David Harewood

For the African American actor, see Dorian Harewood.

David Harewood
Born	8 December 1965 (1965-12-08) Birmingham
Occupation	Actor

David Harewood, M.B.E. (born 8 December 1965), is a British actor.

Biography

Harewood was born and grew up in the Small Heath area of Birmingham, England, where he attended St. Benedict's Junior School and Washwood Heath Comprehensive School. As a schoolboy, he excelled at all sports—from sprinting to basketball to rugby and especially football. He was the goal-keeper for the Washwood Heath side that won the Under-16 All-England Championship. If it were not for acting, it is likely he would have followed a career as a professional goal-keeper. In his youth, he worked in a wine bar, Albert's in Dale End, in Birmingham City Centre.

At 18, Harewood gained a place at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art. Harewood began a career in 1990 and appeared in The Hawk, Great Moments in Aviation, Harnessing Peacocks, Mad Dogs and Englishmen, Macbeth on the Estate, Strings and Ballykissangel. He is very well known for his television appearances on The Vice and Fat Friends and his movie roles in Blood Diamond and The Merchant of Venice. He played Major Simon Brooks in The Palace (2008). He appeared on Celebrity Mastermind in December 2008 specialising in Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials. He appeared in the BBC film adaptation of the Philip Pullman novels, The Ruby in the Smoke, and The Shadow in the North, both of which are part of the Sally Lockhart Mysteries.

In 2009, he appeared in the BBC single drama Mrs Mandela, playing Nelson Mandela. He also portrayed Brother Tuck in the third series of Robin Hood. He appeared in the Doctor Who story The End of Time. He played Martin Luther King in the premiere of the play The Mountaintop, by the American playwright Katori Hall, directed by James Dacre, which opened at Theatre503 in London on 9 June 2009.

He appeared in two episodes of Chris Ryan's Strike Back as Colonel Tshuma. He played Theseus in the premiere of Moira Buffini's play Welcome to Thebes at the National Theatre in London, from June 15 to September 2010. He played the character Martin Viner in one episode of "New Tricks". He narrates Welcome to Lagos, a BBC documentary about Lagos. In October 2010, Harewood commenced filming for a new British independent film, The Hot Potato. The film will also star Ray Winstone, Colm Meaney and Jack Huston. He played Frankenstein's monster in the TV live event Frankenstein's Wedding. In 2011 he became a cast member of the Showtime show Homeland. He played David Estes, the Director of the CIA's Counterterrorism Center.

In 2007, David visited Harewood House in Yorkshire and spoke with Viscount Lascelles (cousin of The Queen). David's surname "Harewood" comes from the time his anscestors were captured in Africa, transported to the Caribbean, and "owned" by the Lascelles family (the Earls of Harewood). Lord Lascelles explained that his wish was for the Harewood name to stand for positive things in the future as nothing could be done about what happened 250 years ago. The same year, he donated his bonemarrow and as a result saved the life of a very sick patient. He was appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire (M.B.E.) in the 2012 New Year Honours for services to drama.

Selected filmography

• Harnessing Peacocks (1992, TV film)
• Blood Diamond (2006 film)

External links

• David Harewood at the Internet Movie Database