David Kenneth Harbour (born April 10, 1975) is an American actor. He has played supporting roles in films such as '' Brokeback Mountain'' (2005), '' Quantum of Solace'' (2008), '' State of Play'' (2009), '' The Green Hornet'' (2011), ''

End of Watch ''End of Watch'' is a 2012 American action thriller film written and directed by David Ayer. It stars Jake Gyllenhaal and Michael Peña as Brian Taylor and Mike Zavala, two Los Angeles Police Department officers who work in South Central Los An ...

'' (2012), '' Snitch'' (2013), '' The Equalizer'' (2014), '' Black Mass'' (2015), ''

Suicide Squad The Suicide Squad is an antihero/supervillain team appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The first version of the Suicide Squad debuted in ''The Brave and the Bold'' #25 (September 1959) and the second and modern version, cre ...

'' (2016), '' Sleepless'' (2017) and '' Extraction'' (2020). He gained global recognition for his portrayal of Jim Hopper in the

Netflix Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a fi ...

science fiction drama series '' Stranger Things'' (2016–present), for which he received a

Critics' Choice Television Award The Critics' Choice Television Awards are accolades that are presented annually by the Critics Choice Association (CCA). They were established in 2011, and the first ceremony was held on June 20, 2011, and streamed live on VH1.com. The fourt ...

in 2018, two Emmy Award nominations and a Golden Globe Award nomination. Harbour portrayed the title character in ''

Hellboy Hellboy is a fictional superhero created by writer-artist Mike Mignola. The character first appeared in ''San Diego Comic-Con Comics'' #2 (August 1993), and has since appeared in various eponymous miniseries, one-shots and intercompany crossover ...

'' (2019), Red Guardian in '' Black Widow'' (2021) and the upcoming film '' Thunderbolts'' (2024), and Santa Claus in ''

Violent Night ''Violent Night'' is a 2022 American Christmas action comedy film directed by Tommy Wirkola and written by Pat Casey and Josh Miller. It follows Santa Claus (portrayed by David Harbour) as he fights mercenaries who have taken a wealthy family hos ...

'' (2022).

Early life

David Kenneth Harbour was born on April 10, 1975, in

White Plains, New York (Always Faithful) , image_seal = WhitePlainsSeal.png , seal_link = , subdivision_type = List of sovereign states, Country , subdivision_name = , subdivision_type1 = U.S. state, State , su ...

, to parents Kenneth and Nancy ( née Riley) Harbour. Both of his parents work in real estate, his mother in residential and his father in commercial. He attended

Byram Hills High School Byram Hills High School (BHHS) is a four-year co-educational public secondary school located in Armonk, New York, United States. It is the only secondary school in the Byram Hills Central School District, and serves students from the towns of No ...

Armonk, New York Armonk is a hamlet and census-designated place (CDP) in the town of North Castle, located in Westchester County, New York, United States. The corporate headquarters of IBM are located in Armonk. Geography and climate As of the 2010 census, A ...

, along with actors

Sean Maher Sean Maher (born April 16, 1975) is an American actor. He is known for his portrayal of Simon Tam in the science fiction television series ''Firefly'' and follow-up movie '' Serenity''. Early life Maher was born in Pleasantville, New York to ...

and

Eyal Podell Eyal Podell (; he, אייל פודל; born November 11, 1975) is an Israeli-American actor and screenwriter. He is best known for his portrayals of Professor Adrian Korbel in the soap opera ''The Young and the Restless'', Evram Mintz in '' Defy ...

. Harbour graduated from

Dartmouth College Dartmouth College (; ) is a private research university in Hanover, New Hampshire. Established in 1769 by Eleazar Wheelock, it is one of the nine colonial colleges chartered before the American Revolution. Although founded to educate Native ...

Hanover, New Hampshire Hanover is a town located along the Connecticut River in Grafton County, New Hampshire, United States. As of the 2020 census, its population was 11,870. The town is home to the Ivy League university Dartmouth College, the U.S. Army Corps of En ...

, in 1997. While at Dartmouth, Harbour majored in drama and Italian, and was a member of the

Sigma Phi Epsilon Sigma Phi Epsilon (), commonly known as SigEp, is a social college fraternity for male college students in the United States. It was founded on November 1, 1901, at Richmond College (now the University of Richmond), and its national headquarte ...

fraternity.

Career

Harbour began acting professionally on Broadway in 1999, in the revival of '' The Rainmaker''. He then made his television debut that same year in an episode of '' Law & Order'', playing a waiter. He appeared again in 2002 in an episode of '' Law & Order: Special Victims Unit'', playing a child murderer. Harbour portrayed the recurring role of

MI6 The Secret Intelligence Service (SIS), commonly known as MI6 ( Military Intelligence, Section 6), is the foreign intelligence service of the United Kingdom, tasked mainly with the covert overseas collection and analysis of human intelligenc ...

Agent Roger Anderson in the ABC series ''

Pan Am Pan American World Airways, originally founded as Pan American Airways and commonly known as Pan Am, was an American airline that was the principal and largest international air carrier and unofficial overseas flag carrier of the United States ...

''. In 2005, he was nominated for a

Tony Award The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Broadway Theatre, more commonly known as the Tony Award, recognizes excellence in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual ce ...

for his performance in a production of ''

Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? ''Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?'' is a play by Edward Albee first staged in October 1962. It examines the complexities of the marriage of a middle-aged couple, Martha and George. Late one evening, after a university faculty party, they receive ...

''. Harbour is also known for his role as CIA Agent Gregg Beam in '' Quantum of Solace'', as Shep Campbell in '' Revolutionary Road'', and as Russell Crowe's source in '' State of Play''. He also received praise for his role as

spree killer A spree killer is someone who commits a criminal act that involves two or more murders or homicides in a short time, in multiple locations. The U.S. Bureau of Justice Statistics defines a spree killing as "killings at two or more locations ...

Paul Devildis in a 2009 episode of '' Law & Order: Criminal Intent''. Harbour's other film credits include '' Brokeback Mountain'', '' The Green Hornet'', ''

'', and '' Between Us''. In 2013, he played a small role of a head doctor in the television series ''

Elementary Elementary may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music * ''Elementary'' (Cindy Morgan album), 2001 * ''Elementary'' (The End album), 2007 * ''Elementary'', a Melvin "Wah-Wah Watson" Ragin album, 1977 Other uses in arts, entertainment, a ...

''. From 2012 to 2014, he also played the recurring role of Elliot Hirsch in '' The Newsroom''. In 2014, Harbour portrayed the recurring character of Dr. Reed Akley in the first season of the historical drama series ''

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

''. In 2015, Harbour was cast as Chief Jim Hopper in the

science fiction horror series '' Stranger Things''. For his role in the series, Harbour has received nominations for the

Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series This is a list of winners and nominees of the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series. In early Primetime Emmy Award ceremonies, the supporting categories were not always genre, or even gender, specific. Beginnin ...

(2017 and 2018) and the

Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor – Series, Miniseries or Television Film The Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor – Series, Miniseries, or Television Film is a Golden Globe Awards, Golden Globe Award presented annually by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA). It is given in honor of an actor who ha ...

(2018). Harbour has won a

Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series The Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast (or Ensemble) in a Drama Series is an award given by the Screen Actors Guild to honor the finest ensemble acting achievements in drama series. Winners and nominees 1990s 20 ...

(2017) along with the rest of the cast. Harbour starred as the

title character The title character in a narrative work is one who is named or referred to in the title of the work. In a performed work such as a play or film, the performer who plays the title character is said to have the title role of the piece. The title of ...

in the superhero reboot film ''

'' (2019). He most recently portrayed Alexei Shostakov/Red Guardian in the

Marvel Cinematic Universe The Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) is an American media franchise and shared universe centered on a series of superhero films produced by Marvel Studios. The films are based on characters that appear in American comic books published by ...

(MCU) film '' Black Widow'' (2021), and will reprise the role in the upcoming film '' Thunderbolts'' (2024).

Personal life

Harbour had a relationship with Alison Sudol. Since 2019, Harbour has been in a relationship with singer

Lily Allen Lily Rose Beatrice Allen (born 2 May 1985) is an English singer-songwriter and actress. She is the daughter of actor Keith Allen and film producer Alison Owen. Her music career began in 2005 when she made some of her vocal recordings public ...

. They made their red carpet debut during the 26th annual Screen Actors Guild Awards. A day after they obtained their marriage license, attended by Allen's two daughters, they married on September 7, 2020 in

Las Vegas Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Vegas ...

, in a wedding that was officiated by an

Elvis impersonator An Elvis impersonator is an entertainer who impersonates or copies the look and sound of American musician and singer Elvis Presley. Professional Elvis impersonators, commonly known as Elvis tribute artists (ETAs), work all over the world as ent ...

. Harbour previously followed several religions, including

Catholicism The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

and

Buddhism Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religions, Indian religion or Indian philosophy#Buddhist philosophy, philosophical tradition based on Pre-sectarian Buddhism, teachings attributed to the Buddha. ...

. He is a former believer in the paranormal. In an interview with ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'' covering his role in ''Black Widow'' in July 2021, Harbour said he was a

socialist Socialism is a left-wing economic philosophy and movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to private ownership. As a term, it describes the ...

, stating "I don't know that there's anyone who could disagree with socialist ideology," and later, "the idea of a kindergarten-type society where we share things is my ideal society; as opposed to this world where we're hunting and killing and destroying for our own personal hoarding, our own personal greed." Harbour struggled with

alcoholism Alcoholism is, broadly, any drinking of alcohol that results in significant mental or physical health problems. Because there is disagreement on the definition of the word ''alcoholism'', it is not a recognized diagnostic entity. Predomi ...

in his past, and has been sober since his early twenties. He began drinking as a teenager and the habit worsened during college. He decided to stop drinking after feeling "very lonely and needing a different direction in my life" and has said "I enjoy consciousness too much now" to drink again. At age 26, Harbour was diagnosed with

bipolar disorder Bipolar disorder, previously known as manic depression, is a mental disorder characterized by periods of depression and periods of abnormally elevated mood that last from days to weeks each. If the elevated mood is severe or associated with ...

Filmography

Film

Television

Theatre

Awards and nominations

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Harbour, David 1975 births Living people 20th-century American male actors 21st-century American male actors American male film actors American male Shakespearean actors American male stage actors American male television actors Dartmouth College alumni Male actors from New York (state) People from White Plains, New York People with bipolar disorder American socialists