oz, his son Ernie Hudson Jr. co-starred with him as Muslim inmate Hamid Khan. Hudson also appears as the character Munro in Congo (1995) and as Police Sergeant Albreact in The Crow (1994). He switched gears when he played a preacher opening the eyes of a small town prejudice in the 1950s in Stranger in the Kingdom. He is also known for his role as Harry McDonald, the FBI superior of Sandra Bullock's character in the feature film Miss Congeniality (2000). He appears in the Stargate SG-1 episode "Ethon" as Pernaux. Hudson also appeared as Reggie in the film The Basketball Diaries (1995). In 2006, he appeared in the television movie The Ron Clark Story as Principal Turner. In 2008, he began a recurring role as Dr. Fields on The Secret Life of the American Teenager. Hudson also had a recurring role on the final season of Law & Order as Lt. Anita Van Buren's boyfriend and then fiancé.

In 2011, he played Stuart Owens in Torchwood: Miracle Day.

Beginning in 2015, Hudson was cast in a recurring role as Jacob, an organic farmer who is the romantic interest for Frankie Bergstein (Lily Tomlin) in the series Grace and Frankie.

Hudson appeared in the 2016 Ghostbusters reboot, playing Bill Jenkins, the uncle of Leslie Jones' lead character Pattie Tolan.

## Personal Life

Hudson married his first wife, Jeannie Moore, in 1963, when she was sixteen and he was eighteen. They had two sons, Ernie Hudson Jr. and Rahaman Hudson. When Ernie and Jeanie divorced in 1976, the boys (then seven and ten) moved to live with Hudson in California. Hudson remarried in 1985 to the former Linda Kingsberg; they had two more sons, Andrew and Ross.

## Trivia

* Graduated from Wayne State University.
* He also attended the University of Minnesota.
* Trained for the stage at the Yale University School of Drama.
* He enlisted in the Marine Corps after graduating from Benton Harbor High School, but was medically discharged less than three months later due to asthma.
* Father of actor Ernie Hudson Jr.. Father and son have appeared together in the HBO series "Oz"
* Has been a Reserve Deputy Sheriff in the San Bernardino County (California) Sheriff's office for 14 years (as of 2003)
* Auditioned to reprise his Winston Zeddemore role from Ghostbusters (1984) for the animated series adaptation The Real Ghostbusters (1986) but was declined in favor of Arsenio Hall.
* Admits that two of his heroes growing up were Muhammad Ali and Bruce Lee. He later went on to star with the late Brandon Lee in The Crow (1994).
* Enjoys writing.
* He has four sons: Ernie, Jr., Rahaman, Andrew, and Ross.
* Raised by his grandmother.
* His mother died when he was two months old.
* Hosted Cinemax's "Summer of a Thousand Movies".
* He was on the shortlist for the role of The Master in Doctor Who (1996), until Eric Roberts won the role. His only association with the Doctor Who franchise is a major guest role in Torchwood: Miracle Day: The Middle Men (2011).
* He was a supporting actor in films like The Dukes of Hazzard before hitting fame with his performance in Ghostbusters.
* He enlisted in the Marine Corps after high school.
* He married Linda Kingsberg in 1985. He has four sons named Rahaman, Ernie Jr., Ross and Andrew.
* He guest-starred as himself on the television show How I Met Your Mother with Josh Radnor.