Stephen McKinley Henderson

Stephen McKinley Henderson is an American actor born on August 31, 1949, in Kansas City, Missouri, the son of Ruby Naomi and Elihue Henderson. He began his higher education at Lincoln University in Missouri before enrolling in the Drama Division at the Juilliard School as part of Group 1, which he later left. He completed his BFA in Acting at the North Carolina School of the Arts in 1972 and subsequently earned a Master of Arts in Theatre from Purdue University in 1977. His training also included summer sessions at Rose Bruford College in London and William Esper Studios in New York City. Henderson went on to serve as a resident member of the Repertory Theatre of St. Louis from 1976 to 1981.

Henderson made his Broadway debut in 2001 in August Wilson's King Hedley II, establishing an association with Wilson's work that would define much of his stage career. Among his most recognized roles in Wilson's canon is Turnbo in Jitney, a character he first created in the 1996 world premiere at the Pittsburgh Public Theater. He developed the role through regional productions before the play arrived Off-Broadway in 2000, and he subsequently brought it to London, where the production received the 2002 Olivier Award for best new play. His work in the Jitney ensemble earned him a Drama Desk Award. In 2010, Henderson appeared in the Broadway revival of Wilson's Fences, portraying Jim Bono opposite Denzel Washington. That performance earned him a Tony Award nomination for Best Featured Actor in a Play as well as the Richard Seff Award from Actors' Equity. He reprised the role in Washington's 2016 film adaptation of Fences.

His additional Broadway credits span multiple genres and include Drowning Crow, a revival of Ma Rainey's Black Bottom, the 2014 revival of A Raisin in the Sun, and Dracula, the Musical, in which he played Van Helsing. Between Riverside and Crazy, the play by Stephen Adly Guirgis, brought Henderson his second Tony Award nomination, this time for Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Play, in 2023. He had previously won the 2015 Obie Award for Best Actor for his portrayal of Walter "Pops" Washington in the Atlantic Theatre Company and Second Stage productions of that play. In 2023, he was also presented with a Lifetime Achievement Award at the Lucille Lortel Awards ceremony. Beyond Broadway, Henderson appeared as Pontius Pilate in the 2005 Public Theater production of The Last Days of Judas Iscariot, directed by Philip Seymour Hoffman, and directed Zooman and the Sign.

Henderson made his film debut in A Pleasure Doing Business in 1979. His subsequent screen work includes Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close (2011), Steven Spielberg's Lincoln (2012), in which he played White House servant William Slade, Manchester by the Sea (2016), Lady Bird (2017), Dune (2021), Causeway (2022), Beau Is Afraid (2023), and Civil War (2024). On television, his debut came in 1984 in the PBS production The Last Days of Judas Iscariot. He has since appeared in Law and Order, Law and Order: Special Victims Unit, The Newsroom, The Blacklist, Wu-Tang: An American Saga, Devs, and A Man on the Inside. He was also a series regular on the FOX series New Amsterdam, which premiered in 2008. Henderson has received nominations for two Tony Awards, a Drama Desk Award, and two Screen Actors Guild Awards. He is married to Pamela Reed, and they have one child together.