Hill Harper
Harper signing copies of his book Letters to a Young Brother, 2007
Born	Francis Harper (1966-05-17) May 17, 1966 (age 46) Iowa City, Iowa, U.S.
Other names	F. Hill Harper
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1993–present

Francis Harper^[1] (born May 17, 1966), known professionally as Hill Harper, is an American film, television and stage actor, and author. An alumnus of Harvard Law School, he is best known for his portrayal of Dr. Sheldon Hawkes in the CBS drama CSI: NY.

Early life[link]

Harper was born in Iowa City, Iowa, the son of Harry Harper, a psychiatrist, and Marilyn Hill, who was one of the first black practicing anesthesiologists in the United States.^[1][2][3] He has been acting since the age of 7. Harper graduated magna cum laude from Brown University and also graduated with a J.D., cum laude, from Harvard Law School, and a Master of Public Administration from the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University.^[4] 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.^[5] While a student at Harvard, Harper befriended President Barack Obama.^[6] Harper and Obama met on the basketball court and became good friends during their first year as law students.

Although Harper obtained a J.D. and M.P.A., he chose to use neither and instead moved to Los Angeles to pursue acting. He was awarded an honorary doctorate in 2009 by Westfield State College. Born Francis Harper, he adopted the name "Hill" as tribute to both his maternal and paternal ancestors.^{[citation needed]}

Acting career[link]

Harper broke into both film and television in 1993, doing recurring work on the Fox series Married... with Children and making his film debut in the short Confessions of a Dog. He had his first substantial role in a feature in 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), an entry into the teen thriller genre. 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.^[7]

His best-known role to date is that of coroner-turned-crime scene investigator Dr. Sheldon Hawkes on the CBS crime drama CSI: NY. He also portrayed Leshem in the 2010 Syfy original movie Stonehenge Apocalypse.^[8]

Writing career and political advocacy[link]

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 How Men and Women Can Build Loving, Trusting Relationships, published in 2010. His fourth book, The Wealth Cure: Putting Money in Its Place, was published in 2011.

In January 2008, he participated in "Yes We Can", a music video supporting Barack Obama, produced by Will.i.am. Harper is a member of the Obama for America National Finance Committee.^[9]

As of October 2009, Hill has made several contributions to political candidates, exclusively to Democrats.

Harper endorsed the 10,000 Bookbags^[10] 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.^[11]

Harper stated that he is a fiscal conservative when he appeared on the political talk show Hannity on September 10, 2009.

Awards and recognition[link]

In the fall of 2008, Harper was initiated as a brother of the Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity with his line brothers Dr. Naim Akbar of Florida State University and former NFL player LeMarcus Newman.^[12]

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.

Personal life[link]

While writing his fourth book, Hill was diagnosed with thyroid cancer. After treatment, he was given a clean bill of health.^[13]

Filmography[link]

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Hill Harper

• Manifest Your Destiny
• Hill Harper at the Internet Movie Database
• Hill Harper – CSI: NY Cast at CBS
• Hill Harper at the CSI: NY Fan Wiki

Gabrielle Union
Union in February 2009
Born	Gabrielle Monique Union (1972-10-26) October 26, 1972 (age 39) Omaha, Nebraska U.S.
Occupation	Actress
Years active	1993–present
Spouse	Chris Howard 2001-2006 (divorced)

Gabrielle Monique Union (born October 26, 1972) is an American actress and former model. Among her notable roles is as the cheerleader opposite Kirsten Dunst in the film Bring it On. Union starred opposite Will Smith and Martin Lawrence in the blockbuster film Bad Boys II and played a medical doctor in the CBS drama series City of Angels. She starred with LL Cool J in Deliver Us from Eva in 2003.

Early life[link]

Union was born in Omaha, Nebraska. She is the daughter of Theresa (née Glass), a former dancer, social worker, and phone company manager, and Sylvester C. Union, an AT&T manager and military sergeant.^[1][2][3] She was raised Catholic.^[4] At the age of eight, her family moved to Pleasanton, California, where she grew up and attended Foothill High School. In high school, Union was an all-star point guard in basketball and a year-round athlete, also playing in soccer and ran track.

Career[link]

Union attended the University of Nebraska before moving on to Cuesta College. She eventually transferred to UCLA and earned a degree in sociology. While studying there, she interned at the Judith Fontaine Modeling & Talent Agency to earn extra academic credits. Invited by the agency's owner, Judith Fontaine, Union started working as a model to pay off college loans.^[5]

Union started her acting career in minor roles. Most were in teen movies such as 10 Things I Hate About You and Love and Basketball. In 1997, Union appeared in the sixth-season episode of "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine - Sons and Daughters" as the Klingon N'Garen.^[6] She also appeared in Sister, Sister as Vanessa, in Smart Guy as Denise, and in five episodes of 7th Heaven as Keesha Hamilton.

In 2000, Union landed the role of Isis in the cheerleading movie Bring it On opposite Kirsten Dunst. Bring It On helped push Union into the mainstream and she began gaining more exposure. This led to Union being cast in the CBS television drama City of Angels as Dr. Courtney Ellis.

Union was cast in her first leading role in the 2003 film Deliver Us from Eva with rapper L.L. Cool J. This was her second time working with the rapper since making a cameo in his video "Paradise" in 2002. The film received fair reviews from critics and it showed that Union was a leading lady. Union landed the role of Will Smith's girlfriend Syd in the film Bad Boys II, a box office success grossing over $273 million worldwide. Union starred with Academy Award winner Jamie Foxx in the film Breakin' All the Rules in 2004.

Union starred in the short-lived 2005 ABC series Night Stalker. She has also starred in the independent drama films Neo Ned and Constellation, the latter of which was released to theaters. She won an award for Best Actress in Neo Ned at the Palm Beach International Film Festival, and the film received awards at several festivals.

She starred in the 2005 remake of The Honeymooners with comedian Cedric The Entertainer. In 2006, she starred as Busta Rhymes' love interest in the music video for Rhymes' "I Love My Chick". Union starred in the 2007 films Daddy's Little Girls by Tyler Perry (released on Valentine's Day) and the Christmas film The Perfect Holiday which opened on December 12.

In an interview with Art Nouveau Magazine, Union complained about the lack of roles for black actresses and actors in Hollywood: "There used to be [roles] specifically written black, if you knew Denzel was doing a movie you knew his wife, girl or love interest was going to be black [but] that’s not necessarily the case anymore. You’re in that room with every amazingly talented actress of every hue, and it’s a dogfight, it’s hard".^[7]

In 2008, Union appeared on Ugly Betty for 3 episodes (36-38) as Renee, Wilhelmina Slater's (Vanessa L. Williams) sister and Daniel Meade's (Eric Mabius) love interest. She also made a cameo appearance in the music video for Ne-Yo's "Miss Independent".

She joined the cast of the U.S. television series Life on NBC and appeared in four episodes prior to the cancellation of series in May 2009.^[8] She appeared in the ABC series FlashForward alongside John Cho and Joseph Fiennes as Zoey Andata, a role for which she got nominated for an NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series.