Stephen McKinley Henderson facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Stephen McKinley Henderson
Henderson presenting at Amherst Central High School on March 29, 2018
Born	Kansas City, Missouri, U.S.
Education	Lincoln University, Missouri Juilliard School North Carolina School of the Arts (BFA) Purdue University, West Lafayette (MA)
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1979–present
Spouse(s)	Pamela Reed ​ (m. 1978)​
Children	1

Stephen McKinley Henderson is an American actor known for his strong performances. He trained at the famous Juilliard School for acting. Later, he became a regular actor at the Repertory Theatre of St. Louis. He is especially famous for acting in plays by August Wilson.

Henderson has been nominated for many important awards. These include two Tony Awards, a Drama Desk Award, and two Screen Actors Guild Awards. A website called Vulture even called him one of the "32 Greatest Character Actors Working Today." This means he is very good at playing different kinds of characters.

He first appeared on Broadway in 2001 in August Wilson's play King Hedley II. He was nominated for Tony Awards for his roles in Wilson's Fences (2010) and Between Riverside and Crazy (2023). He also acted in the Broadway show A Raisin in the Sun in 2014.

Henderson has also acted in many movies. His first film was A Pleasure Doing Business in 1979. Since then, he has been in movies like Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close (2011), Lincoln (2012), and Fences (2016). He also appeared in Manchester by the Sea (2016), Lady Bird (2017), and the science fiction movie Dune (2021). More recently, he was in Causeway (2022), Beau Is Afraid (2023), and Civil War (2024).

His first TV show was The Killing Floor in 1984. He has appeared in popular shows like Law & Order (1995–2010) and Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (2005–2006). Other TV roles include The Newsroom (2013), The Blacklist (2018), Wu-Tang: An American Saga (2019–2020), and Devs (2020).

Early Life and Education

Stephen McKinley Henderson was born in Kansas City, Missouri. His parents were Ruby Naomi and Elihue Henderson. He studied at Lincoln University, Missouri for a year. He also started at the Juilliard School Drama Division but later left.

He earned his Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA) degree in Acting in 1972. He got this degree from the North Carolina School of the Arts. Later, he continued his studies at Purdue University. There, he received his Master of Arts (MA) in Theatre in 1977. He also took summer classes in London and New York City.

Acting Career

Stage Performances

Henderson is most famous for his work on stage. In 2015, he won an Obie Award for Best Actor. This was for his main role as Walter "Pops" Washington in the play Between Riverside and Crazy. This play also won a Pulitzer Prize.

He played Jim Bono in the Broadway show Fences. In this play, he acted alongside Denzel Washington. For this role, Henderson was nominated for a Tony Award as a supporting actor. He also won the Richard Seff Award. He later played the same role in the 2016 movie version of Fences.

On Broadway, he has also performed in Drowning Crow and Ma Rainey's Black Bottom. He was also in the first show of King Hedley II. Henderson is known for being an expert in plays by August Wilson.

One of his most well-known roles is Turnbo in Jitney. He won a Drama Desk Award with the rest of the cast for this play. He first played Turnbo in 1996 and continued the role in other theaters. In 2000, Jitney moved to Off-Broadway. Even though it didn't go to Broadway, Henderson and the cast took Jitney to London. There, it won the 2002 Olivier Award for best new play. He also appeared in A Raisin in the Sun and directed Zooman and the Sign.

In 2005, Henderson played Pontius Pilate in The Last Days of Judas Iscariot. This play was directed by Philip Seymour Hoffman. He also played Van Helsing in the Broadway musical Dracula, the Musical.

In 2023, he received a Lifetime Achievement Award. This special award was given to him at the Lucille Lortel Awards ceremony.

Film and Television Roles

Henderson has appeared in many films. He was Cooper's husband in the TV movie Marie (1985). He played Bobo in A Raisin in the Sun (1989). He was Arthur in Everyday People (2004) and Lester in Tower Heist (2011).

In Steven Spielberg's film Lincoln (2012), he played William Slade. Slade was a White House servant. Henderson also had roles in Keane (2004) and If You Could Say It in Words (2008).

In 2016, Henderson was in Manchester by the Sea. He played the boss of the main character, played by Casey Affleck. The next year, he was Father Leviatch in Greta Gerwig's film Lady Bird. In 2021, he appeared in the movie Dune.

Besides films, Henderson was a regular actor on the FOX TV series New Amsterdam in 2008. He has also been in TV shows like Law & Order, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, and The Newsroom. Other TV appearances include Law & Order: Criminal Intent, Tyler Perry's House of Payne, Third Watch, Blue Bloods, and Devs.

Personal Life

Stephen McKinley Henderson has one child.

Filmography

Film

Key

Denotes works that have not yet been released

Year	Title	Role(s)	Notes
1979	A Pleasure Doing Business	Bank teller
1985	Marie	Cooper's husband
2004	Everyday People	Arthur
	Keane	Garage employee
2006	Waltzing Anna	Pete
2008	If You Could Say It in Words	Baseball fan
2009	The Good Heart	Psychiatrist
2011	Tower Heist	Lester
	Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close	Walt the locksmith
2012	Red Hook Summer	Deacon Yancy
	Lincoln	William Slade
2014	Da Sweet Blood of Jesus	Deacon Yancy
	The Romans	Birdman
2016	Manchester by the Sea	Mr. Emery
	The American Side	Stickney
	All at Once	Robert
	Fences	Jim Bono
2017	Lady Bird	Father Leviatch
2019	Native Son	Mr. Green
	The True Adventures of Wolfboy	Nicholas
2020	Bruised	Pops
2021	Dune	Thufir Hawat
2022	Causeway	Dr. Lucas
2023	Beau Is Afraid	Therapist
2024	Dune: Part Two	Thufir Hawat	Deleted scenes
	Civil War	Sammy
2025	The Dutchman	TBA	Post-production
	Good Fortune	TBA	Post-production

Television

Theatre

Awards and Nominations

Stephen McKinley Henderson has won and been nominated for many awards for his acting.

See also

In Spanish: Stephen McKinley Henderson para niños