Hill Harper

Francis Eugene "Hill" Harper[1] (born May 17, 1966) is an American actor and author. He is known for his roles on CSI: NY, Limitless, and The Good Doctor.

Hill Harper
Harper with his book, Letters to a Young Brother, in St. Louis (2007)
Born	Francis Eugene Harper[1] (1966-05-17) May 17, 1966 Iowa City, Iowa, U.S.
Other names	Frank Harper; F. Hill Harper
Education	Brown University (BA) Harvard University (MPA, JD)
Occupation	Actor, author
Years active	1993–present
Children	1

Early life

Harper was born in Iowa City, Iowa, the son of Harry D. Harper, II, a psychiatrist, and Marilyn Harper (née Hill), who was one of the first black practicing anesthesiologists in the United States, and, co-authored a book called Wearing Purple.[2][3][4][5] Hill Harper has been acting since the age of 7. Harper graduated from Bella Vista High School in 1984. He then graduated magna cum laude from Brown University in 1988. In 1992, Harper graduated with a JD, cum laude, from Harvard Law School. In addition, he also received his Master of Public Administration degree from the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University.[6] During his years at Harvard, he was a full-time member of Boston's Black Folks Theater Company, one of the oldest and most acclaimed black theater troupes in the country.[7] While a student at Harvard, Harper befriended Barack Obama, with whom he played basketball.[8][9]

Although Harper earned three Ivy League degrees, he decided to pursue acting and moved to Los Angeles. He has received several honorary degrees, including honorary doctorates from both Westfield State College and Howard University.[10] Born Francis Eugene Harper, he adopted the name "Hill" as a tribute to both his maternal and paternal ancestors.[1]

Acting career

Harper's first roles in television began in 1993, in a recurring role on the Fox series Married... with Children, while also making his film debut in the short film Confessions of a Dog. He had his first acting role in a feature film with Spike Lee's Get on the Bus (1996), which cast him as a UCLA film student riding a bus to the Million Man March in Washington, D.C. He went on to further demonstrate his versatility in such films as Christopher Scott Cherot's Hav Plenty (1997) and Lee's He Got Game (1998), the former of which featured him as an egotistical pop-soul singer.

His profile subsequently rose on both the mainstream and independent film circuits, thanks to roles in films ranging from Beloved (1998) to the independent romantic comedy Loving Jezebel (1999) to The Skulls (2000). Harper did some of his most acclaimed work in Jordan Walker-Pearlman's The Visit (2000), an independent drama in which he starred as a prisoner dying of AIDS who tries to put his life back together.[11] He also portrayed Leshem in the 2010 Syfy original movie Stonehenge Apocalypse.[12]

Harper played coroner-turned-crime scene investigator Sheldon Hawkes on the CBS crime drama CSI: NY for nine seasons.

In February 2013, it was announced that CSI: NY would be ending and Harper would be joining the cast of Covert Affairs as a series regular.[13]

From April 21, 2015, to May 10, 2015, Harper starred as "Hard Rock" in the Off-Broadway play ToasT. The play (produced by Lemon Andersen and co-starred Keith David) is set in the Attica Prison around the time of its 1971 prison riot and tells of the lives of its prisoners using poetic prose.[14]

From May 1, 2018, to June 17, 2018, Harper starred as "Rooftop" in the Off-Broadway play Our Lady of 121st Street. This Dark Comedy (written by Stephen Adly Guirgis and directed by Phylicia Rashad) is about former students paying their respects to Sister Rose, only to find that Sister Rose's body has been stolen.[15]

Since 2017, Harper has portrayed Dr. Marcus Andrews on the ABC series The Good Doctor.

Hill Harper's acting career also includes voice-over work (or voice acting) with CSI:NY the Video Game, Breathe Bible, and, a podcast called Legal Wars.[16][17]

Writing career and political advocacy

Harper is the author of several books: Letters to a Young Brother: MANifest Your Destiny, published in 2006; Letters to a Young Sister: DeFINE Your Destiny, published in 2008; and The Conversation: How (Black) Men and Women Can Build Loving, Trusting Relationships, published in 2010. His books, The Wealth Cure: Putting Money in Its Place and The Wiley Boys were both published in 2011. His book, Letters to an Incarcerated Brother: Encouragement, Hope, and Healing for Inmates and Their Loved Ones was published in 2013.

In January 2008, Harper participated in "Yes We Can", a music video produced by will.i.am supporting presidential candidate Barack Obama. Harper is a member of the Obama for America National Finance Committee.[18] As of October 2009, Hill has made several contributions to political candidates, exclusively to Democrats. Harper endorsed the 10,000 Bookbags[19] back-to-school backpack campaign to help local disadvantaged children with Urban Change Ministries founder Pastor Jay Cameron of the Life Center, and R&B singer Ginuwine.[20] Harper stated that he is a fiscal conservative when he appeared on the political talk show Hannity on September 10, 2009. On February 22, 2016, the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law announced that Harper would be their national spokesman.[21]

Harper serves as the Executive Director for New York City personal injury law firm Napoli Shkolnik.[22]

Awards and recognition

In the fall of 2008, Harper was initiated as a member of the Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity with his Co-Initiates (called "Line Brothers") Dr. Naim Akbar of Florida State University and former NFL player Leo LeMarcus Newman.[23]

Harper won the NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Actor in a Drama Series for three consecutive years (2008–2010) for his portrayal of Dr. Sheldon Hawkes on CSI: NY. Previously he had been nominated for the award for three consecutive years (2005–2007), for the same character. In 2000, he had also been nominated for the award, for his role in the medical drama City of Angels. On January 9, 2014 his book Letters to an Incarcerated Brother: Encouragement, Hope, and Healing for Inmates and Their Loved Ones was nominated for an NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Literary Work – Non-Fiction.

In 2018, the Audience Development Committee, Inc. (AUDELCO) nominated Hill Harper for a Vivian Robinson Award; Lead Actor in a Play, for his role as Walter "Rooftop" Desmond in the Off-Broadway play: Our Lady of 121st Street.[24]

People magazine named Hill Harper as one of the "Sexiest Men Alive" for 2004, and again for 2014.[25][26]

Personal life

While writing his book The Wealth Cure: Putting Money In Its Place, Harper was diagnosed with thyroid cancer. After treatment, he was given a clean bill of health.[27]

After being diagnosed with thyroid cancer, Harper researched the effects skin care products can have on a person's system. This led to his creating an all-natural personal care line for men and women, called Be The Architect.[28][29][30]

In November 2015, Harper received a call to adopt a baby boy from a homeless woman. He agreed, and by May 2017, the adoption of Pierce (named after Pierce Brosnan) Hill Harper was finalized.[31][32][33]

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1993	Pumpkinhead II: Blood Wings	Peter
1995	Drifting School	Sam
1996	Get on the Bus	Xavier
1997	Steel	Slats
1997	Hav Plenty	Michael Simmons
1997	Hoover Park
1998	The Nephew	Chad Egan-Washington
1998	He Got Game	Coleman 'Booger' Sykes
1998	Park Day	Steve Johnson
1998	Beloved	Halle
1999	Slaves of Hollywood	Fisher Lovelace	Feature Film[34]
1999	Loving Jezebel	Theodorous
1999	In Too Deep	Breezy T.
2000	The Skulls	Will Beckford
2000	The Visit	Alex Waters	Nominated—Independent Spirit Award for Best Male Lead
2001	Higher Ed	Craig
2002	The Badge	Gizmo
2003	Love, Sex and Eating the Bones	Michael Joseph
2004	America Brown	John Cross
2005	Constellation	Errol Hickman
2006	Max and Josh	Josh	Short film[35]
2006	Premium	Ed
2006	The Breed	Noah
2006	30 Days	Donnell
2006	Whitepaddy	Marshall Evans
2008	A Good Man Is Hard to Find	Damion Marshall
2008	This Is Not a Test	Carl
2010	For Colored Girls	Donald Watkins
2011	Mama, I Want to Sing!	Jeff Andrews
2011	The Shanghai Hotel	Carlos
2013	Miss Dial	Political Nutcase
2013	The Volunteer	Phil
2013	1982	Tim Brown
2014	Parts per Billion	Rick
2015	The Boy Next Door	Principal Edward Warren
2015	Pearly Gates	Dave
2015	Concussion	Christopher Jones
2016	Destined	Mayor Jones
2017	All Eyez on Me	Journalist	Biographical film debuted Friday, June 16, 2017; what would have been Tupac Shakur's 46th birthday.[36]
2018	An Interview with God	Gary	Theater Release Dates: August 20, 21 & 22, 2018 only.
2019	The Sun Is Also a Star	Lester Barnes	Film debuted Friday, May 17, 2019 on Hill Harper's 53rd birthday.[37]

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1993	Life Goes On	Nurse No. 2	Episode: "Incident on Main"
1993–94	Married... with Children	Aaron Mitchell	Recurring 5 episodes
1994	Renegade	Clarence 'Dex' Dexter	Episode: "South of 98"
	M.A.N.T.I.S.		Episode: "Tango Blue"
	Walker, Texas Ranger	B.J. Mays	Episode: "Family Matters"
	The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air	Dana	Episode: "Will Steps Out"
1995	The Client	J-Top	Episode: "Them That Has..."
	Live Shot	Tommy Greer	Main 13 episodes
1996	NYPD Blue	Bo-Bo Thomas	Episode: "The Blackboard Jungle"
	Dangerous Minds	Darryl	Episode: "Family Ties"
1997	Oddville, MTV		Episode No. 44
	ER	Mr. Jackson	Episode: "Obstruction of Justice"
1998	Cosby	Preston	Episode: "Men Are from Mars Women Are from Astoria"
	Mama Flora's Family	Don	Television film
2000	City of Angels	Dr. Wesley Williams	24 episodes Nominated—NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series
2002	The Court	Christopher Bell	Unsold TV pilot
	The Twilight Zone	Professor John Woodrell	Episode: "Shades of Guilt"[38]
2003–04	The Handler	Darnell	Main 16 episodes Nominated—Satellite Award for Best Supporting Actor – Television Series
2004	Soul Food	Kelvin Chadway	Recurring 2 episodes
	The Sopranos	Stokley Davenport M.D.	Episode: "Irregular Around the Margins"
	CSI: Miami	Dr. Sheldon Hawkes	Episode: "MIA/NYC NonStop"
2004–13	CSI: NY	Dr. Sheldon Hawkes	Main 197 episodes NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Actor in a Drama Series (2008–10) Nominated—NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Actor in a Drama Series (2005–07, 2011–13)
2005	The 4400	Edwin Mayuya	Episode: "Rebirth"
	Lackawanna Blues	Ruben, Jr. (Adult)	Television film
2009	The Game	Himself	Episode: "Hill Street Blues"
2010	Stonehenge Apocalypse	Joseph Lesham	Television film
2011	The Real Housewives of Atlanta	Himself	Episode: "Tour-Ture"
2013–14	Covert Affairs	Calder Michaels	32 episodes
2015	Madam Secretary	Aiden Humphrey	Episode: "The Kill List"
2015–16	Limitless	Spelman Boyle	22 episodes Character named after Spelman College.
2016	Braxton Family Values	Himself	Episode: "You Gotta Get Pelvic to Pelvic!"
	Unsung Hollywood	Himself	Episode: "Hill Harper"[39]
2017	The Real Housewives of Potomac	Himself	Episode: "Don't Let the Zip Code Fool Ya"
	Homeland	Chief of Staff, Rob Emmons	Recurring 11 episodes[40]
2017–present	How It Really Happened	Himself	Host and Narrator of 12-episode anthology reality series.[41]
2017–present	The Good Doctor	Dr. Marcus Andrews	Main
2018	Black Love	Himself	Special Episode: "Motherly Love"
2019	The $100,000 Pyramid	Himself	Episode 409 (Season 4 ; Episode 9)
2020	Mentoring Kings	Himself	Docuseries

Theatre

Year	Title	Role
2001	Dogeaters	Joey Sands
2001	Blue	(Adult) Reuben Clark
2015	ToasT	Hard Rock
2018	Our Lady of 121st Street	Walter "Rooftop" Desmond

Published works

• Harper, Hill (2007). Letters to a Young Brother: Manifest Your Destiny. Gotham. ISBN 978-1592402496.
• Harper, Hill (2009). Letters to a Young Sister: DeFINE Your Destiny. Gotham. ISBN 978-1592404599.
• Harper, Hill (2010). The Conversation: How (Black) Men and Women Can Build Loving, Trusting Relationships. Gotham. ISBN 978-1592405787.
• Harper, Hill (2011). The Wealth Cure: Putting Money in Its Place. Gotham. ISBN 978-1592406500.
• Harper, Hill (2011). The Wiley Boys. Harper Hill. ISBN 978-0974721873.
• Harper, Hill (2013). Letters to an Incarcerated Brother: Encouragement, Hope, and Healing for Inmates and Their Loved Ones. Gotham. ISBN 978-1592407248.

References

1. "8 Things You Didn't Know About Actor Hill Harper" HuffPost Retrieved July 3, 2016
2. "Hill Harper: Biography, Latest News & Videos". TV Guide. Retrieved June 30, 2007.
3. Huntley, Kristine (January 25, 2006). "Hill Harper". CSI Files. Retrieved May 10, 2007.
4. Lynn (May 4, 2007). "Hill Harper is Much More Than Meets the Eye". EveryJoe.com. Retrieved May 10, 2007.
5. "Wearing Purple" book Retrieved August 29, 2018
6. "Hill Harper bio". Manifest Your Destiny Foundation. Retrieved November 15, 2010. Archived July 4, 2009, at the Wayback Machine
7. Miller, Kiley (December 15, 2007). "Actor returns to Iowa for Obama". The Hawk Eye. Retrieved November 30, 2011.
8. Dani, Sarika (October 24, 2008). "Actor and Obama pal Hill Harper: 'He gets it right'". MSNBC. Retrieved June 22, 2010.
9. Berman, Jillian (July 20, 2015). "What this CSI star and Barack Obama have in common". MarketWatch. Archived from the original on February 19, 2019. Retrieved April 20, 2020.
10. "Hill Harper has received 7 honorary doctorate degrees." Manifest Your Destiny Foundation's web site Retrieved April 19, 2016
11. Scott, A. O. (December 15, 2000). "Overcoming Bitterness On the Way to Redemption". The New York Times. Retrieved November 30, 2011.
12. Foy, Scott (June 9, 2010). "Watch a Preview of the Stonehenge Apocalypse!". DreadCentral. Retrieved June 10, 2010.
13. Ng, Philiana (February 22, 2013). "CSI: NY Star Hill Harper Joins Covert Affairs as Series Regular". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved February 22, 2013.
14. ToasT Opens in Public Theatre Archived September 4, 2017, at the Wayback Machine BroadwayBlack.com Retrieved July 24, 2016
15. Our Lady of 121st Street, Directed by Tony Winner Phylicia Rashad, Begins Off-Broadway Playbill. Retrieved May 2, 2018
16. Hill Harper, The Voice of Mark BreatheBible.com Retrieved September 18, 2017
17. "Legal Wars" from Wonderly Podnews.net Retrieved October 12, 2018
18. "Obama for America National Finance Committee". George Washington University. Retrieved June 1, 2008.
19. "Support Our 10,000 Bookbag Giveaway on 8.8.09". The Life Center – Urban Change. Retrieved November 30, 2011.
20. Pendleton, Tonya (August 12, 2009). "Ginuwine, Hill Harper Lead Back-to-School Effort" Archived April 26, 2012, at the Wayback Machine. BlackAmericaWeb.com. Retrieved November 30, 2011.
21. "Hill Harper Named as Lawyers' Committee's National Spokesperson" Archived April 23, 2016, at the Wayback Machine Retrieved February 22, 2016
22. "Hill Harper · Attorneys · Napoli Shkolnik". Napoli Shkolnik PLLC. Retrieved October 19, 2018.
23. "Actor Hill Harper Is INDUCTED into the African American Fraternity ALPHA PHI ALPHA". Media Take Out. Retrieved November 30, 2011.
24. 2018 AUDELCO Nominations Retrieved May 12, 2019
25. "Sexiest Men Alive List 2004"People Retrieved July 4, 2016
26. "Sexiest Men Alive List 2014 : Sexy at Every Age"People Retrieved July 4, 2016
27. Rhone, Nedra (August 22, 2011). "Actor Hill Harper cures his health and America's wealth". The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Archived from the original on September 10, 2011. Retrieved August 23, 2011.
28. "Hill Harper Launches Men's and Women's Skin Care Line". Ebony. March 8, 2017. Retrieved April 28, 2017.
29. "How Hill Harper's H2L & JUA Men and Women Skin Care Line May Improve Organ Health". TheBlackMedia.org. March 3, 2017. Retrieved April 28, 2017.
30. Hill Harper Talks About His New Skin Care Line on The Steve Harvey Show on YouTube Retrieved April 28, 2017
31. "Hill Harper Reveals Adoption at the Black Enterprise Entrepreneurs Summit 2017". blackenterprise.com. Retrieved May 21, 2017.
32. Hill Harper Reveals Name of Son on Good Morning America on YouTube Retrieved June 16, 2017
33. Hill Harper Reveals Son Is Named After Pierce Brosnan on Access Hollywood Live Retrieved April 5, 2018
34. "Slaves of Hollywood" Retrieved February 20, 2017
35. "Max and Josh Film Short" Retrieved February 11, 2017
36. "Tupac's Highly-Anticipated Biopic Receives Official Release Date". November 22, 2016.
37. The Sun Is Also A Star movie trailer Retrieved May 2, 2019
38. "Shades of Guilt" Retrieved February 20, 2017
39. "Unsung Hollywood: Hill Harper" Retrieved November 10, 2017
40. "'Homeland' adds actors from 'The Flash,' 'Limitless'". Retrieved August 13, 2016.
41. "HLN Launches New Original Series 'How It Really Happened with Hill Harper' on January 27". Retrieved January 13, 2017.

External links

• Manifest Your Destiny Foundation
• Hill Harper on IMDb
• The Wiley Boys book
• BeTheArchitect.com