McKinley Belcher III (born March 23, 1984) is an American actor, known for his starring role as Samuel Diggs in the PBS television series ''

Mercy Street "Mercy Street" is a song written by English musician Peter Gabriel from his 1986 album '' So''. Background and recording The song was inspired by the personal and confessional works of the American poet Anne Sexton, who wrote a play titled '' ...

'', Anthony Carter in the Fox genre drama ''

The Passage Passage, The Passage or Le Passage may refer to: Arts and entertainment Films * ''Passage'' (2008 film), a documentary about Arctic explorers * ''Passage'' (2009 film), a short movie about three sisters * ''The Passage'' (1979 film), starring ...

'', and as Agent Trevor Evans in

Netflix Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a ...

crime thriller ''Ozark''.

Early life

Belcher was born in

Atlanta, Georgia Atlanta ( ) is the capital city, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georgia, Fulton County, the mos ...

, on March 23, 1984, at

Grady Memorial Hospital Grady Memorial Hospital, frequently referred to as Grady Hospital or simply Grady, is the public hospital for the city of Atlanta. It is the tenth-largest public hospital in the United States, and one of the busiest Level I trauma centers in th ...

, the first son of McKinley Belcher Jr. and Pamela McGhee Belcher. The family later moved to

Powder Springs Powder Springs is a city in Cobb County, Georgia, United States. The population was 13,940 at the 2010 census, with an estimated population for 2019 of 15,758. In 2015, the city elected its first black mayor, Al Thurman. He was the first African ...

, where he attended elementary and middle school. Belcher graduated from Campbell High School in

Smyrna, Georgia Smyrna is a city in Cobb County, Georgia, United States. It is located northwest of Atlanta, and is in the inner ring of the Atlanta Metropolitan Area. It is included in the Atlanta-Sandy Springs–Alpharetta MSA, which is included in the Atlant ...

, in 2002, where he was in the

International Baccalaureate The International Baccalaureate (IB), formerly known as the International Baccalaureate Organization (IBO), is a nonprofit foundation headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland, and founded in 1968. It offers four educational programmes: the IB D ...

program and ran track and cross country. He went to

Belmont University Belmont University is a private Christian university in Nashville, Tennessee. Descended from Belmont Women's College, founded in 1890 by schoolteachers Ida Hood and Susan Heron, the institution was incorporated in 1951 as Belmont College. It be ...

Nashville Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the seat of Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the most populous city in the state, 21st most-populous city in the U.S., and th ...

, Tennessee, and graduated in 2006 with a B.A. in Communication Studies and Political Science. At Belmont he competed on the Speech and Debate Team, winning awards as a debater and individual speaker. He subsequently went to USC School of Dramatic Arts in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world ...

, where he won the Ava Greenwald Memorial Award and graduated in 2010 with an MFA in Acting.

Career

Theatre

Belcher appeared Off-Broadway in ''Romeo and Juliet'' at

Classic Stage Company Classic Stage Company, or CSC, is a classical Off-Broadway theater. Founded in 1967, Classic Stage Company is one of Off-Broadway's oldest theaters. Its 199-seat theatre is the former Abbey Theatre located at 136 East 13th Street between Third a ...

in 2013 and in 2016 won a

Drama Desk Award The Drama Desk Award is an annual prize recognizing excellence in New York theatre. First bestowed in 1955 as the Vernon Rice Award, the prize initially honored Off-Broadway productions, as well as Off-off-Broadway, and those in the vicinity. F ...

for his performance as amateur boxer Fish in the ensemble of Marco Ramirez's ''The Royale'' at

Lincoln Center Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts (also simply known as Lincoln Center) is a complex of buildings in the Lincoln Square neighborhood on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. It has thirty indoor and outdoor facilities and is host to 5 milli ...

, directed by Rachel Chavkin. He also appeared as Sam in Darko Tresnjak's 2015 world premiere production of ''Rear Window'' at Hartford Stage, alongside

Kevin Bacon Kevin Norwood Bacon (born July 8, 1958) is an American actor. His films include the musical-drama film '' Footloose'' (1984), the controversial historical conspiracy legal thriller '' JFK'' (1991), the legal drama '' A Few Good Men'' (1992), t ...

. Belcher played the dual roles of Teddy and Nicholas in the world premiere of

Ken Urban Ken Urban is an American playwright, screenwriter, director, and musician based in New York. He is a senior lecturer at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and leads the Music and Theatre Arts Program's dramatic writing program. Urban is ...

's ''A Guide for the Homesick'' at the

Huntington Theatre Company The Huntington Theatre Company is a professional theatre located in Boston, Massachusetts and the recipient of the 2013 Regional Theatre Tony Award, under the direction of Managing Director Michael Maso. It is notable for its longstanding artist ...

in 2017, winning both an Elliot Norton Award for Outstanding Actor and an

IRNE Award The IRNE Awards are presented annually by the Independent Reviewers of New England (IRNE) to honor the best achievements in Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth ...

for Best Actor. In 2019 Belcher played Rashad in MCC's off-Broadway production of ''The Light'', for which he was nominated for an Outer Critics Circle Award for Outstanding Actor in a Play. In 2020 Belcher made his Broadway debut as Private Louis Henson (a role originated by Samuel L. Jackson off-Broadway) in the Broadway premiere of

A Soldier's Play ''A Soldier's Play'' is a play by American playwright Charles Fuller. Set on a US Army installation in the segregation-era South, the play is a loose adaptation of Herman Melville's novella ''Billy Budd'', and follows the murder investigation ...

at the Roundabout Theatre Company. Belcher made history as Happy Loman in the 2022-2023 Broadway production of

Death of a Salesman ''Death of a Salesman'' is a 1949 stage play written by American playwright Arthur Miller. The play premiered on Broadway in February 1949, running for 742 performances. It is a two-act tragedy set in late 1940s Brooklyn told through a montage ...

, featuring the first African-American Loman family on Broadway alongside

Wendell Pierce Wendell Edward Pierce (born December 8, 1963) is an American actor and businessman. Having trained at Juilliard School, Pierce rose to prominence as a character actor portraying roles both on the stage and screen. He first gained notoriety portra ...

, Sharon D. Clarke, Khris Davis and

André De Shields André Robin De Shields (born January 12, 1946) is an American actor, singer, dancer, director, and choreographer. De Shields originated the role of Hermes on Broadway in the musical '' Hadestown'', winning the 2019 Tony Award for Best Actor ...

Film and television

Belcher made his film debut in John Sayles' 2013 independent film ''

Go for Sisters ''Go for Sisters'' is a 2013 crime drama, written and directed by John Sayles. The title refers to the history of friendship between the two main characters: when they were in high school, the two African American women were so close they could "g ...

'', playing

Lisa Gay Hamilton LisaGay Hamilton (born March 25, 1964) is an American actress who has portrayed roles in films, television, and on stage. She is best known for her role as secretary/lawyer Rebecca Washington on the ABC legal drama ''The Practice'' (1997–2003). ...

's son Rodney. In 2015 he appeared in

David Simon David Judah Simon (born February 9, 1960) is an American author, journalist, screenwriter, and producer best known for his work on '' The Wire'' (2002–08). He worked for '' The Baltimore Sun'' City Desk for twelve years (1982–95), wrote '' H ...

's HBO mini-series ''

Show Me a Hero ''Show Me a Hero'' is a 2015 American miniseries based on the 1999 nonfiction book of the same name by former ''New York Times'' writer Lisa Belkin about Yonkers mayor Nick Wasicsko. Like the book, the miniseries details a white middle-class ne ...

'' as

LaTanya Richardson Jackson LaTanya Richardson Jackson ( Richardson; born October 21, 1949) is an American actress. She began her career appearing in off-Broadway productions, before playing supporting roles on television and film. Richardson has appeared in films includi ...

's son Dwayne Meeks, directed by

Paul Haggis Paul Edward Haggis (born March 10, 1953) is a Canadian screenwriter, film producer, and director of film and television. He is best known as screenwriter and producer for consecutive Best Picture Oscar winners ''Million Dollar Baby'' (2004) and ...

. Belcher had his first experience as a series regular as Samuel Diggs in two seasons of PBS's

Ridley Scott Sir Ridley Scott (born 30 November 1937) is a British film director and producer. Directing, among others, science fiction films, his work is known for its atmospheric and highly concentrated visual style. Scott has received many accolades th ...

-produced Civil War drama ''Mercy Street''. His character, Samuel, is a free man who works as a laborer, but harbors secret knowledge and ability in medicine. In 2018 he was cast as Anthony Carter in Fox's drama

, based on

Justin Cronin Justin Cronin (born 1962) is an American author. He has written five novels: ''Mary and O'Neil'' and ''The Summer Guest'', as well as a vampire trilogy consisting of ''The Passage,'' '' The Twelve'' and '' City of Mirrors''. He has won the Heming ...

's novel by the same name. Belcher worked with

again, in HBO's 2022 limited series We Own This City, playing real-life BPD veteran and Gun Trace Task Force officer Momodu Gondo. In 2022 Belcher also joined the cast of

's live-action adaptation of the Japanese manga ''

One Piece ''One Piece'' (stylized in all caps) is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Eiichiro Oda. It has been serialized in Shueisha's ''shōnen'' manga magazine '' Weekly Shōnen Jump'' since July 1997, with its individual chap ...

'' as Arlong the Saw, a saw shark Fishman and rival to Iñaki Godoy's Luffy.

Personal life

Belcher is openly queer, and married artist Blake Fox on January 17, 2023, in Hoboken, NJ in a wedding that was officiated by Belcher's ''

'' co-star

Filmography

Film

Television

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Belcher, McKinley Living people American male film actors Belmont University alumni People from Smyrna, Georgia USC School of Dramatic Arts alumni 1984 births American male television actors American male stage actors American gay actors LGBT African Americans African-American male actors Male actors from Atlanta 21st-century American male actors 21st-century African-American people 21st-century American LGBT people LGBT people from Georgia (U.S. state)