Russell Hornsby (born May 15, 1974) is an American
actor
An actor or actress is a person who portrays a character in a performance. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. The analogous Greek term is (), lit ...
. He is known for his roles as Edward "Eddie" Sutton on
ABC Family
The American cable and satellite television network that is now known as Freeform was originally launched as the CBN Satellite Service on April 29, 1977, and has gone through several different owners (and six different name changes) during its h ...
's ''
Lincoln Heights'', as Luke on the
HBO drama ''
In Treatment
''In Treatment'' is an American drama television series for HBO, produced and developed by Rodrigo Garcia, based on the Israeli series '' BeTipul'' ( he, בטיפול), created by Hagai Levi, Ori Sivan and Nir Bergman.
The series is about a ...
'', as Detective Hank Griffin on the
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...
series ''
Grimm'', and as Lyons in the movie ''
Fences
A fence is a barrier enclosing or bordering a field, yard, etc., usually made of posts and wire or wood, used to prevent entrance, to confine, or to mark a boundary.
Fence or fences may also refer to:
Entertainment Music
* Fences (band), an Amer ...
''. He also played Carl Gatewood in the
Showtime TV series ''
The Affair''.
Early life and education
Hornsby was born in San Francisco, California. He was a football player at St. Mary’s College High School in Berkeley, California. He auditioned for a spring musical and got the role of the Scarecrow in ''
The Wiz
''The Wiz: The Super Soul Musical "Wonderful Wizard of Oz"'' is a musical with music and lyrics by Charlie Smalls (and others) and book by William F. Brown. It is a retelling of L. Frank Baum's children's novel '' The Wonderful Wizard of Oz'' ...
''. After that, he became very interested in theatre and acting and was highly involved with the rest of the school theatrical productions. After graduating, he studied theater at
Boston University
Boston University (BU) is a private research university in Boston, Massachusetts. The university is nonsectarian, but has a historical affiliation with the United Methodist Church. It was founded in 1839 by Methodists with its original cam ...
, from which he graduated with a degree in performance. After graduation, Hornsby continued his studies at the
British American Drama Academy
The British American Drama Academy is a drama school in London, in the United Kingdom. It is affiliated with Sarah Lawrence College and Yale University.
Background
The British American Drama Academy (BADA) was founded in 1983 by Tony Branch and ...
.
Career
After finishing his studies at Oxford, Hornsby moved to
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
and was subsequently cast in leading roles in
Off Broadway
An off-Broadway theatre is any professional theatre venue in New York City with a seating capacity between 100 and 499, inclusive. These theatres are smaller than Broadway theatres, but larger than off-off-Broadway theatres, which seat fewer th ...
productions of ''
To Kill a Mockingbird
''To Kill a Mockingbird'' is a novel by the American author Harper Lee. It was published in 1960 and was instantly successful. In the United States, it is widely read in high schools and middle schools. ''To Kill a Mockingbird'' has become ...
'' (as Atticus Finch), ''
Joe Louis Blues'', and ''
Six Degrees of Separation'' (as Paul). In the late 1990s, he decided to move to
Los Angeles
Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world ...
in order to transition into television and film. He has appeared in several different television productions including appearing in
recurring
Recurring means occurring repeatedly and can refer to several different things:
Mathematics and finance
*Recurring expense, an ongoing (continual) expenditure
*Repeating decimal, or recurring decimal, a real number in the decimal numeral syste ...
roles in ''
Haunted
Haunted or The Haunted may refer to:
Books
* ''Haunted'' (Armstrong novel), by Kelley Armstrong, 2005
* ''Haunted'' (Cabot novel), by Meg Cabot, 2004
* ''Haunted'' (Palahniuk novel), by Chuck Palahniuk, 2005
* ''Haunted'' (Angel novel), a 200 ...
'' as Detective Marcus Bradshaw and ''
Gideon's Crossing
''Gideon's Crossing'' is an American medical drama starring Andre Braugher. The series is loosely based on the experience of real-life physician Jerome Groopman and his book '' The Measure of Our Days''. It premiered on October 10, 2000, and ra ...
'' as Chief Resident Dr. Aaron Boise. His other television credits include ''
Grey's Anatomy
''Grey's Anatomy'' is an American medical drama television series that premiered on March 27, 2005, on ABC as a mid-season replacement. The series focuses on the lives of surgical interns, residents, and attendings as they develop into s ...
'', ''
Law & Order
''Law & Order'' is an American police procedural and legal drama television series created by Dick Wolf and produced by Wolf Entertainment, launching the '' Law & Order'' franchise.
''Law & Order'' aired its entire run on NBC, premiering ...
'', and ''
In Justice
''In Justice'' is an American police procedural television series created by Michelle King and Robert King. The series began airing on Sunday, January 1, 2006, on ABC as a midseason replacement and assumed its regular night and time on Friday, ...
'' among others. He also played running back Leon Taylor in
ESPN
ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). The ...
's drama series ''
Playmakers
''Playmakers'' is an American drama series that aired on ESPN from August 26 to November 11, 2003. It depicted the lives of the Cougars, a fictional professional football team in an unidentified city. The show starred Omar Gooding, Marcello T ...
''. On the
big screen
A feature film or feature-length film is a narrative film (motion picture or "movie") with a running time long enough to be considered the principal or sole presentation in a commercial entertainment program. The term ''feature film'' originall ...
, he has appeared in such films as ''
After the Sunset
''After the Sunset'' is a 2004 American heist action comedy film directed by Brett Ratner and starring Pierce Brosnan as Max Burdett, a master thief caught in a pursuit with FBI agent Stan Lloyd, played by Woody Harrelson. It was shot in the Bah ...
'', ''
Big Fat Liar
''Big Fat Liar'' is a 2002 American comedy film, directed by Shawn Levy, adapted by Dan Schneider from a story by Schneider and Brian Robbins, and starring Frankie Muniz, Paul Giamatti, Amanda Bynes, Amanda Detmer, Donald Faison, Lee Majors, a ...
'', ''
Get Rich or Die Tryin'
''Get Rich or Die Tryin'' is the debut studio album by American rapper 50 Cent. It was released on February 6, 2003, by Interscope Records, Dr. Dre's Aftermath Entertainment, Eminem's Shady Records, and 50 Cent's G-Unit Records. After signing ...
'', ''
Keep the Faith, Baby
Adam Clayton Powell Jr. (November 29, 1908 – April 4, 1972) was an American Baptist pastor and politician who represented the Harlem neighborhood of New York City in the United States House of Representatives from 1945 until 1971. He was t ...
'', ''
Meet the Parents
''Meet the Parents'' is a 2000 American comedy film written by Jim Herzfeld and John Hamburg and directed by Jay Roach. It chronicles a series of unfortunate events that befall a good-hearted but hapless nurse ( Ben Stiller as Greg Focker) while ...
'', and ''
Stuck'' among others. In 2000, Hornsby appeared in the Off-Broadway production of ''
Jitney'' for which he won a
Drama Desk Award
The Drama Desk Award is an annual prize recognizing excellence in New York theatre. First bestowed in 1955 as the Vernon Rice Award, the prize initially honored Off-Broadway productions, as well as Off-off-Broadway, and those in the vicinity. F ...
and an
Obie Award
The Obie Awards or Off-Broadway Theater Awards are annual awards originally given by ''The Village Voice'' newspaper to theatre artists and groups in New York City. In September 2014, the awards were jointly presented and administered with the ...
.
He starred in the
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...
fantasy drama ''
Grimm'' from 2011 to 2017. In 2018, he played Isaiah Butler in the Netflix crime drama ''
Seven Seconds''. That same year, Hornsby joined the cast of the movie ''
Creed II
''Creed II'' is a 2018 American sports drama film directed by Steven Caple Jr. from a screenplay by Juel Taylor and Sylvester Stallone. The sequel to '' Creed'' (2015) and the eighth installment in the ''Rocky'' franchise, the film stars Mi ...
''.
In 2021, he went on to star in the
Starz
Starz (stylized as STARZ since 2016; pronounced "stars") is an American premium cable and satellite television network owned by Lions Gate Entertainment, and is the flagship property of parent subsidiary Starz Inc. Programming on Starz cons ...
crime drama television series ''
BMF'', with costars Eric Kofi-Abrefa,
Da'Vinchi and
Demetrius Flenory Jr.
Demetrius Flenory Jr. (born April 22, 2000) is an American actor and rapper. He rose to fame portraying his father, Demetrius Flenory of Black Mafia Family, in 50 Cent's ''BMF (TV series), BMF'' series adaptation.
Early life
Demetrius "Lil M ...
, who played Demetrius Flenory Sr.
Filmography
Film
Television
Video games
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hornsby, Russell
Male actors from Oakland, California
American male television actors
American male film actors
American male stage actors
American male voice actors
Boston University College of Fine Arts alumni
Drama Desk Award winners
Obie Award recipients
1974 births
Living people
20th-century American male actors
21st-century American male actors
African-American male actors
20th-century African-American people
21st-century African-American people