- published: 19 Nov 2013
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Harry Joseph Lennix III (born November 16, 1964) is an American actor. He is best known for his roles as Terrence "Dresser" Williams in the Robert Townsend film The Five Heartbeats (1991) and as Boyd Langton in the Joss Whedon television series Dollhouse. Lennix currently co-stars as Harold Cooper, Assistant Director of the FBI Counterterrorism Division, on the NBC drama The Blacklist.
The youngest of four siblings, Lennix was born in Chicago, Illinois, to Lillian C. (née Vines), a laundress, and Harry Lennix, Jr., a machinist who was a Creole from Louisiana. Lennix attended Quigley Preparatory Seminary South and Northwestern University, where he majored in Acting and Direction. In his senior year at Northwestern, he was the coordinator of the African-American student organization, For Members Only. He taught music and civics for several years in the Chicago Public School system and is a frequent lecturer.
In 2009, he married Djena Graves.
Lennix starred in the Showtime Networks made-for-cable television film Keep the Faith, Baby (2002) as Rev. Adam Clayton Powell, Jr., who was a legendary Harlem Congressman from 1944 to 1972; in the movie Titus (1999), based on Shakespeare's Titus Andronicus, as Aaron the Moor; and in the ABC television series Commander in Chief. Lennix currently co-stars as Harold Cooper, Assistant Director of the FBI Counterterrorism Division, on the NBC drama The Blacklist, which debuted September 23, 2013.