Stephen McKinley Henderson (born August 31, 1949) is an American actor. Henderson trained at Juilliard School for acting and later became a resident member of the Repertory Theatre of St. Louis from 1976 to 1981. He came to prominence as a character actor often performing the plays of August Wilson. He has received nominations for two Tony Awards, a Drama Desk Award, and two Screen Actors Guild Awards. Vulture named Henderson as one of "The 32 Greatest Character Actors Working Today". Henderson made his Broadway debut in Wilson's King Hedley II in 2001. He later earned Tony Award nominations for his performances in Wilson's Fences in 2010 and Stephen Adly Guirgis's Between Riverside and Crazy in 2023. He also acted in the Broadway revival of A Raisin in the Sun in 2014. He made his film debut in A Pleasure Doing Business (1979) and has since appeared in Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close (2011), Lincoln (2012), Fences (2016), Manchester by the Sea (2016), Lady Bird (2017), Dune (2021), Causeway (2022), Beau Is Afraid (2023), and Civil War (2024). His television debut came in 1984 in PBS's The Killing Floor. He has since appeared in Law & Order (1995–2010), Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (2005–2006), The Newsroom (2013), The Blacklist (2018), Wu-Tang: An American Saga (2019–2020), and Devs (2020).

Early life and education

Henderson was born in Kansas City, Missouri, the son of Ruby Naomi and Elihue Henderson. He spent a year at Lincoln University, Missouri and was originally part of Group 1 at the Juilliard School Drama Division before he left. He finished his BFA in Acting at the North Carolina School of the Arts (1972). He later studied at Purdue University where he received his Master of Arts in Theatre (1977). He also spent summer sessions at Rose Bruford College in London and William Esper Studios in New York City.

Career

Henderson is known mostly for his stage work. He won the 2015 Obie Award for Best Actor for his starring role of Walter "Pops" Washington in the Atlantic Theatre Company and Second Stage productions of the Pulitzer Prize-winning play Between Riverside and Crazy. He portrayed Jim Bono in the Broadway revival of August Wilson's Fences, starring Denzel Washington, for which Henderson received a nomination for a Tony Award as a supporting actor, as well as the Richard Seff Award from Actor's Equity; he reprised the role in Washington's 2016 film adaptation. On Broadway, he has performed in Drowning Crow, the revival of Ma Rainey's Black Bottom, and the premiere of King Hedley II. Henderson is recognized as a veteran performer of August Wilson's oeuvre. His signature August Wilson role is the gossipy Turnbo in Jitney, for which he won a Drama Desk Award as part of the ensemble. He had created the role in the 1996 premiere at the Pittsburgh Public Theater, then honed it (as Wilson was honing the script) in other regional theaters before its arrival Off-Broadway in 2000. Though it did not transfer to Broadway, he and the core of the cast took Jitney to London where it won the 2002 Olivier Award for best new play. In addition, he appeared in A Raisin in the Sun and directed Zooman and the Sign. With the LAByrinth Theatre Company, he portrayed Pontius Pilate in The Last Days of Judas Iscariot. He appeared as Van Helsing in the Broadway production of Dracula, the Musical. In 2023, he was presented with a Lifetime Achievement Award at the Lucille Lortel Awards ceremony. His films include his role as Cooper's husband in the TV movie Marie (1985), Bobo in A Raisin in the Sun (1989), Arthur in Everyday People (2004), Lester in the film Tower Heist (2011), White House servant William Slade in Steven Spielberg's film Lincoln (2012), along with roles in the films Keane (2004), If You Could Say It in Words (2008), and Dune (2021). In 2016, Henderson appeared in Kenneth Lonergan's Manchester by the Sea, starring Casey Affleck and Michelle Williams, playing the boss of Affleck's character. The following year, he played the role of Father Leviatch in Greta Gerwig's 2017 film Lady Bird. In addition to his films, Henderson was a series regular on the FOX series New Amsterdam, which premiered in early 2008. His other television work includes Law & Order, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, The Newsroom, Law & Order: Criminal Intent, Tyler Perry's House of Payne, Third Watch, Blue Bloods, and Devs.

Filmography

Film

Television

Theatre

Awards and nominations