David Harewood

David Harewood, MBE (born 8 December 1965) is a British actor and presenter. He is best known for his roles as CIA Counterterrorism Director David Estes in Homeland (2011–2012), and as J'onn J'onzz / Martian Manhunter and Hank Henshaw / Cyborg Superman in Supergirl (2015–present).[1]

David Harewood MBE
Harewood in June 2015
Born	(1965-12-08) 8 December 1965 Birmingham, England
Occupation	Actor and presenter
Years active	1990–present
Spouse(s)	Kirsty Handy ​ ( m. 2013)
Children	2

Early life

Harewood was born in the Small Heath area of Birmingham on 8 December 1965, the son of a couple from Barbados who had moved to England in the late 1950s and early 1960s. His father was a lorry driver, while his mother was a caterer. He has a sister, Sandra, and two brothers, Rodger and Paul. He attended St Benedict's Junior School and Washwood Heath Academy.[2][3] He was a member of the National Youth Theatre. In his youth, he worked at a wine bar in Birmingham city centre.[4][5] At the age of 18, he gained a place at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art.[4]

Career

Harewood began acting in 1990 and has appeared in The Hawk, Great Moments in Aviation, Harnessing Peacocks, Mad Dogs and Englishmen, Blood Diamond, The Merchant of Venice and Strings. He is known for his television appearances on Ballykissangel, The Vice and Fat Friends. He played Don Coleman in Hustle (Series 7 The Fall of Railton FC (2011)).[6] In 1997, he was the first black actor to play Othello at the National Theatre in London.[7]

In 2008, he played Major Simon Brooks in The Palace; he also appeared (that December) on Celebrity Mastermind, with specialist subject Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials – and he appeared in the BBC film adaptation of the Philip Pullman novels The Ruby in the Smoke and The Shadow in the North, both of which are titles from the Sally Lockhart Mysteries.[6]

In 2009, Harewood appeared in the BBC single drama Mrs Mandela, playing Nelson Mandela. He played Brother Tuck in the third series of Robin Hood.[8] He appeared in the Doctor Who story "The End of Time". He played Martin Luther King in the premiere of The Mountaintop, written by American playwright Katori Hall, directed by James Dacre, which opened at Theatre503 in London on 9 June 2009.[9][10]

Harewood next appeared in two episodes of Chris Ryan's Strike Back as Colonel Tshuma. From June to September 2010, he played Theseus in the premiere of Moira Buffini's play Welcome to Thebes at the National Theatre in London.[11] He played Martin Viner in an episode of New Tricks.[12] He narrates Welcome to Lagos, a BBC documentary about Lagos. He also starred in British independent film, The Hot Potato,[13] the film also starred Ray Winstone, Colm Meaney and Jack Huston. He played Frankenstein's monster in the TV live event Frankenstein's Wedding.[6]

From 2011, Harewood starred as David Estes, the director of the CIA's Counterterrorism Center, in the Showtime series Homeland. After appearing in 24 episodes, his character was killed off in a bomb explosion at the end of season 2.[1] Also in 2011, he voiced Captain Quinton Cole in the video game Battlefield 3.

In the 2012 New Year Honours, Harewood was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) for services to drama.[14][15][16] In May 2012, he presented a Party Election Broadcast for the British Labour Party.[17]

In October 2013, Harewood voiced an interactive video campaign for the British Lung Foundation aiming to ban smoking in cars with children on board in the United Kingdom.[18] In June 2014, he appeared in Tulip Fever.[19]

In October 2015, he appeared as a core cast member on the CBS television series Supergirl as Hank Henshaw. Since his character was revealed (in the episode Human for a Day) to be J'onn J'onzz/Martian Manhunter posing as Henshaw, he portrays J'onn J'onzz with Henshaw's likeness as his human form and has a dual recurring role as the real Hank Henshaw / Cyborg Superman.

Harewood was included in the 2019 edition of the Powerlist, ranking the 100 most influential Black Britons. [20] Also in 2019, he played the position of goalkeeper for England in Soccer Aid for UNICEF 2019. Pyschosis and Me, a documentary hosted and produced by Harewood received a BAFTA Television Award nominated for Single Documentary.[21]

Personal life

Harewood married his long-term girlfriend Kirsty Handy in February 2013 in Saint James, Barbados. They have two daughters and the family reside in Streatham, London.[22] Harewood is a Birmingham City F.C. fan.[1][23]

In 2007, Harewood visited Harewood House in Yorkshire and spoke with Viscount Lascelles who is a cousin of the Queen. His surname comes from the time when his ancestors were sold in Africa, transported to the Caribbean as slaves, and forced to work for the Lascelles family (the Earls of Harewood). Lord Lascelles explained that his wish was for the Harewood name to stand for positive things in the future, as nothing could be done about what happened 250 years ago.[24]

In 2007, Harewood donated his bone marrow and as a result saved the life of a patient.[25]

Harewood is a mental health ambassador and has been open about his own struggles, confessing that he used to self-medicate with alcohol in order to deal with his manic depressive and bipolar-like symptoms, discarding the medication given to him by doctors. He was sectioned under the Mental Health Act,[26] spent time on the Whittington Hospital psychiatric ward, and was prescribed the antipsychotic drug chlorpromazine.[27] He subsequently expanded on his experiences, hosting a 2019 BBC documentary titled David Harewood: My Psychosis and Me.[28] [29]

Harewood appeared in Soccer Aid 2018 as England's celebrity goalkeeper. He saved two penalties during the penalty shootout, helping England to win the charity match. The event raised more than £5 million for UNICEF, a charity that Harewood supports.

In the 2019 European Parliament election, Harewood pledged his support for Change UK.[30]

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1993	The Hawk	Sergeant Streete
1995	Mad Dogs and Englishmen	Jessop
1998	I Wonder Who's Kissing You Now	Moses
1999	Between Dreams	Orderly	Short film
2004	Strings	Erito	Voice; English dub
	The Merchant of Venice	Prince of Morocco
2005	Separate Lies	Inspector Marshall
2006	Blood Diamond	Captain Poison
2010	Second Chance	Rob Jenkins	Short film
2011	The Hot Potato	Harrison
	Victim	Mr. Ansah
2012	The Man Inside	Eugene Murdoch
	The Last Bite	Rook	Short film
2013	Third Person	Jake
2015	Free in Deed	Abe Wilkins
	Spooks: The Greater Good	Warrender
2016	Grimsby	Black Gareth
2017	Tulip Fever	Prater

Television

Year(s)	Title	Role	Notes
1990	Casualty	Paul Grant	Episode 5.9: "A Will to Die"
1990–97	The Bill	Williams, Malcolm Jackson, Ed Parrish, Robbie Coker	Four episodes
1991	For the Greater Good	David West	TV film
	Minder	Vinny's minder	Episode 8.10: "Too Many Crooks"
	Murder Most Horrid	Jonathan	Episode 1.5: "Murder at Tea Time"
	Pirate Prince	Jean-Baptiste	TV film
1991–93	Spatz	Derek Puley	Three episodes
1993	Anna Lee: Headcase	Stevie Johnson	TV film
	Press Gang	Doctor	Episode 5.2: "Friendly Fire"
	Medics	Nick	Episode 3.6
	Harnessing Peacocks	Terry	TV film
1994	Great Moments in Aviation	Steward	TV film
	Bermuda Grace	Trevor Watkins	TV film
	Capital Lives		Episode 1.5: "Fall"
1995	Hearts and Minds	Trevor
	Game On	Paul Johnson	Episode 1.5: "Big Wednesday"
	Agony Again	Daniel	Seven episodes
1997	Macbeth on the Estate	Macduff	TV film
	Kavanagh QC	David Adams	Episode 3.1: "Mute of Malice"
	Comedy Premieres: Cold Feet	Police Sergeant
1998	Ballykissangel	Henry	Episode 4.9: "As Stars Look Down"
1999–2001	Always and Everyone	Dr. Mike Gregson	Main cast
1999–2003	The Vice	Sgt./D.I. Joe Robinson	Main cast
2001	An Unsuitable Job for a Woman	DI Peterson	Episode 1.4: "Playing God"
	The Fear	Storyteller
2001–02	Babyfather	Augustus 'Gus' Pottinger	Main cast
2004	Silent Witness	Angus Stuart	Episodes 8.3 and 8.4: "Death by Water"
2004–05	Fat Friends	Max Robertson	11 episodes
2006	New Street Law	DI Branston	Two episodes
	The Ruby in the Smoke	Matthew Bedwell, Reverend Nicholas Bedwell	TV film
2007	New Tricks	Martin Viner	Episode 4.3: "Ducking and Diving"
	The Shadow in the North	Nicholas Bedwell	TV film
2008	The Palace	Major Simon Brooks	Main cast; eight episodes
	The Last Enemy	Patrick Nye	TV mini-series; five episodes
	Criminal Justice	Freddie Graham	TV mini-series; three episodes
2009	Gunrush	Robbie	TV film
	Robin Hood	Tuck	12 episodes
	The Fixer	Richard Millar	Episode 2.4
2009–10	Doctor Who	Joshua Naismith	"The End of Time"
2010	Mrs Mandela	Nelson Mandela	TV film
	Strike Back	Colonel Tshuma	Episodes 1.3 and 1.4
2011	Hustle	Don Coleman	Episode 7.5: "The Fall of Railton FC"
	Frankenstein's Wedding	The Creature	Live-televised stage performance
	The Body Farm	Wilkes	Episode 1.3
2011–12	Homeland	David Estes	24 episodes
2012	Treasure Island	Billy Bones	TV mini-series
	Horizon – Global Weirding	Narrator	TV documentary series
2013	The Wrong Mans	Surgeon	TV series
	By Any Means	Napier	TV series
2014	Selfie	Sam Saperstein	8 episodes
2015–present	Supergirl	J'onn J'onzz/Martian Manhunter Hank Henshaw/Cyborg Superman	Main role Nominated - Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actor on Television (2019)
2016	Beowulf: Return to the Shieldlands	Scorann	TV series
	The Night Manager	Joel Steadman	TV series
	Will Britain ever have a Black Prime Minister?	Presenter	TV documentary
2017	Madiba	Walter Sisulu	Miniseries
2017, 2019	The Flash	J'onn J'onzz/Martian Manhunter	Episodes: "Duet", “Crisis on Infinite Earths Part 3”
2017	Have I Got News For You	Himself	Guest host
2018	David Harewood: My Psychosis and Me	Presenter	TV documentary
2019	The Man in the High Castle	Equiano Hampton	Episodes 4.2 and 4.5
2020	Earth's Tropical Islands	Himself/Narrator	TV documentary
	Arrow	J'onn J'onzz/Martian Manhunter	Episode: "Crisis on Infinite Earths, Part 4"
	Legends of Tomorrow		Episode: "Crisis on Infinite Earths, Part 5"

Video games

• Battlefield 3 (2011) – Captain Quinton Cole
• Killzone: Shadow Fall (2013) – Sinclair, Vektan Security Agency director
• Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare (2016) - Staff Sergeant Usef Omar

Radio

Harewood played Patroclus in the 1998 BBC radio trilogy Troy. He also played Henry Tilney in Northanger Abbey radio adaptation (2005). On 4 May 2012, he hosted a special BBC Radio 2 Friday Night is Music Night celebrating the life of Ray Charles,[31] broadcast live from Cheltenham Jazz Festival. The show featured the Guy Barker orchestra, with leader Cynthia Fleming and guest artists Madeline Bell, Gregory Porter, and James Tormé.

Harewood played the Marquis de Carabas in the BBC Radio 4 Radio Play of Neverwhere (2013).[32]

References

1. "Birmingham actor David Harewood hits out at being killed off in Homeland". Birmingham Mail. 6 January 2013. Retrieved 28 February 2013.
2. Hurst, Ben (1 September 2010). "Hollywood star David Harewood goes back to Washwood Heath School". birminghammail. Retrieved 1 October 2018.
3. "Pupils get Shakespeare experience". BBC News. 21 April 2012. Retrieved 1 October 2018.
4. "David Harewood: Will Britain ever have a black prime minister?". BBC News. 14 November 2016. Retrieved 9 January 2017.
5. Laws, Roz (13 November 2016). "Who is actor David Harewood?". Birmingham Mail. Retrieved 9 January 2017.
6. David Harewood on IMDb
7. "Interview: `Othello' comes into his own at National". The Independent. 16 September 1997. Retrieved 11 May 2019.
8. Dowell, Ben (11 March 2009). "BBC commissions Winnie Mandela drama". The Guardian. London, UK. Retrieved 11 March 2009.
9. "The Mountaintop". Theatre503. Archived from the original on 2 June 2009. Retrieved 7 July 2009.
10. Cavendish, Dominic (22 June 2009). "The Mountaintop at Theatre503". The Daily Telegraph. London, UK. Retrieved 1 May 2010.
11. Royal National Theatre production of Welcome to Thebes, OfficialLondonTheatre.com. Retrieved 30 Oct 2017.
12. New Tricks profile, Internet Movie Database. Retrieved 29 July 2015.
13. "Hotpotatomovie.com". Archived from the original on 6 July 2010. Retrieved 16 November 2017.
14. "No. 60009". The London Gazette (Supplement). 31 December 2011. p. 16.
15. "New Year Honours 2012" (PDF). BBC News.
16. David Harewood appointed MBE, Google hostednews. Retrieved 29 July 2015.
17. David Harewood makes British Labour Party broadcast, labour.org.uk, 30 April 2012.
18. David Harewood profile Archived 11 October 2013 at Archive.today, British Lung Foundation. Retrieved 29 July 2015.
19. "Anna Kendrick To Voice Lead In 'Trolls'; David Harewood Joins 'Tulip Fever' Cast". deadline.com. 16 June 2014. Retrieved 9 July 2014.
20. Hicks, Amber (23 October 2018). "List of 100 most influential black people includes Meghan Markle for first time". mirror. Retrieved 20 April 2020.
21. http://www.bafta.org/television/awards/tv-2020#single-documentary
22. Carole Cadwallader (9 December 2012). "David Harewood". The Observer. London. Retrieved 28 February 2013.
23. Hurt, Ben (16 December 2009). "Hollywood star David Harewood goes back to Washwood Heath School". Birmingham Mail. Retrieved 19 October 2013.
24. "Actor quizzes Viscount on slavery". BBC News. Retrieved 15 April 2015.
25. Elliott, Jane (16 March 2008). "An act that could save a stranger". BBC News. Retrieved 7 July 2009.
26. Harewood, David (13 October 2017). "I feel no shame about my mental breakdown: it helped make me who I am | David Harewood". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 11 May 2019.
27. McGrath, Nick (12 June 2018). "Homeland star David Harewood reveals mental health battle before finding fame". mirror. Retrieved 4 April 2019.
28. "BBC - David Harewood: Psychosis And Me - Media Centre". www.bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 11 May 2019.
29. "BBC iPlayer - David Harewood: Psychosis and Me". www.bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 17 May 2019.
30. "Chuka Umunna on Instagram: "Great catching up with my constituent @davidharewood at the BBC this afternoon, and glad to hear he'll be voting Change UK!…"". Instagram. Retrieved 21 May 2019.
31. "BBC Radio 2 Friday Night is Music Night".
32. Neverwhere, BBC. Retrieved 11 August 2015.

External links

• David Harewood on IMDb