Ernie Hudson

Ernie Hudson
Hudson at the 2014 Florida SuperCon
Personal details
Born	Earnest Lee Hudson December 17, 1945(1945-12-17) Benton Harbor, Michigan, U.S.
Spouse	Jeannie Moore (m. 1963–76) Linda Kingsberg (m. 1985)
Occupation	Actor, playwright, producer

Earnest Lee "Ernie" Hudson (born December 17, 1945) is an American character actor. Having appeared in dozens of film and television roles throughout his career, he is perhaps best known for his roles as Winston Zeddemore in the Ghostbusters film series, Sergeant Darryl Albrecht in The Crow (1994), and Warden Leo Glynn on HBO's Oz. Hudson has also acted in movies like Leviathon (1989), The Hand That Rocks the Cradle (1992), Airheads (1994), The Basketball Diaries (1995), Congo (1995), and Miss Congeniality (2000). He had a cameo in the remake of Ghostbusters (2016).

Early life

Hudson was born in Benton Harbor, Michigan. He never knew his father. His mother, Maggie Donald, died of tuberculosis when he was two months old. He was subsequently raised by his maternal grandmother, Arrana Donald.

Hudson joined the United States Marine Corps straight from High School, dismissed after only three months due to asthma, before he moved to Detroit, Michigan. He became the resident playwright at Concept East, the oldest black theatre company in the United States. He enrolled at Wayne State University to further develop his writing and acting skills. He established the Actors' Ensemble Theatre where he and other talented young black writers directed and appeared in their own works. Later, he enrolled and subsequently graduated from Yale School of Drama.

In an interview with Belief.net, Hudson stated that he is a practicing Christian, but does not believe that "one church is the right one."

Career

Hudson speaking at WonderCon 2017 to promote APB

One of Hudson's early films was in Penitentiary II (1982) starring Leon Isaac Kennedy. He landed various guest roles on television series such as The Dukes of Hazzard and The A-Team. He was on the television series Fantasy Island in a first-season episode as a voodoo man named Jamu. Hudson gained fame playing Winston Zeddemore, who enlists with the Ghostbusters in the feature film Ghostbusters (1984) and its 1989 sequel. He also auditioned to reprise the role for the animated series, The Real Ghostbusters, but it was given to Arsenio Hall. He had a major supporting role as the mentally challenged handyman Solomon in The Hand that Rocks the Cradle (1992).

Hudson was cast as Warden Leo Glynn on HBO's series Oz. On Oz, his son Ernie Hudson Jr. co-starred with him as Muslim inmate Hamid Khan. Hudson also appears as the character Munro in Congo (1995) and as Police Sergeant Albreact in The Crow (1994). He switched gears when he played a preacher opening the eyes of a small town prejudice in the 1950s in Stranger in the Kingdom. He is also known for his role as Harry McDonald, the FBI superior of Sandra Bullock's character in the feature film Miss Congeniality (2000). He appears in the Stargate SG-1 episode "Ethon" as Pernaux. Hudson also appeared as Reggie in the film The Basketball Diaries (1995). In 2006, he appeared in the television movie The Ron Clark Story as Principal Turner. In 2008, he began a recurring role as Dr. Fields on The Secret Life of the American Teenager. Hudson also had a recurring role on the final season of Law & Order as Lt. Anita Van Buren's boyfriend and then fiancé.

In 2011, he played Stuart Owens in Torchwood: Miracle Day.

Beginning in 2015, Hudson was cast in a recurring role as Jacob, an organic farmer who is the romantic interest for Frankie Bergstein (Lily Tomlin) in the series Grace and Frankie.

Hudson appeared in the 2016 Ghostbusters reboot, playing Bill Jenkins, the uncle of Leslie Jones' lead character Pattie Tolan.

Filmography

The handprints of Hudson in front of The Great Movie Ride at Walt Disney World's Disney's Hollywood Studios theme park

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1976	Leadbelly	Archie
	The Human Tornado	Bo	Credited as Louis Hudson
1979	The Main Event	Killer
1980	Joni	Earl
	The Octagon	Quinine
	The Jazz Singer	Heckler
1981	Underground Aces	African General
1982	Penitentiary II	Half Dead
1983	Spacehunter: Adventures in the Forbidden Zone	Washington
	Going Berserk	Muhammed Jerome Willy
	Two of a Kind	Det. Skaggs
1984	Ghostbusters	Winston Zeddemore
	National Lampoon's Joy of Sex	Mr. Porter
1987	Weeds	Bagdad
1988	The Wrong Guys	Dawson
1989	Trapper County War	Jefferson Carter
	Leviathan	Justin Jones
	Collision Course	Shortcut
	Ghostbusters II	Winston Zeddemore
1992	The Hand That Rocks the Cradle	Solomon
1994	Sugar Hill	Lolly Jonas
	No Escape	Hawkins
	The Crow	Sergeant Albrecht
	The Cowboy Way	Officer Sam 'Mad Dog' Shaw
	Airheads	Sergeant O'Malley
	Speechless	Ventura
1995	The Basketball Diaries	Reggie
	Congo	Captain Munro Kelly
1996	"Tornado!"	Dr. Joe Branson
	The Substitute	Principal Claude Rolle
	For Which He Stands	DEA Agent Baxter
	Just Your Luck	Willie
1997	Fakin' Da Funk	Joe Lee
	Mr. Magoo	Agent Gus Anders, CIA
	Levitation	Downbeat
1998	Butter	Curtis "8 Ball" Harris
	Stranger in the Kingdom	Rev. Walter Andrews
	Best of the Best: Without Warning	Detective Gresko
	October 22	Arthur
1999	Lillie	Larry Miller
	Shark Attack	Lawrence Rhodes
	The Last Siege	Senator Douglas Wilson
	Interceptors	Major McKenzie
	Stealth Fighter	President Westwood
2000	Red Letters	Detective Glen Teal
	The Watcher	Ibby
	Paper Bullets	Detective Ron Mills
	Miss Congeniality	FBI Asst. Director Harry McDonald
	Everything's Jake	Jake
2003	Anne B. Real	Principal Davis
	10-8: Officers on Duty	Senior Deputy John Henry Barnes
2004	Clifford's Really Big Movie	P.T.	Voice role
2005	Marilyn Hotchkiss' Ballroom Dancing and Charm School	Blake Rische
	Miss Congeniality 2: Armed and Fabulous	FBI Asst. Director Harry McDonald
	Everwood	Bill Hoover
	Halfway Decent	Tom
2006	Hood of Horror	Roscoe
2007	Certifiably Jonathan	Museum Guard
	Nobel Son	Sgt. Bill Canega
	All Hat	Jackson Jones
2008	The Man in the Silo	Marcus Wells
	Pie'n Burger	Cedric
	Balancing the Books	Detective Carter
2009	Dragonball Evolution	Sifu Norris
	Lonely Street	Capt. Morgan
	Machete Joe	Sheriff Taylor
	Pastor Brown	Deacon Harold Todd
2010	Smokin' Aces 2: Assassins' Ball	Anthony Vejar
	Stasis	Stranger	Short film
	Game of Death	Catholic Priest
2011	Beverly Hills Chihuahua 2	Pedro	Voice role
2012	Beverly Hills Chihuahua 3: Viva La Fiesta!	Pedro	Voice role
	Turning Point	Joe Johnson
	Mickey Matson and the Copperhead Conspiracy	Ivan Stumpwater
2014	You're Not You	John
2015	Gallows Road	Bob Collins
2016	Batman: Bad Blood	Lucius Fox	Voice role
	God's Not Dead 2	Judge Stennis
	Ghostbusters	Uncle Bill Jenkins	Cameo
	Spaceman	Joe
2018	Nappily Ever After	Richard Jones	Filming

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1977	Mad Bull	Black Bart	Movie
1978	King	Jack Corbin	Miniseries
	Last of the Good Guys	El Coliph	Movie
	Fantasy Island	Jamu	Episode: "Family Reunion/VooDoo"
1979	The Incredible Hulk	Lee	Episode: "Like a Brother"
1980	Skag	Unknown role	"Pilot"
	The $5.20 an Hour Dream	Homer Burden	Movie
	Too Close for Comfort	Sam Morton	Episode: "The Bag Lady"
	White Mama	Counsellor	Movie
1981	A Matter of Life and Death	Mr. Harrison	Movie
	Crazy Times	Harold 'Jazzman' Malloy	Movie
	Little House on the Prairie	William Thomas	Episode: "Chicago"
	Taxi	Terry Carver	Episode: "Of Mice and Tony"
	Bosom Buddies	Rochelle	Episode: "One for You, One for Me"
1982	The Dukes of Hazzard	Avery	Episode: "Dear Diary"
1983	The A-Team	Cal Freeman	Episode: "The Taxicab Wars"
1984	St. Elsewhere	Jerry Close	6 episodes
1985	California Girls	Ernie	Movie
	Love on the Run	Lamar	Movie
	The Super Powers Team: Galactic Guardians	Cyborg (Victor Stone)	Voice role; 8 episodes
1986	The Last Precinct	Sergeant Night Train Lane	8 episodes
1987	Full House	Reggie "The Sandman" Martin	Episode: "Knock Yourself Out"
1988	The Dirty Dozen: The Fatal Mission	Joseph Hamilton	Movie
1989	The Super Mario Bros. Super Show!	Himself	Episode: "Slime Busters"
1996	Tornado!	Dr. Joe Branson	Movie
	The Cherokee Kid	Nat Love a.k.a. Deadwood Dick	Movie
1992	Angel Street	Thurman Nickens	Movie
	The Ben Stiller Show	The Tennis Captain	Episode: "With Bobcat Goldthwait"
1993	Wild Palms	Tommy Lazlo	Miniseries
	Tales from the Crypt	Zambini	Episode: "Food for Thought"
1997	Clover	Gaten Hill	Movie
	Operation Delta Force	Tipton	Movie
1997–2003	Oz	Warden Leo Glynn	56 episodes
1999	Michael Jordan: An American Hero	James R. Jordan, Sr.	Movie
	Miracle on the 17th Green	Earl Fielder	Movie
2000	Nowhere To Land	Danny Gorlin	Movie
2001	Walking Shadow	Hawk	Movie
	A Town Without Christmas	Ted	Movie
2003–2004	10-8: Officers on Duty	Senior Deputy John Henry Barnes	15 episodes
2005	Lackawanna Blues	Dick Barrymore	HBO movie
	Fighting the Odds: The Marilyn Gambrell Story	Perry Beasley	Movie
2006	The Ron Clark Story	Principal Turner	Movie
	Stargate SG-1	Commander Goran Pernaux	Episode: "Ethon"
2006–2007	Desperate Housewives	Detective Ridley	7 episodes
2007	Final Approach	Agent Lorenzo Dawson	Movie
2007, 2008	Bones	David Barron	2 episodes
2008	Las Vegas	Bob Casey	2 episodes
	Private Practice	Captain Frank	Episode: "Nothing to Talk About"
	Psych	Gus' Father	2 episodes
2008–2013	The Secret Life of the American Teenager	Dr. Ken Fields	18 episodes
2009	Meteor	Gen. Brasser	Miniseries
	Heroes	Captain Lubbock	2 episodes
2010	Childrens Hospital	Hubert McGraw	Episode: "Joke Overload"
	Criminal Minds	Lt. Al Garner	Episode: "Devil's Night"
2010–2013	Transformers: Prime	Special Agent William "Bill" Fowler (voice)	Recurring role; 37 episodes
2011	Torchwood: Miracle Day	Stewart Owens	Episode: "The Middle Men"
	How I Met Your Mother	Himself	Episode: "The Rebound Girl"
	Grey's Anatomy	Brad McDougall	Episode: "Put Me In, Coach"
	White Collar	Mr. Jeffries	Season 3 Episode: "Dentist of Detroit"
2011–2014	Rizzoli & Isles	Admiral Frost	2 episodes
2012–2016	Modern Family	Miles	4 episodes
2012	Hart of Dixie	Ernie Hayes	Episode: "Snowflakes & Soulmates"
2012–2014	Franklin & Bash	Hon. Lawrence Perry	4 episodes
2013	Battledogs	Max Stevens	Movie
	Last Resort	Speaker of the House Conrad Buell	2 episodes
	Call Me Crazy: A Five Film	Percy	Movie
	Dear Secret Santa	Pastor Avery	Movie
	Mob City	Bunny	2 episodes
2014	Scorpion	Brooks	Episode: Pilot
	Hot in Cleveland	Ernie Hudson	Episode: "Cold in Cleveland: The Christmas Episode"
	Comic Book Men	Himself	Episode: "Stashbusters"
2015–2017	Grace and Frankie	Jacob	12 episodes
2015	Once Upon a Time	King Poseidon	Episode: "Poor Unfortunate Soul"
2016	Celebrity Family Feud	Himself	"Hudson vs. Leakes"
2016–present	Graves	Jacob Mann	9 episodes
2016	Infinity Train	Atticus (voice)	Animated pilot
2017	APB	Sgt. Ned Conrad	Episode: "Hard Reset"
	Twin Peaks	Colonel Davis	2 episodes
	Angie Tribeca	Pete Tribeca	Episode: "Germs on Endearment"

Video games

Year	Title	Voice role
2009	Ghostbusters: The Video Game	Winston Zeddemore
2015	Lego Dimensions	Winston Zeddemore

External links

• Ernie Hudson at the Internet Movie Database
• Ernie Hudson at the TCM Movie Database
• Ernie Hudson at AllMovie
• Ernie Hudson Interview in Dangerous Ink Magazine – 2009
• Interview (March 2008) with Ernie Hudson, by Matthew Waldram
• Ernie Hudson interviewed by Julian De Backer on YouTube