Harold Joseph Lennix III (born November 16, 1964) is an American actor. He is known for his roles as Terrence "Dresser" Williams in the Robert Townsend film '' The Five Heartbeats'' (1991) and as Boyd Langton in the science-fiction series '' Dollhouse''. Lennix co-starred as Harold Cooper, assistant director of the

FBI The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic Intelligence agency, intelligence and Security agency, security service of the United States and Federal law enforcement in the United States, its principal federal law enforcement ag ...

Counterterrorism Counterterrorism (alternatively spelled: counter-terrorism), also known as anti-terrorism, relates to the practices, military tactics, techniques, and strategies that governments, law enforcement, businesses, and Intelligence agency, intelligence ...

Division, on the

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. It is one of NBCUniversal's ...

drama ''

The Blacklist ''The Blacklist'' is an American crime thriller television series created by Jon Bokenkamp and developed by John Eisendrath. It stars James Spader as Raymond Reddington, an international criminal and one of the FBI's Most Wanted fugitives ...

''. Lennix also played J'onn J'onzz/Calvin Swanwick/Martian Manhunter in the

DC Extended Universe The DC Extended Universe (DCEU) is an American media franchise and shared universe centered on a series of superhero films distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures. It is based on characters that appear in American comic books published by DC Comic ...

films '' Man of Steel'', '' Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice'', and ''

Zack Snyder's Justice League ''Zack Snyder's Justice League'' (colloquially referred to as the ''Snyder Cut'') is the 2021 director's cut of the 2017 American superhero film ''Justice League'', the fifth film set within the DC Extended Universe (DCEU), which is based ...

. ''He was nominated for the 2025

Tony Award The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Broadway Theatre, more commonly known as a 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 Best Actor in a Play for his role in '' Purpose.''

Early life

The youngest of four siblings, Lennix was born in

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. It borders on Lake Michigan to its northeast, the Mississippi River to its west, and the Wabash River, Wabash and Ohio River, Ohio rivers to its ...

, to Lillian C. (née Vines), a laundry worker, and Harry Lennix Jr., a machinist. His mother was African-American and his father was Creole from

Louisiana Louisiana ( ; ; ) is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It borders Texas to the west, Arkansas to the north, and Mississippi to the east. Of the 50 U.S. states, it ranks 31st in area and 25 ...

. Lennix attended Quigley Preparatory Seminary South and

Northwestern University Northwestern University (NU) is a Private university, private research university in Evanston, Illinois, United States. Established in 1851 to serve the historic Northwest Territory, it is the oldest University charter, chartered university in ...

, where he majored in Acting and Direction. In his senior year at Northwestern, he was the coordinator of the African-American student organization, For Members Only.

Career

Lennix starred in the

Showtime Networks Showtime Networks, Inc. is a subsidiary of American media conglomerate Paramount Global under its networks division that oversees the company's premium cable television channels, including its flagship namesake service. Overview The compan ...

television film A television film, alternatively known as a television movie, made-for-TV film/movie, telefilm, telemovie or TV film/movie, is a film with a running time similar to a feature film that is produced and originally distributed by or to a Terrestr ...

''Keep the Faith, Baby'' (2002) as reverend and Congressman Adam Clayton Powell Jr.; in the film ''

Titus Titus Caesar Vespasianus ( ; 30 December 39 – 13 September AD 81) was Roman emperor from 79 to 81. A member of the Flavian dynasty, Titus succeeded his father Vespasian upon his death, becoming the first Roman emperor ever to succeed h ...

'' (1999), based on

Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 23 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's natio ...

's ''

Titus Andronicus ''The Lamentable Tragedy of Titus Andronicus'', often shortened to ''Titus Andronicus'', is a Shakespearean tragedy, tragedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written between 1588 and 1593. It is thought to be Shakespeare's first t ...

'', as Aaron the Moor; and in the ABC

television series A television show, TV program (), or simply a TV show, is the general reference to any content produced for viewing on a television set that is broadcast via over-the-air, satellite, and cable, or distributed digitally on streaming plat ...

'' Commander in Chief''. For ten seasons, Lennix co-starred in the role of Harold Cooper, assistant director of the FBI Counterterrorism Division, on the

drama ''

'' (2013-2023). In film, Lennix has had supporting roles such as '' The Five Heartbeats'' (1991), ''

Comfortably Numb "Comfortably Numb" is a song by the English rock band Pink Floyd, released on their eleventh studio album, ''The Wall'' (1979). It was released as a Single (music), single in 1980, with "Hey You (Pink Floyd song), Hey You" as the A-side and B- ...

'' (1995), ''

Get on the Bus ''Get on the Bus'' is a 1996 American drama film about a group of African-American men who are taking a cross-country bus trip in order to participate in the Million Man March. The film was directed by Spike Lee and premiered on the first annive ...

'' (1996), '' Love & Basketball'' (2000), ''

The Matrix ''The Matrix'' is a 1999 science fiction film, science fiction action film written and directed by the Wachowskis. It is the first installment in the The Matrix (franchise), ''Matrix'' film series, starring Keanu Reeves, Laurence Fishburne, Ca ...

'' series (1999–2004), '' Ray'' (2004), '' Barbershop 2: Back in Business'' (2004), '' Stomp the Yard'' (2007), and '' State of Play'' (2009). In television, he had a recurring role in '' Diagnosis: Murder'' as Agent Ron Wagner as well as a guest voice role in the '' Legion of Super Heroes'' episode "Timber Wolf" as the titular character's villainous father Mar Londo, being replaced by

Dorian Harewood Dorian Harewood (born August 6, 1950) is an American actor, best known for playing Jesse Owens in '' The Jesse Owens Story'' (1984), Det. Paul Strobber on '' Strike Force'' (1981–1982), and Rev. Morgan Hamilton in '' 7th Heaven'' (1996–2003 ...

in the character's later appearance in the episode "Cry Wolf". He also had a recurring role in the sixth season of '' 24'' as

Muslim Muslims () are people who adhere to Islam, a Monotheism, monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God ...

civil rights activist Walid Al-Rezani. He appeared on the series '' House M.D.'' as a paralyzed jazz trumpet player, and in six episodes of '' ER'' as Dr. Greg Fischer. He also appeared in the episode "The Blame Game" of the first season of ''

Ally McBeal ''Ally McBeal'' is an American legal comedy-drama television series created by David E. Kelley that originally aired on Fox from September 8, 1997, to May 20, 2002. It revolves around Calista Flockhart in the title role as a lawyer working ...

''. He played the parts of Boyd Langton in

Joss Whedon Joseph Hill "Joss" Whedon ( ; born June 23, 1964) is an American screenwriter, director, producer, comic book writer, and composer. He is best known as the creator of several television series: the supernatural drama ''Buffy the Vampire Slayer' ...

's series '' Dollhouse'' and

U.S. president The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president directs the Federal government of the United States#Executive branch, executive branch of the Federal government of t ...

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II (born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who was the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the first African American president in American history. O ...

in the comedy sketch show '' Little Britain USA''. In 2007, he was an official festival judge at the first annual Noor Iranian Film Festival. In July 2014, Lennix formed his own production company Exponent Media Group (EMG) along with long time business partner Steve Harris. EMG had a distribution deal with NEHST studios for three of the company's titles ''Mr. Sophistication'', '' H4'' (a street version of William Shakespeare's '' Henry IV'', which he also starred in), and ''Revival!'' In 2015, Lennix appeared in '' Chi-Raq'', directed by

Spike Lee Shelton Jackson "Spike" Lee (born March 20, 1957) is an American film director, producer, screenwriter, actor, and author. His work has continually explored race relations, issues within the black community, the role of media in contemporary ...

. Lennix called the film "brave and bold", as it addresses "the violence that’s happening right now in Chicago". '' Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice'' in 2016 featured Lennix reprising the role of Calvin Swanwick from 2013's '' Man of Steel'', both directed by

Zack Snyder Zachary Edward Snyder (born March 1, 1966) is an American filmmaker. He made his feature film debut in 2004 with ''Dawn of the Dead (2004 film), Dawn of the Dead'', a remake of the 1978 horror film Dawn of the Dead (1978 film), of the same name ...

. Lennix made an additional appearance as the same character in Snyder's version of ''

Justice League The Justice League, or Justice League of America (JLA), is a group of superheroes appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The team first appeared in ''The Brave and the Bold'' #28 (March 1960). Writer Gardner Fox conceived the ...

'', released in 2021. During the Chicago

Goodman Theater Goodman Theatre is a professional theater company located in Chicago, Illinois, Chicago's Chicago Loop, Loop. A major part of the Theater in Chicago, Chicago theatre scene, it is the city's oldest currently active nonprofit theater organizatio ...

's 2024-2025 season, he played the role of Henry Drummond in the Jerome Lawrence and

Robert E. Lee Robert Edward Lee (January 19, 1807 – October 12, 1870) was a general officers in the Confederate States Army, Confederate general during the American Civil War, who was appointed the General in Chief of the Armies of the Confederate ...

play ''Inherit the Wind''.

Personal life

In 2009, Lennix married business executive Djena Graves. Lennix is a member of the

Omega Psi Phi Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Inc. () is a List of African-American fraternities, historically African-American Fraternities and sororities, fraternity. It was founded on November 17, 1911 at Howard University. Omega Psi Phi is a founding member of ...

fraternity. He was initiated into the fraternity in November 2012 via the Theta Kappa Kappa graduate chapter in

Evanston, Illinois Evanston is a city in Cook County, Illinois, United States, situated on the North Shore (Chicago), North Shore along Lake Michigan. A suburb of Chicago, Evanston is north of Chicago Loop, downtown Chicago, bordered by Chicago to the south, Skok ...

. Lennix is

Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

Filmography

Film

Television

Video games

Radio

Awards and nominations

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Lennix, Harry 1964 births Living people 20th-century American male actors 21st-century American male actors Male actors from Chicago American male film actors Louisiana Creole people Northwestern University School of Communication alumni American male television actors African-American Catholics 20th-century African-American male actors 21st-century African-American male actors American people of French descent