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IMDbPro

Blair Underwood(I)

  • Actor
  • Producer
  • Director
IMDbProStarmeterTop 5,000127
Blair Underwood
In pursuit of a serial killer, an FBI agent uncovers a series of occult clues that she must solve to end his terrifying killing spree.
Play trailer1:04
Longlegs (2024)
39 Videos
99+ Photos
A true multi-hyphenate, Blair Underwood is enjoying success in film, television and theatre, as an actor, director and producer. Underwood recently returned to Broadway starring opposite David Alan Grier in the Pulitzer Prize winning drama "A Solider's Play" for director Kenny Leon and the Roundabout Theatre Company. He also co-stars in Justin Simien's "Bad Hair" which will premiere at the 2020 Sundance Film Festival. Also this year, Underwood stars opposite Octavia Spencer & Tiffany Haddish in Netflix's highly anticipated limited series "Self Made: Inspired by the Life of Madam CJ Walker" (March 20).

Underwood recently appeared in the Netflix Emmy-Award winning limited series "When They See Us." He also had a recurring role on the Netflix comedy series, "Dear White People" and can be seen in Clark Johnson's "Juanita," opposite Alfre Woodard, also for Netflix. He spent two years as a series regular on the ABC drama series "Quantico," while also recurring on another hit ABC drama "MARVEL AGENTS OF S.H.I.E.L.D. " He also had a co-starring role in "The After Party," from writer/director Ian Edelman, which Netflix released late in 2018.

Past television credits include series regular roles on "Dirty Sexy Money," "The New Adventures of Old Christine," "In Treatment," "The Event" and "L.A. Law". Film credits include "Deep Impact," "Set It Off," "Rules of Engagement," "Just Cause," "Madea's Family Reunion" and Steven Soderbergh's "Full Frontal." Underwood co-starred opposite Cicely Tyson in the Lifetime telefilm & theatre production of "A Trip to Bountiful," based on the Tony Award-winning play.

In 2012 he made his acclaimed Broadway debut in the iconic role of Stanley in Tennessee Williams' "A Streetcar Named Desire," for which he earned a 2012 Drama League Distinguished Performance Award nomination. He also starred in "Paradise Blue" at the Williamstown Theatre Festival and "Othello" at the Old Globe Theatre.

Underwood also has several projects in the development pipeline as a director, including "Viral," a feature based on a Joe McClean script. In 2010 he made his feature film directing debut with "The Bridge to Nowhere," which starred Ving Rhames, Danny Masterson, Bijou Phillips and Alex Breckenridge.

Underwood is an Emmy Award-winner (as producer of the philanthropy-centered NBC Saturday morning series "Give"), a two-time Golden Globe Award nominee, and has been nominated for 17 NAACP Image Awards (seven wins). He won a Grammy Award for Best Spoken Word as co-narrator of Al Gore's audiobook, An Inconvenient Truth. A newly minted member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, he is also active in several philanthropic endeavors.
BornAugust 25, 1964
  • More at IMDbPro
    • Contact info
    • Agent info
    • Resume
BornAugust 25, 1964
IMDbProStarmeterTop 5,000127
  • View contact info at IMDbPro
    • Awards
      • 13 wins & 20 nominations total

    Photos267

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    Known for

    Elijah Wood and Leelee Sobieski in Deep Impact (1998)
    Deep Impact
    6.3
    • Mark Simon
    • 1998
    Sean Connery and Laurence Fishburne in Just Cause (1995)
    Just Cause
    6.4
    • Bobby Earl
    • 1995
    Gattaca (1997)
    Gattaca
    7.7
    • Geneticist
    • 1997
    Samuel L. Jackson and Tommy Lee Jones in Rules of Engagement (2000)
    Rules of Engagement
    6.4
    • Captain Lee
    • 2000

    Credits

    Edit
    IMDbPro

    Actor



    • One Spoon of Chocolate
      • Completed
      • 2025
    • Youngblood
      • Blane Youngblood
      • In Production
    • Viral
      • Andrew
      • Completed



    • Celebrity Crime Files (2012)
      Celebrity Crime Files
      8.2
      TV Series
      • Narrator
      • 2024
    • Maika Monroe in Longlegs (2024)
      Longlegs
      6.6
      • Agent Carter
      • 2024
    • Carrie Preston in Elsbeth (2024)
      Elsbeth
      7.6
      TV Series
      • Cliff McGrath
      • 2024
    • Shailene Woodley, DeWanda Wise, Betty Gilpin, and Gabrielle Creevy in Three Women (2023)
      Three Women
      6.8
      TV Series
      • Richard Ford
      • 2023
    • Danielle Vitalis and Jon Pointing in Smothered (2023)
      Smothered
      6.9
      TV Series
      • David
      • 2023
    • Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor in Origin (2023)
      Origin
      7.2
      • Amari Selvan
      • 2023
    • William Jackson Harper in Love Life (2020)
      Love Life
      7.5
      TV Series
      • Leon Hines
      • 2021
    • Beanie Feldstein in American Crime Story (2016)
      American Crime Story
      8.4
      TV Series
      • Vernon Jordan
      • 2021
    • Bryan Cranston in Your Honor (2020)
      Your Honor
      7.6
      TV Series
      • Roland Carter
      • 2020
    • Kofi Siriboe and Yootha Wong-Loi-Sing in Really Love (2020)
      Really Love
      6.2
      • Jerome Richmond
      • 2020
    • The Pack Podcast (2020)
      The Pack Podcast
      5.4
      Podcast Series
      • Darren
      • 2020
    • Octavia Spencer in Self Made: Inspired by the Life of Madam C.J. Walker (2020)
      Self Made: Inspired by the Life of Madam C.J. Walker
      7.3
      TV Mini Series
      • Charles James Walker
      • 2020
    • Bad Hair (2020)
      Bad Hair
      5.6
      • Amos Bludso
      • 2020
    • Max Charles and Joshua Rush in The Lion Guard (2015)
      The Lion Guard
      6.4
      TV Series
      • Makuu (voice)
      • 2016–2019
    • Dear White People (2017)
      Dear White People
      6.4
      TV Series
      • Moses Brown
      • 2019

    Producer



    • Township Yogi
      • producer
      • Completed
    • Viral
      • producer
      • Completed



    • Clinton: Portrait of a Presidency (2024)
      Clinton: Portrait of a Presidency
      • executive producer
      • 2024
    • Independent Lens (1999)
      Independent Lens
      8.1
      TV Series
      • executive producer
      • 2021
    • Harry Belafonte, Michael Jackson, Sidney Poitier, Blair Underwood, Stevie Wonder, James Baldwin, Earth Wind & Fire, George Faison, Nikki Giovanni, Al Green, Patti LaBelle, Stan Lathan, Felipe Luciano, Sam Pollard, Sonia Sanchez, Greg Tate, Questlove, Melissa Haizlip, Sarah Lewis, Ellis Haizlip, Robert Glasper, and Ashford & Simpson in Mr. Soul! (2018)
      Mr. Soul!
      7.9
      • executive producer
      • 2018
    • Blair Underwood and Jenna Bush Hager in Give (2016)
      Give
      7.6
      TV Series
      • executive producer
      • 2016
    • Olympic Pride, American Prejudice (2016)
      Olympic Pride, American Prejudice
      7.3
      • executive producer
      • 2016
    • Blair Underwood, Kenneth Choi, Spencer Grammer, Brent Sexton, Pablo Schreiber, and Neal Bledsoe in Ironside (2013)
      Ironside
      5.4
      TV Series
      • producer
      • 2013
    • Woman Thou Art Loosed: On the 7th Day (2012)
      Woman Thou Art Loosed: On the 7th Day
      5.1
      • producer
      • 2012
    • Blair Underwood and Noa Tishby in From Cape Town with Love (2010)
      From Cape Town with Love
      Video
      • co-executive producer
      • 2010
    • Million Dollar Christmas
      TV Series
      • executive producer
      • 2007
    • The Hit (2007)
      The Hit
      4.2
      • producer
      • 2007
    • Michael Beach, Debbi Morgan, and Blair Underwood in Asunder (1999)
      Asunder
      5.2
      • co-executive producer
      • 1999
    • Louis Gossett Jr. and Blair Underwood in Father & Son: Dangerous Relations (1993)
      Father & Son: Dangerous Relations
      5.2
      TV Movie
      • associate producer
      • 1993

    Director



    • Viral
      • Director
      • Completed



    • Blair Underwood and Noa Tishby in From Cape Town with Love (2010)
      From Cape Town with Love
      Video
      • Director
      • 2010
    • Ving Rhames and Danny Masterson in The Bridge to Nowhere (2009)
      The Bridge to Nowhere
      5.3
      • Director
      • 2009
    • The Second Coming (1992)
      The Second Coming
      8.2
      Short
      • Director
      • 1992
    • Tony Terry: With You
      Music Video
      • Director
      • 1991

    • In-development projects at IMDbPro

    Videos39

    Weather Girl
    Clip 1:23
    Weather Girl
    The End Trailer
    Trailer 1:04
    The End Trailer
    The End Trailer
    Trailer 1:04
    The End Trailer
    Official Trailer
    Trailer 2:22
    Official Trailer
    Dirty: Part Two
    Trailer 0:57
    Dirty: Part Two
    Sweet: Part Two
    Trailer 0:50
    Sweet: Part Two
    Teaser Trailer
    Trailer 1:25
    Teaser Trailer

    Personal details

    Edit
    • Height
      • 5′ 11″ (1.80 m)
    • Born
      • August 25, 1964
      • Tacoma, Washington, USA
    • Spouses
        Josie HartJune 24, 2023 - present
    • Children
      • Blake Ellis
    • Other works
      TV commercial for Burger King (1986)
    • Publicity listings
      • 4 Interviews
      • 4 Articles

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      On the show Who Do You Think You Are? (2010) he found out that his great-great grandfather thought he was the second coming of Jesus, and was shot four times. He also discovered that a great-great-great grandfather was born a free African-American in the early 1800s, and owned two slaves (that the historian helping him thought were the parents of the free black man). Blair also took a DNA test to see where his ancestors were from, and found out that he is 74% African and 26% European (mostly French). Researchers found a genetic tenth cousin of Blair's who lives in Cameroon, and Blair and his father went to Cameroon to meet him and his family.
    • Quotes
      It's so easy to sell your soul or sell out or cop out, and what it really comes down to is choices. If you have some kind of game plan, or at least a faith in your ability, it doesn't matter if this town validates you or not because you're already validated by your gifts. I just try to stay focused on what I have to offer.

    FAQ

    Powered by Alexa
    • How old is Blair Underwood?
      60 years old
    • When was Blair Underwood born?
      August 25, 1964
    • Where was Blair Underwood born?
      Tacoma, Washington, USA
    • What is Blair Underwood's birth name?
      Blair Erwin Underwood
    • How tall is Blair Underwood?
      5 feet 11 inches, or 1.80 meters

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