Stephen McKinley Henderson

Stephen McKinley Henderson
Henderson presenting at Amherst Central High School on March 29, 2018
Born	(1949-08-31) August 31, 1949 Kansas City, Missouri, U.S.
Education	Lincoln University, Missouri Juilliard School North Carolina School of the Arts (BFA) Purdue University, West Lafayette (MA)
Occupation(s)	Actor, director, educator
Years active	1979–present
Spouse	Pamela Reed Henderson ​ ​ (m. 1978)​

Stephen McKinley Henderson (born August 31, 1949) is an American actor. He is known primarily for his work onstage, notably in several of August Wilson's plays, and he has made appearances in film and TV.

Early life and education

Henderson was born in Kansas City, Missouri, the son of Ruby Naomi and Elihue Henderson. He spent a year at Lincoln University, Missouri and was originally part of Group 1 at the Juilliard School Drama Division before he left. He finished his BFA in Acting at the North Carolina School of the Arts (1972). He later studied at Purdue University where he received his Master of Arts in Theatre (1977). He also spent summer sessions at Rose Bruford College in London and William Esper Studios in New York City.

In 2020, Henderson was selected to (virtually) return to his alma mater, Purdue University, to participate in the Old Masters Program. An Old Master is an exceptional person who has made significant contributions to their field of study and to society. As part of his "visit" he engaged with the Purdue community through an array of interactive platforms including the Old Masters Podcast, personal host calls, virtual classroom talks, and events with student organizations in which he talked about his career and success. 2020 marked the 70th year of the Old Master's program, and was the first hybrid version, with Henderson broadcasting his appearances from his home. When asked by a Purdue Theatre student what advice he would give to current students, Henderson replied "Undergraduates should read broadly. Graduate students should read deeply."

Career

Henderson is known mostly for his stage work. He won the 2015 Obie Award for Best Actor for his starring role of Walter "Pops" Washington in the Atlantic Theatre Company and Second Stage productions of the Pulitzer Prize-winning play Between Riverside and Crazy. He portrayed Jim Bono in the Broadway revival of August Wilson's Fences, starring Denzel Washington, for which Henderson received a nomination for a Tony Award as a supporting actor, as well as the Richard Seff Award from Actor's Equity; he reprised the role in Washington's 2016 film adaptation. Also in 2016, Henderson appeared in Kenneth Lonergan's Manchester by the Sea, starring Casey Affleck and Michelle Williams, playing the boss of Affleck's character. Previously, he appeared as Van Helsing in the Broadway production of Dracula, the Musical. More recently, he played the role of Father Leviatch in Greta Gerwig's 2017 film Lady Bird. On Broadway, he has performed in Drowning Crow, the revival of Ma Rainey's Black Bottom, and the premiere of King Hedley II. Henderson is recognized as a veteran performer of August Wilson's oeuvre.

His signature August Wilson role is the gossipy Turnbo in Jitney for which he won a Drama Desk Award. He had created the role in the 1996 premiere at the Pittsburgh Public Theater, then honed it (as Wilson was honing the script) in other regional theaters before its arrival Off-Broadway in 2000. Though they did not transfer to Broadway, he and the core of the cast took Jitney to London where it won the 2002 Olivier Award for best new play. In addition, he appeared in A Raisin in the Sun and directed Zooman and the Sign. With the LAByrinth Theatre Company, he portrayed Pontius Pilate in The Last Days of Judas Iscariot.

His films include his role as Arthur in Everyday People, White House servant William Slade in Steven Spielberg's film Lincoln (2012), Lester in the film Tower Heist (2011), Bobo in A Raisin in the Sun (1989), Cooper's husband in the TV movie Marie (1985), and roles in the films Keane (2004), If You Could Say It in Words (2008) and Lady Bird (2017). In addition to his films, Henderson was a series regular on the FOX series New Amsterdam, which premiered in early 2008.

Television work includes Law & Order, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, The Newsroom, Law & Order: Criminal Intent, Tyler Perry's House of Payne, Third Watch, New Amsterdam, Blue Bloods and Devs.

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role(s)	Notes
1979	A Pleasure Doing Business	Bank Teller
1985	Marie	Cooper's Husband
2004	Everyday People	Arthur
2004	Keane	Garage Employee
2006	Waltzing Anna	Pete
2008	If You Could Say It in Words	Baseball Fan
2009	The Good Heart	Psychiatrist
2011	Tower Heist	Lester
2011	Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close	Walt the Locksmith
2012	Red Hook Summer	Deacon Yancy
2012	Lincoln	William Slade
2014	Da Sweet Blood of Jesus	Deacon Yancy
2014	The Romans	Birdman
2016	Manchester by the Sea	Mr. Emery
2016	The American Side	Stickney
2016	All at Once	Robert
2016	Fences	Jim Bono
2017	Lady Bird	Father Leviatch
2019	Native Son	Mr. Green
2019	The True Adventures of Wolfboy	Nicholas
2020	Bruised	Pops
2021	Dune	Thufir Hawat	Post-production
TBA	Untitled Lila Neugebauer project	Dr. Lucas	Post-production
TBA	Disappointment Blvd.		Filming

Television

Year	Title	Role(s)	Notes
1984	The Killing Floor	James Cheeks	Television film
1989	A Raisin in the Sun	Bobo	Television film
1995–2010	Law & Order	Judge Marc Kramer	7 episodes
1995	New York News	Sherman Wakes	Episode: "Fun City"
2000	Third Watch	Boudreaux	Episode: "Know Thyself"
2001	Law & Order: Criminal Intent	Abernathy	Episode: "The Faithful"
2005–2006	Law & Order: Special Victims Unit	Judge Bernard	2 episodes
2006	Conviction	Judge	2 episodes
2008	New Amsterdam	Omar York	Main cast, 8 episodes
2008	Brotherhood		2 episodes
2012	Blue Bloods	Judge Harlan Haywood	Episode: "Reagan V. Reagan"
2012	The Newsroom	Solomon Hancock	3 episodes
2012	Elementary	Groundskeeper Edison	Episode: "One Way to Get Off"
2017	Survivor's Remorse	Solomon	Episode: "Future Plans"
2018	The Resident	Darryl Phillips	Episode: "The Elopement"
2018	The Blacklist	Dr. Francis Woerner	Episode: "Nicholas T. Moore (No. 110)"
2018	Strangers	Billy Caldwell	2 episodes
2018	Fear the Walking Dead	Clayton	Episode: "Blackjack"
2019	Proven Innocent	Judge Fry	Episode: "Acceptable Losses"
2019	Wu-Tang: An American Saga	Uncle Hollis	2 episodes
2020	Devs	Stewart	Miniseries; 8 episodes
2020	Run	John	Episode: "Run"

External links

• Stephen McKinley Henderson at IMDb
• Stephen McKinley Henderson at the Internet Broadway Database
• Stephen McKinley Henderson at the Internet Off-Broadway Database