Steve Harris (actor)

This article is about the actor. For other people, see Steve Harris.

Steve Harris (born December 3, 1965) is an American actor. He has played Eugene Young on the legal drama The Practice,^[1] Detective Isaiah "Bird" Freeman on the NBC drama Awake, and Charles McCarter in Tyler Perry’s Diary of a Mad Black Woman.

Steve Harris
Born	(1965-12-03) December 3, 1965 (age 59) Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1985–present
Relatives	Wood Harris (brother)

For The Practice, Harris was twice nominated for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series.

Early life

Harris was born in Chicago, Illinois, the son of John Henry Harris, a bus driver and Mattie Harris, a housewife. He is the older brother of actor Wood Harris.^[2] He attended St. Joseph High School in Westchester, Illinois, a private school with a reputation for developing star athletes. Harris was a running back, and later played linebacker for Northern Illinois University, where he studied drama.^[3] His athletic career was cut short due to a torn ligament in his ankle.^{[citation needed]} After graduating from Northern Illinois University in 1989, Harris obtained a master's degree in acting at the University of Delaware.^[1][2]

Career

Harris appeared on Law & Order and earlier had a role in Homicide: Life on the Street's pilot.^[1][2] In 2006, he appeared in the now-cancelled TV series Heist.^[4][5] He also appeared in an episode of Grey's Anatomy. He appeared in several episodes of New York Undercover.^[1] He has appeared in a number of films including; Quarantine, Tyler Perry's Diary of a Mad Black Woman, Bringing Down the House,^{[citation needed]} The Rock,^[1] The Mod Squad,^[2] Takers, and Minority Report.

From 1997 to 2004, Harris starred as Eugene Young in David E. Kelley's legal drama The Practice. He was nominated for 2 Emmys and starred in all 8 seasons.

Harris starred in actress Regina King's directorial debut Let The Church Say Amen which was adapted from ReShonda Tate Billingsley's 2005 best selling novel. The film premiered on Black Entertainment Television (BET) in 2013. He appeared as Nelson Gates, the boss of troubled FBI agent Martin Odum (Sean Bean), in the TV show Legends, which aired on TNT from August 13, 2014 to December 28, 2015.

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1985	Don't Mess With My Sister	Radio Announcer
1988	Seven Hours to Judgment	Reardon's Van Driver
1993	Sugar Hill	Ricky Goggles
	The Good Policeman	Big Blue	Television film
1994	Against the Wall	Cecil	Television film
1996	The Rock	Private McCoy
1997	George Wallace	Neal	Television film
	Lesser Prophets	Brick Thrower
1998	Nightmare Street	Detective Miller	Television film
	Lovers and Liars	FBI Agent
1999	The Mod Squad	Briggs
2000	King of the World	Sonny Liston	Television film
	The Skulls	Detective Sparrow
2001	Beyond the City Limits	Troy
2002	Minority Report	Jad
2003	Bringing Down the House	Widow
2004	Death and Texas	Bobby 'Barefoot Bobby' Briggs
2005	Diary of a Mad Black Woman	Charles McCarter
	The Unseen	Roy
2006	Silas Hunt: A Documentary	Narrator
2007	Protect and Serve	Dennis Harvey	Television film
2008	Ball Don't Lie	Rob
	Quarantine	Scott Percival
	Good Behavior	Will Stone	Television film
2009	12 Rounds	FBI Agent George Aiken
2010	Takers	Lieutenant Carver
2013	Let the Church Say Amen	Simon Jackson	Television film
2014	The Gable 5	Lt. Wade	Short
	In Your Eyes	Giddons
2015	Chi-Raq	Ole Duke
2017	Burning Sands	Dean Richardson	[6]
	Type A	Carson	Television film
2018	The First Purge	Freddy	[7]

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1993	Homicide: Life on the Street	Bernard	Episode: "Gone for Goode"
1994	Heaven and Hell: North and South Book III	Magic Magee	Recurring role
	New York Undercover	Bulldog	Episode: "The Friendly Neighborhood Dealer"
	Law & Order	Joey 'Dogs' Lang	Episode: "Wager"
1995	Murder One	Daryl Jackson	Episode: "Chapter Two"
	New York Undercover	Terry Ellers	2 episodes
	Dark Eyes	Jay Staples	Episode: "Pilot"
	Law & Order	Calvin Tiller	Episode: "Act of God"
1997	Chicago Hope	A.S.A. Charles Lamb	Episode: "Lamb to the Slaughter"
1997-2004	The Practice	Eugene Young	Main cast
1998	Ally McBeal	Eugene Young	Episode: "The Inmates"
1999	Jeopardy!	Himself/Celebrity Contestant	Episode: "1999-A Celebrity Jeopardy! Game 4"
2000	The List	Himself	Episode: "Best TV Theme Songs"
	The Wild Thornberrys	Makai (voice)	Episode: "Critics Masai"[8]
2002	Intimate Portrait	Himself	Episode: "LisaGay Hamilton"
2004	World Poker Tour	Himself	Episode: "Hollywood Home Game I"
2004-06	The Batman	Ethan Bennett / Clayface (voice)	Recurring role[8]
2005	Higglytown Heroes	Sports Coach Hero (voice)	Episode: "Havin' a Ball"
2006	Heist	James Johnson	Main cast
	Grey's Anatomy	Omar Troussant	Episode: "Time Has Come Today"
2008	Eli Stone	Jayson Turk	Recurring role (season 1)
2009-10	Friday Night Lights	Virgil Merriweather	Recurring role (season 4)
2011	Harry's Law	Jeffrey Rollins	Episode: "Innocent Man"
	Eden	Max Hunt	Episode: "Pilot"
2012	Awake	Detective Isaiah 'Bird' Freeman	Main Cast
2014	Justified	Roscoe	Recurring role (season 5)
	Legends	Nelson Gates	Main cast (season 1)
2015	NCIS	Gerald Tanner	Episode: "Cadence"
2017	Ryan Hansen Solves Crimes on Television	Captain Jackson #2	Episode: "Jane D'oh!"
2018	Santa Clarita Diet	Bill Ramirez	Episode: "Hailbut!"
	The Crossing	Beaumont	Recurring cast
2019	The Twilight Zone	Neil Harrison	Episode: "Replay"
	Tales	McBride	Episode: "Slippery"
2020	Chicago PD	Brian Rochester	Episode: "Before The Fall"
	Filthy Rich	Franklin Lee	Main cast[9]
2021	Law & Order: Organized Crime	Ellsworth Lee	Recurring role (season 1)
2021-present	BMF	Detective Bryant	Main cast[10]
2022	Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty	Dr. Thomas Day	Recurring role