Dominic Hoffman

Dominic Hoffman (born October 30, 1962) is an American actor and playwright. He is known for his recurring roles on The Shield as Louis Sperling, A Different World as Whitley's boyfriend, Julian Day, and Grey's Anatomy as Dr. Jeff Russell.^[1]

Dominic Hoffman
Hoffman at LA Times Festival of Books, 2025.
Born	(1962-10-30) October 30, 1962 (age 62)
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1985–present

He is also an accomplished theater actor and playwright, earning Ovation awards in 2000 for his one-man show "Uncle Jacques' Symphony," a play that celebrates humanity as a musical metaphor. Its participants are a group of singular characters, all performed by Hoffman, with minimal alteration, played to maximum effect. Men and women, young and old, of different cultures and beliefs vividly come together on stage for ninety minutes. Their personal rhythms, unique harmonies, and the familiar melody of their stories combine to form a symphony of life. Ovation awards for best actor in a play, writing, and best world premiere.

Hoffman is also a distinguished audiobook narrator, winning the 2017 Audie Award for Literary Fiction or Classics for his rendition of Yaa Gyasi's Homegoing.^[2][3] He has also been a finalist for two other Audie Awards^[4][5] and an Odyssey Award.^[6][7]

Personal life and education

Hoffman received a Bachelor of Arts in English Literature from the University of California, Santa Cruz.^[8] He also received training from the American Conservatory Theater, London Academy of Music and Dramatic Arts, and New York University Tisch School of the Arts.^[8]

Hoffman presently lives in Venice, California and spends time in Paris annually.^[9]

Awards and honors

Awards

Best Play at the Edinburgh International Festival, Best Of The Fringe at the San Francisco Fringe Festival, and LA Ovation Awards (Best Writer Of A World Premiere Play & Best Lead Actor In A Play), as writer/actor for Uncle Jacques’ Symphony. Click here for reviews.

Year	Title	Media	List	Result	Ref.
1996	Blade to the Heat	Theatre	DramaLogue Award for Outstanding Performance	Winner	[10]
2017	Homegoing (2016) by Yaa Gyasi	Audiobook	Audie Award for Literary Fiction or Classics	Winner	[2][3]
2018	The Sun is Also a Star (2016) by Nicola Yoon	Audiobook	Amazing Audiobooks for Young Adults	Top 10	[11][12]
2021	Deacon King Kong (2020) by James McBride	Audiobook	Audie Award for Literary Fiction or Classics	Finalist	[4]
2021	When Stars are Scattered (2020) by Victoria Jamieson and Omar Mohamed	Audiobook	Amazing Audiobooks for Young Adults	Top 10	[13]
2021	When Stars are Scattered (2020) by Victoria Jamieson and Omar Mohamed	Audiobook	Odyssey Award	Honor	[6][7]
2022	Four Hundred Souls, edited by Ibram X. Kendi and Keisha N. Blain	Audiobook	Audie Award for Multi-Voiced Performance	Finalist	[5][14]
	Last Fare	Theatre	NAACP Image Award for Best Play	Winner	[15]
	Last Fare	Theatre	NAACP Image Award for Best Actor	Winner	[15]

"Best of" lists

Year	Title	List	Ref.
2006	An Ordinary Man by Paul Rusesabagina	Booklist Editors' Choice: Media	[16]
2012	Last Days of Ptolemy Grey by Walter Mosley	RUSA Listen List	[17][18]
2015	The Port Chicago 50: Disaster, Mutiny, and the Fight for Civil Rights by Steve Sheinkin	Amazing Audiobooks for Young Adults	[19][20]
2020	Deacon King Kong (2020) by James McBride	AudioFile Best of Fiction	[2]
2020	When Stars are Scattered (2020) by Victoria Jamieson and Omar Mohamed	AudioFile Best of Children's Titles	[2]
2020	When Stars are Scattered (2020) by Victoria Jamieson and Omar Mohamed	Booklist Editors' Choice: Youth Audio, 2020	[21]
2021	145th Street: Short Stories by Walter Dean Meyers	Amazing Audiobooks for Young Adults	[22]
2021	When Stars are Scattered (2020) by Victoria Jamieson and Omar Mohamed	Notable Children's Recordings	[7][23]

Filmography

Film

Year	Film	Role
1987	Jaws: The Revenge	Additional Voices
1988	School Daze	Mustafa
	Casual Sex?	Additional Voices
	Survival Quest	Jeff
1992	Original Intent	Cox
1997	One Eight Seven	Victor
2001	Kingdom Come	Antoine Depew
2008	Redbelt	Detective
2013	Phil Spector	Mr. Brown
2022	Swamp Lion	Fred
2025	Henry Johnson	Jerry

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1985	V	Visitor	Episode: The Conversion
1986	Comedy Factory	Bookstore Customer	Episodes: Man About Town
1985-1988	St. Elsewhere	Paramedic Tim Dillworth	Five episodes: Give the Boy a Hand, The Naked and the Dead, The Boom Boom Womb, Heart On and Final Cut
1988	Cheers	2nd Customer	Episode: Yacht of Fools
1989	CBS Schoolbreak Special	Donny Hall	Episode: My Past Is My Own
	Beauty and the Beast	Resident	Episode: A Kingdom by the Sea
1989–1991	A Different World	Kent Souje (1 episode) Julian Day (8 episodes)	Nine episodes: For She's Only a Bird in a Gilded Cage (as Kent Souje) A World Alike, That's the Trouble with You All, A Camp Fire Story, Getaway: Part I, Getaway: Part II, Perhaps Love, 21 Candles, Ex-Communication (as Julian Day)
1990	Family Matters	Steve Webster	Episode: Torn Between Two Lovers
1993	Living Single	Patrick	Episode: Living Single... with Children
	The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air	Dr. Kervarkian	Episode: Home Is Where The Heart Attack Is
1993–1994	Hangin' with Mr. Cooper	Dr. Pickney (1 episode) Thaddeus Jamison White (5 episodes)	Six episodes: Valentine's Day Massacre (as Dr. Pickney), Private School, It's My Party and I'll Die If I Want To, The Courtship of Mark Cooper, Truth or Consequences, Pros and Convicts (as Thaddeus Jamison White)
1995	Mad About You	Waiter	Episode: Two Tickets to Paradise
	NYPD Blue	Bar Owner	Episode: E.R.
1996	Buddies	Marcel	Episode: The PSA Story
1997	The Jamie Foxx Show	Kenneth	Episode: I am What I Scam
	Port Charles	Byron Rollins	Unknown episodes
1999	Between Brothers	Ramon	Episode: Fantasy Camp/Home Boyz of Summer
2004-2005	The Shield	Lou Sperling	Three episodes: Strays, All In, Grave
2006	The Unit	Neil Krinsman	Two episodes: Report by Exception, Bait
2008	Jericho	Colonel Fetts	Episode: Patriots and Tyrants
2009	24	Raymond Howell	Episode: Day 7: 12:00 p.m.-1:00 p.m.
	Lie to Me	SEC Deputy Ian Dawkins	Episode: Depraved Heart
	The Mentalist	Agent Hicks	Four episodes: The Scarlet Letter, Black Gold and Red Blood, Red Bulls, His Red Right Hand
2012–2013	Grey's Anatomy	Dr. Jeff Russell	Three episodes: Second Opinion, Bad Blood, Idle Hands
2019	S.W.A.T.	Ben Mosley	Episodes: Rocket Fuel