Harry J. Lennix

Biography: Harry Joseph Lennix III was born in 1964, the youngest of four siblings on Chicago's south side. He attended Northwestern University, where he majored in Theater. After graduation he taught Music and English for several years while maintaining an active stage career and even fitting in a bit of Hollywood, starring in The Five Heartbeats and The Mary Thomas Story. In 1989 Lennix founded Legacy Productions with renowned Chicago director Chuck Smith, dedicated to mounting historically significant plays about the African American experience. He and Smith are on staff at the Goodman Theatre. Following the advice of his former ate and current manager, Lennix moved to New York to build his acting career, which he has done very successfully. Since then, he has appeared in a number of films and several television series in a guest or recurring role. In the sixth season of FOX' action drama hit series 24, Lennix played a prominent role as Walid Al-Rezani. In 2008, he was cast as Boyd Langton in Joss Whedon's sci-fi drama on FOX, Dollhouse. Lennix has directed and appeared in many theatre productions across the country. He received the first annual Ollie Award for his performance of Malcolm X at the Goodman, and two Joseph Jefferson Citations for his roles in Ma Rainey's Black Bottom and Caught in the Act. He directed the stage version of Townsend's The Five Heartbeats. which received three NAACP Theater Award nominations, and also starred as King Hedley II at the Mark Taper Forum. In 2001, Lennix was part of the first American company to be invited to the Royal Shakespeare Company in the production of Cymbeline For Steppenwolf he directed The Glass Menagerie. Other awards include a Black Reel Award for Best Actor for Keep the Faith, Baby -- and for which he received nominations for an NAACP Image Award and Golden Satellite Award. He also received a Golden Satellite for Best Supporting Role in a Drama for Titus and was nominated for a Screen Actors Guild Award for Ray. Lennix serves on the advisory boards of Chicago's Congo Square Theater and The Robey Theater in Los Angeles. He is active in civic groups and sits on the Northwestern University Advisory Council.… Expand