Dorian Harewood (born August 6, 1950) is an American actor, best known for playing Jesse Owens in The Jesse Owens Story (1984), Det. Paul Strobber on Strike Force (1981–1982), and Rev. Morgan Hamilton in 7th Heaven (1996–2003).
Early years
Harewood was born on August 6, 1950, in Dayton, Ohio, the son of Emerson Macaulay and Estelle Olivia Harewood. His father was a high school teacher and post office clerk. in 1972.
Career
Harewood got his start in musical theater. On Broadway, he performed in Two Gentlemen of Verona, Streamers, He made his film debut in Foster and Laurie (1975).
Harewood portrayed Simon Haley (father of author Alex Haley) in the ABC miniseries Roots: The Next Generations. and for his co-starring role as police psychologist Paul Strobber in the ABC Television series Strike Force (starring Robert Stack). He appeared regularly on Trauma Center alongside Wendie Malick and Lou Ferrigno, had a recurring role on China Beach and was Hank Mitchell in The Trials of Rosie O'Neill.
Some of his film work includes disaster film Gray Lady Down (1978), Harewood then portrayed a combat Marine
in Stanley Kubrick's Full Metal Jacket (1987). and Teddy Howard in Gothika.
In 1994, he was awarded the NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Actor in a Drama Series, Mini-Series or Television Movie, for his recurring role as jazz/blues saxophonist Clarence "Cool Papa" Charleston on the NBC drama series I'll Fly Away. The following year, Harewood voiced Hank Aaron in Hank Aaron: Chasing a Dream, narrating the television film. He earned an Emmy Award nomination for the special.
He also played Dr. Julian Wilkes in the NBC (later syndicated) TV series Viper, and had a recurring role as Rev. Morgan Hamilton in 7th Heaven. Harewood appeared as Eliot Pierce in the Showtime series The Hoop Life. For his work on this series, Harewood received his second NAACP Image Award nomination, for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series in 2000. He has also dabbled in music, having sung the national anthem at the 1994 Orange Bowl and releasing an album, Love Will Stop Calling, in 1988.
As a voice actor, Harewood began playing characters in animation during the 1980s. He voiced A.C. in The California Raisin Show, a guest role as Dan Riley in Batman: The Animated Series, Tombstone in Spider-Man,' and Michael Jordan in the Saturday morning cartoon ProStars. He later returned to the Batman franchise as Jim Tate in Batman Beyond. When James Avery was unavailable, Harewood would voice Shredder on Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Harewood was the 2nd voice actor to portray Rhodey Rhodes / War Machine taking over James Avery in S2 completely in Iron Man and The Incredible Hulk. He provided the voice of Modo in Biker Mice from Mars (1993−96), a role which he reprised in the revival of the same name (2006−08).
Having appeared in over 100 productions in film and television, Harewood has only publicly expressed regret with one: the miniseries Beulah Land, where he portrayed an overseer named Floyd. He was disgusted with the film's script, and claimed he was "unhappy" and "embarrassed" with the finished production.
Harewood originated the role of Older Noah Calhoun in the Broadway adaptation of The Notebook, a role which he was nominated for the Tony award for Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Musical.
Personal life
Harewood married actress Nancy Ann McCurry and John Dorian.
Filmography
Films
{| class="wikitable sortable"
|-
! Year
! Title
! Role
! Notes
! class=unsortable|Ref.
|-
| 1976
| Sparkle
| Levi Brown
| Feature film debut
|
|-
| 1978
| Gray Lady Down
| Lieutenant Fowler
|
|
|-
| 1981
| Looker
| Lieutenant Masters
|
|
|-
| 1984
| Against All Odds
| Tommy
|
|
|-
| 1984
| Tank
| Sergeant First Class Ed Tippet
|
|
|-
| 1985
| The Falcon and the Snowman
| Gene
|
|
|-
| 1987
| Full Metal Jacket
| "Eightball"
|
|
|-
| 1988
| God Bless the Child
| Calvin Reed
|
|
|-
| 1989
| Kiss Shot
| Kevin Marick
|
|
|-
| 1990
| Pacific Heights
| Dennis Reed
|
|
|-
| 1990
| Solar Crisis
| Borg
|
|
|-
| 1994
| The Pagemaster
| Jamaican Pirate (voice)
|
|
|-
| 1995
| Sudden Death
| Agent Matthew Hallmark
|
|
|-
| 1996
| Space Jam
| Monstar Bupkus (voice)
|
|
|-
| 2001
| Glitter
| Guy Richardson
|
|
|-
| 2003
| Gothika
| Teddy Howard
|
|
|-
| 2003
| Levity
| Mackie Whittaker
|
|
|-
|2004
|Kangaroo Jack: G'Day U.S.A.!
|Lead Agent (voice)
|
|
|-
| 1975
| Swiss Family Robinson
| Jama
| 2 episodes
|
|-
| 1977
| Kojak
| Jake Riley
|Episode: "The Condemned"
|
|-
| 1977
| Family
| Gil
|Episode: "The Little Brother"
|
|-
| 1977
| Eight is Enough
|Richard Connery
| Episode: "All's Fair in Love and War"
|
|-
| 1977
| Columbo
| Cop
| Uncredited; episode: "Make Me a Perfect Murderer"
|
|-
| 1977
| Panic in Echo Park
| Dr. Michael Stoner
| Television film
|
|-
| 1978
| Siege
| Simon
|Television film
|
|-
| 1979
| Roots: The Next Generations
| Simon Haley
| 5 episodes
|
|-
| 1979
| An American Christmas Carol
| Matt Reeves
| Television film
|
|-
| 1980
| Beulah Land
| Floyd
|3 episodes
|
|-
| 1980
| High Ice
| Lt. Zack Dawkins
|Television film
|
|-
| 1981–1982
| Strike Force
| Det. Sgt. Paul Strobber
|20 episodes
|
|-
| 1982
| The Ambush Murders
| Ray Ellsworth
| Television film
|
|-
| 1982
| I, Desire
| Det. Jerry Van Ness
|Television film
|
|-
| 1983
| Matt Houston
| Jerry "The Rock" Lennox
| Episode: "The Rock and the Hard Place"
|
|-
| 1983
| Trauma Center
| Dr. Nate "Skate" Baylor
|13 episodes
|
|-
| 1984
| The Jesse Owens Story
| Jesse Owens
|Television film
|
|-
|1984–1985
|Glitter
|Earl Tobin
|12 episodes
|
|-
|1985
|Hotel
|Matthew Bowers
|Episode: "Passports"
|
|-
| 1986
| Murder, She Wrote
| Sheriff Claudell Cox
| Episode: "Powder Keg"
|
|-
| 1987
| Amerika
| Jeffrey Wyman
|6 episodes
|
|-
| 1987
| Guilty of Innocence: The Lenell Geter Story
| Lenell Geter
| Television film
|
|-
| 1987–1996
| Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
| Shredder (voice)
| 4 episodes
|
|-
| 1987
| Beauty and the Beast
| Jason Walker
| Episode: "Terrible Savior"
|
|-
| 1988
| Matlock
| Edward Kramer
| 2 episodes
|
|-
| 1988
| A Pup Named Scooby-Doo
| Police Chief (voice)
| Episode: "The Sludge Monster from Earth's Core"
|
|-
| 1989
| Polly
| Dr. Shannon
| Television film
|
|-
| 1989–1990
| China Beach
| Major Otis
| 3 episodes
|
|-
| 1990
| Polly: Comin' Home!
| Dr. Shannon
|Television film
|
|-
| 1997
| The Blues Brothers: The Animated Series
| Don Kling
|Episode: "Strange Death of Betty Smythe"
|
|-
|1997
|Pinky and the Brain
|Bojangles (voice)
|Episode: "Mice Don't Dance"
|
|-
|1976 || Streamers || Carlyle || Mitzi E. Newhouse Theatre, Broadway ||
|-
|1978 || The Mighty Gents || Frankie || Ambassador Theatre, Broadway ||
|-
|2024 || The Notebook || Older Noah || Gerald Schoenfeld Theatre, Broadway ||
|}
Video games
{| class="wikitable sortable"
|-
! Year
! Title
! Role
! class=unsortable|Ref.
|-
|1993
| Gabriel Knight: Sins of the Fathers
| Toussaint Gervais
|
|-
|2024 || Drama Desk Award || Outstanding Featured Performance in a Musical ||
|-
|2024 || Drama League Award || Distinguished Performance ||
|}
Discography
- "Show Me (One More Time)" (recorded in the 1980s)
- Love Will Stop Calling (1988) (Emeric Records/Ichiban Records/EMI)
- Have A Little (2001) (USA Music Group)