Russell Hornsby (born May 15, 1974) is an American

actor An actor or actress is a person who portrays a character in a performance. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. The analogous Greek term is (), l ...

. He is known for his roles as Edward "Eddie" Sutton on

ABC Family The American cable and satellite television network that is now known as Freeform was originally launched as the CBN Satellite Service on April 29, 1977, and has gone through several different owners (and six different name changes) during its h ...

's '' Lincoln Heights'', as Luke on the HBO drama '' In Treatment'', as Detective Hank Griffin on the

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters ...

series '' Grimm'', and as Lyons in the movie '' Fences''. He also played Carl Gatewood in the

Showtime Showtime or Show Time may refer to: Film * ''Showtime'' (film), a 2002 American action/comedy film * ''Showtime'' (video), a 1995 live concert video by Blur Television Networks and channels * Showtime Networks, a division of Paramount Global ...

TV series '' The Affair''.

Early life and education

Hornsby was born in San Francisco, California. He was a football player at St. Mary’s College High School in Berkeley, California. He auditioned for a spring musical and got the role of the Scarecrow in ''

The Wiz ''The Wiz: The Super Soul Musical "Wonderful Wizard of Oz"'' is a musical with music and lyrics by Charlie Smalls (and others) and book by William F. Brown. It is a retelling of L. Frank Baum's children's novel ''The Wonderful Wizard of Oz'' ...

''. After that, he became very interested in theatre and acting and was highly involved with the rest of the school theatrical productions. After graduating, he studied theater at

Boston University Boston University (BU) is a private research university in Boston, Massachusetts. The university is nonsectarian, but has a historical affiliation with the United Methodist Church. It was founded in 1839 by Methodists with its original c ...

, from which he graduated with a degree in performance. After graduation, Hornsby continued his studies at the British American Drama Academy.

Career

After finishing his studies at Oxford, Hornsby moved to

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the U ...

and was subsequently cast in leading roles in

Off Broadway An off-Broadway theatre is any professional theatre venue in New York City with a seating capacity between 100 and 499, inclusive. These theatres are smaller than Broadway theatres, but larger than off-off-Broadway theatres, which seat fewer tha ...

productions of ''

To Kill a Mockingbird ''To Kill a Mockingbird'' is a novel by the American author Harper Lee. It was published in 1960 and was instantly successful. In the United States, it is widely read in high schools and middle schools. ''To Kill a Mockingbird'' has become ...

'' (as Atticus Finch), '' Joe Louis Blues'', and ''

Six Degrees of Separation Six degrees of separation is the idea that all people are six or fewer social connections away from each other. As a result, a chain of " friend of a friend" statements can be made to connect any two people in a maximum of six steps. It is also ...

'' (as Paul). In the late 1990s, he decided to move to

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 wor ...

in order to transition into television and film. He has appeared in several different television productions including appearing in recurring roles in '' Haunted'' as Detective Marcus Bradshaw and ''

Gideon's Crossing ''Gideon's Crossing'' is an American medical drama A medical drama is a television show or film in which events center upon a hospital, an ambulance staff, or any medical environment. Most recent medical drama (film and television), dramatic pr ...

'' as Chief Resident Dr. Aaron Boise. His other television credits include ''

Grey's Anatomy ''Grey's Anatomy'' is an American medical drama television series that premiered on March 27, 2005, on ABC as a mid-season replacement. The series focuses on the lives of surgical interns, residents, and attendings as they develop into ...

'', ''

Law & Order ''Law & Order'' is an American police procedural and legal drama television series created by Dick Wolf and produced by Wolf Entertainment, launching the '' Law & Order'' franchise. ''Law & Order'' aired its entire run on NBC, premiering o ...

'', and ''

In Justice ''In Justice'' is an American police procedural television series created by Michelle King and Robert King. The series began airing on Sunday, January 1, 2006, on ABC as a midseason replacement and assumed its regular night and time on Friday ...

'' among others. He also played running back Leon Taylor in

ESPN ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). The ...

's drama series ''

Playmakers ''Playmakers'' is an American drama series that aired on ESPN from August 26 to November 11, 2003. It depicted the lives of the Cougars, a fictional professional football team in an unidentified city. The show starred Omar Gooding, Marcello T ...

''. On the

big screen A feature film or feature-length film is a narrative film (motion picture or "movie") with a running time long enough to be considered the principal or sole presentation in a commercial entertainment program. The term ''feature film'' originall ...

, he has appeared in such films as ''

After the Sunset ''After the Sunset'' is a 2004 American heist action comedy film directed by Brett Ratner and starring Pierce Brosnan as Max Burdett, a master thief caught in a pursuit with FBI agent Stan Lloyd, played by Woody Harrelson. It was shot in the ...

'', ''

Big Fat Liar ''Big Fat Liar'' is a 2002 American comedy film, directed by Shawn Levy, adapted by Dan Schneider (TV producer), Dan Schneider from a story by Schneider and Brian Robbins, and starring Frankie Muniz, Paul Giamatti, Amanda Bynes, Amanda Detmer, D ...

'', ''

Get Rich or Die Tryin' ''Get Rich or Die Tryin'' is the debut studio album by American rapper 50 Cent. It was released on February 6, 2003, by Interscope Records, Dr. Dre's Aftermath Entertainment, Eminem's Shady Records, and 50 Cent's G-Unit Records. After signing w ...

'', ''

Keep the Faith, Baby Adam Clayton Powell Jr. (November 29, 1908 – April 4, 1972) was an American Baptist pastor and politician who represented the Harlem neighborhood of New York City in the United States House of Representatives from 1945 until 1971. He was t ...

'', ''

Meet the Parents ''Meet the Parents'' is a 2000 American comedy film written by Jim Herzfeld and John Hamburg and directed by Jay Roach. It chronicles a series of unfortunate events that befall a good-hearted but hapless nurse (Ben Stiller as Greg Focker) while v ...

'', and ''

Stuck Stuck may refer to: Film and television * ''Stuck'' (2001 film), a short film directed by Jamie Babbit * ''Stuck'' (2002 film), a Canadian TV drama directed by Lindsay Bourne * ''Stuck'' (2007 film), a thriller directed by Stuart Gordon and starr ...

'' among others. In 2000, Hornsby appeared in the Off-Broadway production of '' Jitney'' for which he 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. Fo ...

and an Obie Award. He starred in the

fantasy drama '' Grimm'' from 2011 to 2017. In 2018, he played Isaiah Butler in the Netflix crime drama '' Seven Seconds''. That same year, Hornsby joined the cast of the movie '' Creed II''. In 2021, he went on to star in the

Starz Starz (stylized as STARZ since 2016; pronounced "stars") is an American premium cable and satellite television network owned by Lions Gate Entertainment, and is the flagship property of parent subsidiary Starz Inc. Programming on Starz consis ...

crime drama television series '' BMF'', with costars Eric Kofi-Abrefa, Da'Vinchi and

Demetrius Flenory Jr. Demetrius Flenory Jr. (born April 22, 2000) is an American actor and rapper. He rose to fame portraying his father, Demetrius Flenory of Black Mafia Family, in 50 Cent's '' BMF'' series adaptation. Early life Demetrius "Lil Meech" Flenory J ...

, who played Demetrius Flenory Sr.

Filmography

Film

Television

Video games

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Hornsby, Russell Male actors from Oakland, California American male television actors American male film actors American male stage actors American male voice actors Boston University College of Fine Arts alumni Drama Desk Award winners Obie Award recipients 1974 births Living people 20th-century American male actors 21st-century American male actors African-American male actors 20th-century African-American people 21st-century African-American people