Ernest Lee "Ernie" Hudson (born December 17, 1945) is an
American actor known for his roles as
Winston Zeddemore in the
Ghostbusters film series,
Warden Leo Glynn on
HBO's
Oz and Sergeant Albrecht in the cult movie
The Crow.
Early life
Hudson was born in
Benton Harbor, Michigan, the son of Maggie Donald,
[Ernie Hudson Biography (1945-2009). Film Reference.com.] who died of
tuberculosis when Hudson was two months old; Hudson never knew his father. He was subsequently raised by his maternal grandmother, Arrana Donald.
[Ernie Hudson Biography. Yahoo! Movies.] He has a half-brother, Lewis Hudson. After a short time in the
Marine Corps, he moved to
Detroit where he became the resident playwright at Concept East, the oldest Black Theatre company in the country. In addition, he enrolled at
Wayne State University to further develop his writing and acting skills, and found time to establish the Actors' Ensemble Theatre where he and other talented young black writers directed and appeared in their own works, before enrolling and subsequently graduating from
Yale School of Drama.
Career
One of Hudson's early films was in
Penitentiary in the late 1970s starring Leon Isaac Kennedy. Hudson played
Winston Zeddemore, who enlists with the Ghostbusters in the 1984 film
Ghostbusters and its
1989 sequel (he auditioned to reprise the role for
the animated series but lost to
Arsenio Hall), as well as
Warden Leo Glynn on
HBO's
Oz. On
Oz, his son
Ernie Hudson Jr. co-starred with him as Muslim inmate
Hamid Khan. He appeared as the character Munro in
Congo, and he starred in the 1994 film
The Crow as Sergeant Albrecht. He switched gears when he played a preacher opening the eyes of a small town prejudice in the 50s in
Stranger in the Kingdom. He is also known as Harry McDonald, the FBI superior of
Sandra Bullock in
Miss Congeniality. He was also in the
Stargate SG-1 episode "
Ethon" as Pernaux. He had a major supporting role as the mentally challenged Solomon in
The Hand that Rocks the Cradle. He was on the TV series
Fantasy Island as a voodoo man named Jamu in season 1. Hudson also appeared as Reggie in the film
Basketball Diaries alongside Leonardo DiCaprio. He is to play the role of
Master Mutaito in the 2009 movie
Dragonball Evolution.
