Ernie Hudson
Immortalized in popular culture as the African-American Ghostbuster in the 1984 mega-hit and its 1989 sequel, Ernie Hudson enjoys a longer and more diverse career than many of the movie stars he once supported. The Yale graduate's impressive physique won him a scattering of bruiser roles early on, including bits in Gordon Parks' "Leadbelly" (1976) and the Barbra Streisand vehicle "The Main Event" (1979), until his ability to underscore menace with intelligence earned him more substantial roles in Jamaa Fanaka's "Penitentiary II" (1982) and the 3-D actioner "Spacehunter: Adventures in the Forbidden Zone" (1983). Although "Ghostbusters" (1984) augured a significant uptake in the quality of his assignments, the actor continued to struggle well into the next decade. Better parts in "The Hand That Rocks the Cradle" (1992), "The Crow" (1994), "Congo" (1995) and "The Basketball Diaries" (1995) with Leonardo DiCaprio boosted Hudson to the next level and to greater success on the small screen. Frequently seen as a guest actor on dozens of primetime series, the actor enjoyed a six-year run on the critically-lauded HBO prison series "Oz" (1997-2003), as well as subsequent semi-regular roles on "Law & Order" (NBC, 1990-2010) and "Desperate Housewives" (ABC, 2004-2012). Remaining in demand past the age of retirement, Hudson made his Broadway debut in 2009 in the Tony Award-winning revival of "Joe Turner's Come and Gone," proving himself to be one of the most unsung but invaluable actors of the American stage and screen.
Photos
Ernie Hudson
Filmography
Movies
Credit | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
42% |
|
Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire | Dr. Winston Zeddemore (Character) | $112.7M | 2024 |
60% |
|
The Retirement Plan | Joseph (Character) | $1.4M | 2023 |
59% |
|
Champions | Coach Phil Perretti (Character) | $16.3M | 2023 |
42% |
|
Prisoner's Daughter | Hank (Character) | - | 2022 |
64% |
|
Ghostbusters: Afterlife | Dr. Winston Zeddemore (Character) | $128.8M | 2021 |
14% |
|
Redemption Day | Ed Paxton (Character) | - | 2021 |
100% |
|
Cleanin' Up the Town: Remembering Ghostbusters | Self | - | 2019 |
No Score Yet |
|
Adventure Force 5 | Dr. Abel (Character) | - | 2019 |
71% |
|
Nappily Ever After | Richard Jones (Character) | - | 2018 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | High & Outside: A Baseball Noir | Sanzone (Character) | - | 2017 |
No Score Yet |
|
Heaven Sent | Donatello (Character) | - | 2016 |
0% |
|
Spaceman | Joe (Character) | - | 2016 |
74% |
|
Ghostbusters | Uncle Bill (Character) | - | 2016 |
10% |
|
God's Not Dead 2 | Judge Stennis (Character) | $20.8M | 2016 |
100% |
|
Batman: Bad Blood | Lucius Fox (Voice) | - | 2016 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | To Hell and Back | Joe (Character) | - | 2015 |
No Score Yet |
|
Merry Ex-Mas | Pastor Ed (Character) | - | 2014 |
No Score Yet |
|
The Grim Sleeper | Detective Gerry Claymar (Character) | - | 2014 |
No Score Yet |
|
Gallows Road | Bob Collins (Character) | - | 2014 |
52% |
|
You're Not You | John (Character) | - | 2014 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | The Last Song | Guest (Character) | - | 2014 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Touched | Dr Beck (Character) | - | 2014 |
No Score Yet |
|
Dear Secret Santa | Pastor Avery (Character) | - | 2013 |
No Score Yet |
|
Call Me Crazy: A Five Film | Unknown (Character) | - | 2013 |
No Score Yet |
|
Battledogs | Max Stevens (Character) | - | 2013 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Adonis | Chick Magnet CEO (Character) | - | 2013 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Don't Fear Death |
Director, Producer |
- | 2013 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Turning Point | Joe Johnson (Character) | - | 2012 |
No Score Yet |
|
The Man in the Silo | Marcus Wells (Character) | - | 2012 |
No Score Yet |
|
Ambush at Dark Canyon | Cyrus Parker (Character) | - | 2012 |
No Score Yet |
|
Mickey Matson and the Copperhead Conspiracy | Ivan Stumpwater (Character) | - | 2012 |
No Score Yet |
|
Deer Crossing | Captain Bailey (Character) | - | 2012 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Sugarwheels | Prof. Zaccharine Ragus PhD (Character) | - | 2011 |
No Score Yet |
|
Doonby | Leroy (Character) | - | 2011 |
No Score Yet |
|
Beverly Hills Chihuahua 2 | Pedro (Voice) | - | 2011 |
No Score Yet |
|
Machete Joe | Sheriff Taylor (Character) | - | 2010 |
No Score Yet |
|
Game of Death | Clarence (Character) | - | 2010 |
44% |
|
Smokin' Aces 2: Assassins' Ball | Anthony Vejar (Character) | - | 2010 |
No Score Yet |
|
Pastor Brown | Deacon Harold Todd (Character) | - | 2009 |
No Score Yet |
|
Balancing the Books | Detective Carter (Character) | - | 2009 |
No Score Yet |
|
Lonely Street | Unknown (Character) | - | 2009 |
14% |
|
Dragonball: Evolution | Master Mutaito (Character) | $9.4M | 2009 |
27% |
|
Nobel Son | Lasasso (Character) | $333.9K | 2007 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Final Approach | Agent Lorenzo Dawson (Character) | - | 2007 |
20% |
|
All Hat | Unknown (Character) | - | 2007 |
No Score Yet |
|
The Ron Clark Story | Principal Turner (Character) | - | 2006 |
13% |
|
Snoop Dogg's Hood of Horror | Roscoe Lee (Character) | $2.3M | 2006 |
No Score Yet |
|
Fighting the Odds: The Marilyn Gambrell Story | Perry Beasley (Character) | - | 2005 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Halfway Decent | Tom (Character) | - | 2005 |
75% |
|
Lackawanna Blues | Dick Barrymore (Character) | - | 2005 |
22% |
|
Marilyn Hotchkiss' Ballroom Dancing and Charm School | Blake Rische (Character) | $247.1K | 2005 |
16% |
|
Miss Congeniality 2: Armed and Fabulous | Harry McDonald (Character) | $48.5M | 2005 |
No Score Yet |
|
Anne B. Real | Principal Davis (Character) | - | 2003 |
No Score Yet |
|
A Town Without Christmas | Ted (Character) | - | 2001 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Walking Shadow | Hawk (Character) | - | 2001 |
No Score Yet |
|
Nowhere to Land | Danny Gorlin (Character) | - | 2000 |
No Score Yet |
|
Everything's Jake | Jake (Character) | - | 2000 |
41% |
|
Miss Congeniality | McDonald (Character) | $106.8M | 2000 |
11% |
|
The Watcher | FBI Director (Character) | $28.9M | 2000 |
No Score Yet |
|
Red Letters | Detective Glen Teal (Character) | - | 2000 |
No Score Yet |
|
Hijack | Senator Douglas Wilson (Character) | - | 1999 |
No Score Yet |
|
Stealth Fighter | President Westwood (Character) | - | 1999 |
0% |
|
Shark Attack | Lawrence Rhodes (Character) | - | 1999 |
No Score Yet |
|
Michael Jordan: An American Hero | Unknown (Character) | - | 1999 |
No Score Yet |
|
Interceptor Force | Major (Character) | - | 1999 |
No Score Yet |
|
Miracle on the 17th Green | Unknown (Character) | - | 1999 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Paper Bullets | Detective Ron Mills (Character) | - | 1999 |
No Score Yet |
|
Best of the Best: Without Warning | Detective Gresko (Character) | - | 1998 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | October 22 | Arthur (Character) | - | 1998 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | A Stranger in the Kingdom | Rev. Walter Andrews (Character) | - | 1998 |
No Score Yet |
|
Butter | Curtis `'8-Ball'` Harris (Character) | - | 1998 |
No Score Yet |
|
Operation Delta Force | Major Tipton (Character) | - | 1997 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Clover | Gaten Hill (Character) | - | 1997 |
9% |
|
Mr. Magoo | Agent Gus Anders, CIA (Character) | $21.4M | 1997 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Levitation | Downbeat (Character) | - | 1997 |
No Score Yet |
|
Fakin' Da Funk | Joe Lee (Character) | - | 1997 |
42% |
|
The Substitute | Principal Claude Rolle (Character) | $14.8M | 1996 |
No Score Yet |
|
The Cherokee Kid | Nat Love (Character) | - | 1996 |
No Score Yet |
|
Tornado! | Dr. Joe Branson (Character) | - | 1996 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | For Which He Stands | DEA Agent Baxter (Character) | - | 1996 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Just Your Luck | Willie (Character) | - | 1996 |
45% |
|
The Basketball Diaries | Reggie (Character) | $2.1M | 1995 |
23% |
|
Congo | Captain Munro Kelly (Character) | $80.1M | 1995 |
10% |
|
Speechless | Ventura (Character) | $19.6M | 1994 |
29% |
|
Airheads | Sergeant O'Malley (Character) | $4.9M | 1994 |
20% |
|
The Cowboy Way | Officer Sam "Mad Dog" Shaw (Character) | $19.6M | 1994 |
87% |
|
The Crow | Sergeant Albrecht (Character) | $47.3M | 1994 |
59% |
|
No Escape | Hawkins (Character) | $14.2M | 1994 |
20% |
|
Sugar Hill | Lolly Jonas (Character) | $18.3M | 1993 |
66% |
|
The Hand That Rocks the Cradle | Solomon (Character) | $87.5M | 1992 |
No Score Yet |
|
Trapper County War | Jefferson Carter (Character) | - | 1989 |
No Score Yet |
|
Collision Course | Shortcut (Character) | - | 1989 |
23% |
|
Leviathan | Justin Jones (Character) | $15.4M | 1989 |
55% |
|
Ghostbusters II | Winston Zeddemore (Character) | $110.4M | 1989 |
No Score Yet |
|
The Wrong Guys | Dawson (Character) | $601.3K | 1988 |
No Score Yet |
|
The Dirty Dozen: The Fatal Mission | Joe Hamilton (Character) | - | 1988 |
71% |
|
Weeds | Bagdad (Character) | $1.5M | 1987 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | The Last Precinct | Sergeant Lane (Character) | - | 1986 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Love on the Run | Lamar (Character) | - | 1985 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | California Girls | Ernie (Character) | - | 1985 |
No Score Yet |
|
Joy of Sex | Mr. Porter (Character) | - | 1984 |
95% |
|
Ghostbusters | Winston Zeddemore (Character) | $298.5M | 1984 |
18% |
|
Two of a Kind | Detective Skaggs (Character) | - | 1983 |
29% |
|
Spacehunter: Adventures in the Forbidden Zone | Washington (Character) | - | 1983 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Women of San Quentin | Charles Wilson (Character) | - | 1983 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Penitentiary II | Half Dead (Character) | - | 1982 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Crazy Times | Harold "Jazzman" Malloy (Character) | - | 1981 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | The $5.20 an Hour Dream | Homer Burden (Character) | - | 1980 |
No Score Yet |
|
White Mama | Counsellor (Character) | - | 1980 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Mad Bull | Black Bart (Character) | - | 1977 |
80% |
|
The Human Tornado | Bo (Character) | - | 1976 |
TV
Credit | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
No Score Yet | 82% | Carl Weber's The Family Business | LC Duncan (Character) | 2018-2022 2024 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | The Jennifer Hudson Show | Guest | 2023-2024 |
No Score Yet | 44% | The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon | Guest | 2021 2024 |
No Score Yet | 55% | The Kelly Clarkson Show | Guest | 2021 2023-2024 |
57% | 74% | Quantum Leap | Herbert "Magic" Williams (Character) | 2022-2024 |
No Score Yet | 61% | Late Night With Seth Meyers | Guest | 2021 |
No Score Yet | 71% | MacGyver | Milton Bozer (Guest Star) | 2021 |
24% | 59% | L.A.'s Finest | Joseph Vaughn (Character) | 2019-2020 |
100% | 93% | Infinity Train | Atticus (Voice) | 2019-2020 |
86% | 63% | Arrow | Four-Star General of the Defense Intelligence Agency (Guest Star) | 2019 |
No Score Yet | 76% | Puppy Dog Pals | Buddy (Guest Voice) | 2019 |
No Score Yet | 81% | Blue Bloods | Darryl Ward (Guest Star) | 2018 |
90% | 87% | Grace and Frankie | Jacob (Guest Star) | 2015-2018 |
89% | 76% | Lethal Weapon | Peterson (Guest Star) | 2018 |
94% | 83% | Twin Peaks: The Return | Colonel Davis (Guest Star) | 2017 |
35% | 76% | APB | Captain Ned Conrad (Character) | 2017 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Celebrity Family Feud | Guest | 2016 |
No Score Yet | 42% | Jimmy Kimmel Live! | Guest | 2016 |
85% | 90% | Modern Family | Miles (Guest Star) | 2012 2016 |
No Score Yet | 84% | Robot Chicken | Unknown (Guest Voice) | 2016 |
No Score Yet | 12% | The View | Guest | 2015 |
78% | 78% | Once Upon a Time | Unknown (Guest Star) | 2015 |
No Score Yet | 84% | Hot in Cleveland | Unknown (Guest Star) | 2014 |
61% | 84% | Franklin & Bash | Judge Lawrence Perry (Guest Star) | 2012 2014 |
61% | 78% | Scorpion | Brooks (Guest Star) | 2014 |
No Score Yet | 88% | Rizzoli and Isles | Admiral Frost (Guest Star) | 2011 2014 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | The Haunted Hathaways | Unknown (Guest Star) | 2014 |
47% | 44% | The Millers | Walter (Guest Star) | 2014 |
66% | 80% | Mob City | Unknown (Guest Star) | 2013 |
93% | 72% | Scandal | FBI Commander Randolph Boles (Guest Star) | 2013 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Let's Stay Together | Unknown (Guest Star) | 2013 |
79% | 85% | Last Resort | Unknown (Guest Star) | 2013 |
7% | 56% | Guys With Kids | Unknown (Guest Star) | 2013 |
No Score Yet | 43% | The Secret Life of the American Teenager | Unknown (Guest Star) | 2012 |
81% | 88% | Hart of Dixie | Ernie Hayes (Guest Star) | 2012 |
84% | 85% | How I Met Your Mother | Ernie Hudson (Guest Star) | 2011 |
84% | 72% | Grey's Anatomy | Unknown (Guest Star) | 2011 |
98% | 83% | Torchwood | Stuart Owens (Guest Star) | 2011 |
No Score Yet | 83% | Criminal Minds | Unknown (Guest Star) | 2010 |
No Score Yet | 83% | Law & Order | Unknown (Guest Star) | 2009-2010 |
52% | 65% | Heroes | Unknown (Guest Star) | 2009 |
No Score Yet | 79% | Private Practice | Captain Frank (Guest Star) | 2008 |
90% | 83% | Bones | David Barron (Guest Star) | 2007-2008 |
72% | 89% | Desperate Housewives | Detective Ridley (Guest Star) | 2006-2007 |
No Score Yet | 95% | Cold Case | Unknown (Guest Star) | 2007 |
No Score Yet | 85% | ER | Colonel James Gallant (Guest Star) | 2006 |
No Score Yet | 89% | Stargate SG-1 | Pernaux (Guest Star) | 2006 |
9% | No Score Yet | 10-8: Officers on Duty | Sgt. John Henry Barnes (Character) | 2003-2004 |
No Score Yet | 75% | Without a Trace | Unknown (Guest Star) | 2003 |
93% | 95% | Oz | Warden Leo Glynn (Character) | 1997-2003 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Touched by an Angel | Unknown (Guest Star) | 1999 2001 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | The Daily Show | Guest | 1999 |
82% | 90% | Tales From the Crypt | Unknown (Character) | 1993 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Wild Palms | Unknown (Character) | 1993 |
No Score Yet | 80% | Full House | Reggie "The Sandman" Martin (Guest Star) | 1987 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Gimme a Break | Unknown (Guest Star) | 1987 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Mickey Spillane's Mike Hammer | Unknown (Guest Star) | 1986 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | It's a Living | Dougie (Guest Star) | 1986 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Last Precinct | Sgt. Night Train Lane (Character) | 1986 |
No Score Yet | 71% | The A-Team | Cal Freeman (Guest Star) | 1983 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | The New Odd Couple | Unknown (Guest Star) | 1982 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | The Dukes of Hazzard | Avery (Guest Star) | 1982 |
No Score Yet | 67% | Taxi | Terry Carver (Guest Star) | 1981 |
80% | 60% | Bosom Buddies | Unknown (Guest Star) | 1981 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Little House on the Prairie | William Thomas (Guest Star) | 1981 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Diff'rent Strokes | Unknown (Guest Star) | 1981 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | One Day at a Time | Unknown (Guest Star) | 1979 |
No Score Yet | 74% | Incredible Hulk | Unknown (Guest Star) | 1979 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Fantasy Island | Unknown (Guest Star) | 1978 |