Harry Lennix

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 Fox science-fiction series Dollhouse. Lennix co-starred as Harold Cooper, assistant director of the FBI Counterterrorism Division, on the NBC drama The Blacklist. Lennix also played J'onn J'onzz/Calvin Swanwick/Martian Manhunter in the DC Extended Universe films Man of Steel, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, and Zack Snyder's Justice League.He was nominated for the 2025 Tony Award for Best Actor in a Play for his role in Purpose.

Early life

The youngest of four siblings, Lennix was born in Chicago, Illinois, 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. Lennix attended Quigley Preparatory Seminary South and Northwestern University, 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 television film Keep the Faith, Baby (2002) as reverend and Congressman Adam Clayton Powell Jr.; in the film Titus (1999), based on Shakespeare's Titus Andronicus, as Aaron the Moor; and in the ABC television series Commander in Chief. For ten seasons, Lennix co-starred in the role of Harold Cooper, assistant director of the FBI Counterterrorism Division, on the NBC drama The Blacklist (2013-2023).

In film, Lennix has had supporting roles such as The Five Heartbeats (1991), Comfortably Numb (1995), Get on the Bus (1996), Love & Basketball (2000), The Matrix 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 as Mar Londo in the Legion of Super Heroes episode "Timber Wolf". He also had a recurring role in the sixth season of 24 as Muslim 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.[citation needed] He also appeared in the episode "The Blame Game" of the first season of Ally McBeal. He played the parts of Boyd Langton in Joss Whedon's series Dollhouse and U.S. president Barack Obama 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. 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. Lennix made an additional appearance as Swanwick in Snyder's version of Justice League, released in 2021.

During the Chicago Goodman Theater's 2024-2025 season, Lennix played the role of Henry Drummond in the Jerome Lawrence and Robert E. Lee play Inherit the Wind.

Personal life

In 2009, Lennix married business executive Djena Graves.

Lennix is a member of the Omega Psi Phi fraternity. He was initiated into the fraternity in November 2012 via the Theta Kappa Kappa graduate chapter in Evanston, Illinois.

Lennix is Catholic.

Acting credits

Film

Television

Video games

Radio

Theater

Awards and nominations

External links

• at IMDb
• at the Internet Off-Broadway Database (archived)
• at the Internet Broadway Database