TV-Now
Search for your favorite stars on TV:
 
Stars on TV: Everything You Want to Know

Dennis Haysbert

Dennis Haysbert TV Listings

ChannelDate & TimeTitleBuy
SHOeWed, Nov 11, 6:10 AMColor of FreedomBuy
MNTWed, Nov 11, 8:00 PMThe UnitBuy
MNTWed, Nov 11, 9:00 PMThe UnitBuy
BRAVOSat, Nov 14, 8:00 AMWaiting to ExhaleBuy
IFCSun, Nov 15, 6:00 PMThe Minus ManBuy
IFCMon, Nov 16, 3:30 AMThe Minus ManBuy
MNTWed, Nov 18, 8:00 PMThe UnitBuy
MNTWed, Nov 18, 9:00 PMThe UnitBuy
IFCThu, Nov 19, 6:00 PMThe Minus ManBuy
IFCFri, Nov 20, 4:35 AMThe Minus ManBuy

Dennis Haysbert Biography

dennis haysbert
  • Birth Name: Dennis Dexter Haysbert
  • Birth Place: San Mateo, CA
  • Date of Birth / Zodiac Sign: 06/02/1954, Gemini
  • Profession: Actor
It's not surprising that this commanding actor has played a striking number of athletes. The defensive end on his high-school football team, Haysbert turned down multiple sports scholarships in order to study at the American Academy of Dramatic Art. But he didn't quite leave his past behind. In his very first TV role he was cast as a basketball player on an episode of White Shadow and later he appeared in numerous sports-related projects (Love & Basketball, Grambling's White Tiger, Mr. Baseball). Throughout the '80s, Haysbert was a constant if anonymous small-screen presence, racking up guest spots on a diverse array of series, everything from Laverne & Shirley to Dallas to 227. He finally segued to features in the 1989 comedy Major League in which he played — surprise! — a baseball player. But the next year he proved that he had brains to go with his brawn when he landed what should have been his breakthrough role: a single father who falls for a white woman in the '60s period drama Love Field. But the project had problems from the start. He was reportedly the third actor cast in the role (after Denzel Washington dropped out and Eriq La Salle was let go) and once the film was completed, it sat on the shelf for two years due to its studio's financial difficulties. Once released, it won critical acclaim but a small audience. Although he continued to work steadily in features, Haysbert never did graduate to leading man. Instead he provided fine support to bigger stars, often playing law enforcement now that he was too old to be an athlete. In 2001, the journeyman actor suddenly found himself in the spotlight when he signed on to the taut action series 24 as a presidential hopeful who eventually won the White House. The next year, a critically acclaimed (and quite familiar) turn as a single father in love with a white woman in the '50s period piece Far From Heaven proved he still had big-screen clout. Although he left 24 in its third season, he continued to make guest appearances and in 2006 he headlined the military drama The Unit.
Dennis Haysbert Fast Facts:
  • Earned critical acclaim for his sensitive portrayal of a gardener attracted to a '50s housewife in 2002's Far from Heaven, a reworking of the 1955 tearjerker All That Heaven Allows.
  • A regular in the TV series 24, Now and Again, Just the Ten of Us, Off the Rack, Code Red The Unit.
 
    Dennis Haysbert Relationships:
  • Adam Haysbert - Brother
  • Al Haysbert - Brother
  • Charles Cameron - Son
  • Charles Haysbert Jr. - Brother
  • Charles Haysbert Sr. - Father
  • Gladys Haysbert - Mother
  • Katherine Camille - Daughter
  • Lenier Haysbert - Brother
  • Lynn Griffith - Wife
  • Rita Haysbert - Sister
  • Stanley Haysbert - Brother

    • Dennis Haysbert Awards:
  • 2003 Golden Globe: Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Series, Miniseries or Motion Picture Made for Television - Nominee

  • College:
  • Attended College of San Mateo, San Mateo, CA
Dennis Haysbert Biography, TV Listings and More from TVGuide.com
Advertisement