Delroy Lindo
{{short description|English–American actor (born 1952)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2024}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Delroy Lindo
| image = Delroy Lindo cropped.jpg
| caption = Lindo in 2008
| birth_name = Delroy George Lindo
| birth_date = {{birth date and age|df=y|1952|11|18}}
| birth_place = Lewisham, London, England
| education = {{Plainlist|
}}
| occupation = Actor
| years_active = 1975–present
| spouse = {{marriage|Nashormeh Lindo|1990}}
| children = 1
}}
Delroy George Lindo (born 18 November 1952) is an English–American actor.{{Cite news|last=Rose|first=Steve|date=3 June 2020|title=Delroy Lindo: 'British racism is as violent and virulent as America's'|language=en-GB|work=The Guardian|url=https://www.theguardian.com/film/2020/jun/03/delroy-lindo-george-floyd-protests-da-5-bloods-spike-lee-british-racism-america|access-date=19 March 2021|issn=0261-3077}} He is the recipient of such accolades as an NAACP Image Award, a Satellite Award, and nominations for a Drama Desk Award, a Helen Hayes Award, a Tony Award, two Critics' Choice Television Awards, and three Screen Actors Guild Awards.
He moved with his mother to San Francisco when he was 16, after they had left London and lived in Canada for a few years. Here he completed his education and entered acting. Lindo has played prominent roles in four Spike Lee films: West Indian Archie in Malcolm X (1992), Woody Carmichael in Crooklyn (1994), Rodney Little in Clockers (1995), and Paul in Da 5 Bloods (2020). He was praised for his performance in Da 5 Bloods as a Vietnam War veteran, winning the New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actor and the National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Actor.
Lindo also played Bo Catlett in Get Shorty (1995), Arthur Rose in The Cider House Rules (1999), Detective Castlebeck in Gone in 60 Seconds (2000), and Delta Slim in Sinners (2025). Lindo starred as Alderman Ronin Gibbons in the TV series The Chicago Code (2011), as Winter on the series Believe (2014), and as Adrian Boseman in The Good Fight (2017–2021).
Early life
Delroy Lindo was born in 1952 in Lewisham,{{cite web|title=Aaliyah 'Best Video' Acceptance Speech 2002 – MOBO | date=21 August 2014 |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=35iMCnD-dRc | archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211117/35iMCnD-dRc| archive-date=17 November 2021 | url-status=live|publisher=Mobo Awards, Channel 4, YouTube}}{{cbignore}} the son of Jamaican parents who were part of the Windrush generation. His mother had immigrated to the UK in 1951 to work as a nurse,{{Cite web|url=https://www.pri.org/programs/one-farai/child-windrush|title = A Child of the Windrush|first=Farai|last= Chideya|author-link=Farai Chideya|date=10 July 2014|website=The World }} and his father worked in various jobs.Zondra Hughes (August 2002), [https://archive.today/20120629210618/http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1077/is_10_57/ai_97997635 "Are these the 5 best actors in America? - under rated - Entertainment - Don Cheadle, Delroy Lindo, Brian Stokes Mitchell, Ving Rhames And Jeffrey Wright"], Ebony. Lindo grew up in nearby Eltham and attended Woolwich Polytechnic School for Boys. He became interested in acting as a child when he appeared in a nativity play at school.
When he was a teenager, Lindo moved with his mother to Toronto, Ontario, Canada. When he was 16, they moved to the United States, to San Francisco. At the age of 24, Lindo began his studies in acting at the American Conservatory Theater, graduating in 1979.[http://www.tvguide.com/celebrities/delroy-lindo/bio/146992 "Delroy Lindo Biography"], TV Guide.
Career
Lindo made his film debut in 1976 with the Canadian John Candy comedy Find the Lady. He played an army sergeant in More American Graffiti (1979).{{cite web|url=https://editorial.rottentomatoes.com/article/essentials-delroy-lindo/|title=The Essentials: Delroy Lindo Breaks Down His Freshest And Defining Roles|website=Rotten Tomatoes|first= Robert|last=Daniels |date=10 March 2021|access-date=25 February 2022}}
For a decade from the early 1980s, Lindo's career was more focused on theatre acting than film, although he has said this was not a conscious decision. In 1982 he debuted on Broadway in "Master Harold"...and the Boys, directed by the play's South African author Athol Fugard. By 1988, Lindo had earned a Tony nomination for his portrayal of Herald Loomis in August Wilson's Joe Turner's Come and Gone.{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1988/03/28/theater/review-theater-panoramic-history-of-blacks-in-america-in-wilson-s-joe-turner.html|title=Review/Theater; Panoramic History Of Blacks in America In Wilson's 'Joe Turner'|newspaper=The New York Times|first=Frank|last=Rich|date=28 March 1988}}{{cite web|url=https://www.playbill.com/person/delroy-lindo-vault-0000074335|title=Delroy Lindo|website=Playbill|access-date=25 February 2022}}
Lindo returned to film in the science fiction film Salute of the Jugger (1990), which has become a cult classic. Although he had turned down Spike Lee for a role in Do the Right Thing, Lee cast him as Woody Carmichael in the drama Crooklyn (1994), which brought Lindo notice. His other roles with Lee include West Indian Archie, a psychotic gangster, in Malcolm X, and a starring role as a neighborhood drug dealer in Clockers.
Other films in which he has starring roles are Barry Sonnenfeld's Get Shorty (1995), Ron Howard's Ransom (1996), and Soul of the Game (1996), as the baseball player Satchel Paige.
In 1998 Lindo co-starred as African-American explorer Matthew Henson, in the TV film Glory & Honor, directed by Kevin Hooks. It portrayed Henson's nearly 20-year partnership with Commander Robert Peary in Arctic exploration, and their effort to find the Geographic North Pole in 1909. Lindo received a Satellite Award for best actor for his portrayal of Henson. Lindo has continued to work in television, and in 2006 was seen on the short-lived NBC drama Kidnapped.{{cite news|url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/zap-kidnappedpremiere-story.html|title=NBC's 'Kidnapped' Sought By Many|newspaper=Chicago Tribune|first=Jay |last=Bobbin|date=18 September 2006}}
Lindo had a small role in the 1995 film Congo, playing the corrupt Captain Wanta.{{cite web|url=https://collider.com/congo-sesame-cake-delroy-lindo-reaction/|title='Stop Eating My Sesame Cake!': Delroy Lindo Revisits His Unforgettable Scene in 'Congo'|website=Collider|first=Perri|last=Nemiroff|date=2 March 2021|access-date=25 February 2022}} Lindo was not credited for the role. He played an angel in the comedy film A Life Less Ordinary (1997).
He guest-starred on The Simpsons in the episode "Brawl in the Family", playing a character named Gabriel.
In the British film Wondrous Oblivion (2003), directed by Paul Morrison, Lindo starred as Dennis Samuels, the father of a Jamaican immigrant family in London in the 1950s. Lindo said he made the film in honor of his parents, who had similarly moved to London in those years.{{cite news|url=http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2004/05/26/1085461828735.html|title=It's not just cricket|newspaper=The Age|first=Stephanie|last=Bunbury|date=30 May 2004|access-date=27 September 2014}}
In 2007, Lindo began an association with Berkeley Repertory Theatre in Berkeley, California, when he directed Tanya Barfield's play The Blue Door. In the autumn of 2008, Lindo revisited August Wilson's play Joe Turner's Come and Gone, directing a production at the Berkeley Rep.{{cite web|url=https://www.theroot.com/the-root-interview-delroy-lindo-1790879969|title=The Root Interview: Delroy Lindo|first=Belinda|last=Otas|website=The Root|date=23 June 2010|access-date=25 February 2022}} In 2010, he played the role of elderly seer Bynum in David Lan's production of Joe Turner at the Young Vic Theatre in London.{{cite web|url=https://www.broadwayworld.com/uk-regional/article/Lindo-Leads-Young-Vic-Revival-of-JOE-TURNERS-COME-AND-GONE-Opens-May-27-20100416|title=Lindo Leads Young Vic Revival of JOE TURNER'S COME AND GONE; Opens May 27|website=Broadway World|first=Jessica|last=Lewis|date=16 April 2010|access-date=24 February 2022}}
Lindo was in the main cast of the Fox crime drama The Chicago Code (2011), the NBC fantasy series Believe, and the ABC soap Blood & Oil (2015). In 2017, Lindo began playing Adrian Boseman in the CBS legal drama The Good Fight, a role he would star in for the series' first four seasons and reprise as a guest star in its fifth season.{{cite web|url=https://www.sbs.com.au/guide/article/2017/07/03/salute-good-fights-boss-delroy-lindo|title=A salute to 'The Good Fight's boss, Delroy Lindo|website=SBS|first=Tony|last=Morris|date=25 July 2017|access-date=24 February 2022}}{{cite web|url=https://deadline.com/2021/04/the-good-fight-cush-jumbo-delroy-lindo-return-season-5-paramount-plus-1234727922/|title='The Good Fight': Cush Jumbo & Delroy Lindo Return To Close Out Their Storylines In Season 5|first=Denise|last= Petski|website=Deadline|date=5 April 2021|access-date=24 February 2022}} Lindo was cast as the lead in an ABC drama pilot Harlem's Kitchen in March 2020.{{Cite web|url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/tv/tv-news/delroy-lindo-lead-abc-drama-harlems-kitchen-1282786/|title=Delroy Lindo to Lead ABC Drama 'Harlem's Kitchen'|first=Rick|last=Porter|work=The Hollywood Reporter|date=5 March 2020|access-date=24 January 2022}}
In 2015, Lindo was expected to play Marcus Garvey in a biopic of the black nationalist historical figure that had been in pre-production for several years.{{Cite web|title = Delroy Lindo to Star as Marcus Garvey in Upcoming Biopic|url = https://www.colorlines.com/articles/delroy-lindo-star-marcus-garvey-upcoming-biopic|website = Colorlines|access-date = 21 December 2015|first = Sameer|last = Rao|date = 7 December 2015}}[https://thesource.com/2016/03/07/marcus-garvey-biopic-set-to-be-released-in-2017/ "MARCUS GARVEY BIOPIC SET TO BE RELEASED IN 2017"], The Source, 7 March 2016.[http://jamaica-star.com/article/entertainment/20151204/popular-us-actor-delroy-lindo-star-marcus-garvey-new-biopic "Popular US actor Delroy Lindo to star as Marcus Garvey in a new biopic"], The Jamaica Star, 4 December 2015. In recent years Lindo has appeared in the action film Point Break (2015), the drama Battlecreek (2017), the horror film Malicious (2018), and The Harder They Fall (2021) as Bass Reeves. Lindo appeared in Da 5 Bloods (2020) in another collaboration with Spike Lee. For his role in Da 5 Bloods, Lindo received critical acclaim and a number of accolades.{{cite news|url=https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/awards/story/2021-02-10/delroy-lindo-da-5-bloods-shakespearean-tragic-character-spike-lee|title=Delroy Lindo: Broken ex-soldier in 'Da 5 Bloods' is 'Shakespearean tragic character'|newspaper=Los Angeles Times|first= Hugh|last=Hart|date=10 February 2021}}{{cite web|url=https://variety.com/2020/film/awards/oscars-delroy-lindo-da-5-bloods-lead-actor-1234772884/|title=Netflix to Oscar Campaign Delroy Lindo for Best Actor for 'Da 5 Bloods' (EXCLUSIVE)|first=Clayton|last=Davis|website=Variety|date=17 September 2020|access-date=24 February 2022}}
Entertainment Weekly said of Hulu's comedy series Unprisoned (2023), "Delroy Lindo is so good it should be illegal."{{Cite magazine |last=Baldwin |first=Kristen |title=Delroy Lindo is so good in 'UnPrisoned,' it should be illegal |url=https://ew.com/tv/tv-reviews/unprisoned-review-hulu-kerry-washington-delroy-lindo/ |access-date=11 March 2023 |magazine=Entertainment Weekly |language=en}}
In 2025, Lindo played the supporting role of Delta Slim in Ryan Coogler’s critically acclaimed film Sinners.
=Upcoming=
It was announced in July 2021 that Lindo would star as Mr Nancy in the British Amazon Prime miniseries adaptation of Neil Gaiman's Anansi Boys alongside Malachi Kirby.{{cite web|title=Delroy Lindo To Star In Amazon's 'Anansi Boys'|url=https://deadline.com/2021/07/delroy-lindo-to-star-in-amazons-anansi-boys-1234801351/|website=Deadline Hollywood|first=Peter|last=White|date=28 July 2021}} In November, Lindo officially joined the cast of the upcoming Marvel Studios film Blade in an undisclosed role.{{Cite web|last=Kit|first=Borys|date=19 November 2021|title='Blade': Delroy Lindo Joins Mahershala Ali in Marvel Studios' Vampire Adventure (Exclusive)|url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/marvel-blade-delroy-lindo-mahershala-ali-1235049586/|access-date=19 November 2021|website=The Hollywood Reporter|language=en-US}}
As of 2020, Lindo was developing a screenplay for his directorial debut about the Windrush generation.
Personal life
Lindo married his wife Nashormeh in 1990. They settled in Oakland, California, in 1996, having moved from New York City and preferring the San Francisco Bay Area to Los Angeles. Their son Damiri was born in 2001.{{Cite web|first=Jessica|last= Zack|date= 17 June 2020|title=Oakland's Delroy Lindo dons MAGA hat for complex role in Spike Lee's 'Da 5 Bloods'|url=https://datebook.sfchronicle.com/movies-tv/oaklands-delroy-lindo-dons-maga-hat-for-complex-role-in-spike-lees-da-5-bloods|access-date=10 October 2021|website=Datebook |location= San Francisco |language=en-US}}{{Cite journal|url=https://www.sfgate.com/entertainment/article/Versatile-East-Bay-actor-Delroy-Lindo-yearns-to-2871987.php|title=Versatile East Bay actor Delroy Lindo yearns to play more than thugs, heavies|journal=SF Gate|first=Edward|last=Guthmann|date=7 October 2001|access-date=24 January 2022}}
Lindo is a football fan and supports Manchester United.{{Cite journal|url=https://www.muscleandfitness.com/athletes-celebrities/interviews/interview-hollywood-veteran-delroy-lindo/|title=Interview with Hollywood Veteran Delroy Lindo|journal=Muscle & Fitness|first=Jeff|last=Tomko|date=27 June 2017 |access-date=15 June 2023}}
Upon learning more about the Windrush generation, both through his mother's account and his own role as a Jamaican immigrant in Wondrous Oblivion, Lindo became inspired to study the subject and history further. In 2014, he completed a master's thesis from New York University's Gallatin School.{{Cite journal|url=https://www.gq.com/story/the-triumphant-career-of-delroy-lindo|title=The Long, Occasionally Dark, and Ultimately Triumphant Career of Delroy Lindo|journal=GQ|first=Mosi|last=Secret|date=20 April 2021|access-date=15 June 2023}}
He was awarded an honorary doctorate in Arts and Humanities from Virginia Union University.{{cite web| url = https://filmfest.scad.edu/schedule/conversation-delroy-lindo| url-status = dead| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20210511153850/https://filmfest.scad.edu/schedule/conversation-delroy-lindo| archive-date = 11 May 2021| title = In Conversation with Delroy Lindo |publisher= SCAD Savannah Film Festival}}
Filmography
= Film =
| class="wikitable sortable" | |||
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1976 | Find the Lady | Sam | |
| 1979 | More American Graffiti | Army Sergeant | |
| rowspan="3" | 1990 | The Blood of Heroes | Mbulu | |
| Mountains of the Moon | Mabruki | ||
| Bright Angel | Harley | ||
| 1991 | The Hard Way | Captain Brix | |
| 1992 | Malcolm X | West Indian Archie | |
| rowspan="2" | 1993 | Blood In Blood Out | "Bonafide" | |
| Mr. Jones | Howard | ||
| rowspan="2" | 1994 | L'exil du roi Behanzin | Behanzin | |
| Crooklyn | Woody Carmichael | ||
| rowspan="3" | 1995 | Clockers | Rodney Little | |
| Congo | Captain Wanta | Uncredited | |
| Get Shorty | Bo Catlett | ||
| rowspan="3" | 1996 | Ransom | FBI Special Agent Lonnie Hawkins | |
| Broken Arrow | Colonel Max Wilkins | ||
| Feeling Minnesota | "Red" | ||
| rowspan="2" | 1997 | A Life Less Ordinary | Jackson | |
| The Devil's Advocate | Phillipe Moyez | Uncredited | |
| rowspan="2" | 1999 | Pros & Cons | Kyle Pettibone | |
| The Cider House Rules | Arthur Rose | ||
| rowspan="3" | 2000 | The Book of Stars | Professor | |
| Gone in 60 Seconds | Detective Roland Castlebeck | ||
| Romeo Must Die | Isaak O'Day | ||
| rowspan="3" | 2001 | The One | Agent Harry Roedecker / Arri | |
| Heist | Bobby Blane | ||
| The Last Castle | Brigadier General Jim Wheeler | ||
| rowspan="2" | 2003 | The Core | Dr. Ed "Braz" Brazzleton | |
| Wondrous Oblivion | Dennis Samuel | ||
| rowspan="2" | 2005 | Domino | Claremont Williams | |
| Sahara | Carl | ||
| 2007 | This Christmas | Joe Black | |
| rowspan="2" | 2009 | Up | rowspan="2" | Beta (voice) | |
| Dug's Special Mission | Short film | ||
| 2011 | The Big Bang | Skeres | |
| 2014 | Cymbeline | Belarius | |
| rowspan="2" | 2015 | Do You Believe? | Malachi | |
| Point Break | FBI Instructor Hall | ||
| 2017 | Battlecreek | Arthur | |
| 2018 | Malicious | Dr. Clark | |
| rowspan="2" | 2020 | Da 5 Bloods | Paul | |
| LX 2048 | Donald Stein | ||
| 2021 | The Harder They Fall | Bass Reeves | |
| 2025 | Sinners | Delta Slim | |
| 2027 | Godzilla x Kong: Supernova | TBA | Filming |
= Television =
| class="wikitable sortable" | |||
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1987 | Beauty and the Beast | Isaac Stubbs | 2 episodes |
| rowspan="2" | 1989 | A Man Called Hawk | Mark Slater | Episode: "Vendetta" |
| Perfect Witness | Berger | Television film | |
| 1991 | Against the Law | Ben | Episode: "Hoops" |
| 1996 | Soul of the Game | Satchel Paige | rowspan="4" | Television film |
| 1997 | First Time Felon | Calhoun | |
| 1998 | Glory & Honor | Matthew Henson | |
| 1999 | Strange Justice | Clarence Thomas | |
| 2002 | The Simpsons | Gabriel | Voice; episode: "Brawl in the Family" |
| 2003 | Profoundly Normal | Ricardo Thornton | rowspan="3" | Television film |
| rowspan="2" | 2005 | Lackawanna Blues | Mr. Lucious | |
| The Exonerated | Delbert Tibbs | ||
| 2006–2007 | Kidnapped | Latimer King | Main cast; 13 episodes |
| rowspan="2" | 2009 | Law & Order: Special Victims Unit | Detective Victor Moran | Episode: "Baggage" |
| Mercy | Dr. Alfred Parks | Episode: "Can We Get That Drink Now?" | |
| 2011 | The Chicago Code | Alderman Ronin Gibbons | Main cast; 11 episodes |
| 2013 | Robot Chicken | Dopey Smurf, Scorpion Cashier (voices) | Episode: "Papercut to Aorta" |
| 2014 | Believe | Dr. Milton Winter | Main cast; 13 episodes |
| 2015 | Blood & Oil | "Tip" Harrison | Main cast; 10 episodes |
| 2016 | Marvel's Most Wanted | Dominic Fortune | Unaired pilot |
| 2017–2021 | The Good Fight | Adrian Boseman | Main cast; 40 episodes |
| 2017 | This Is Us | Judge Ernest Bradley | Episode: "The Most Disappointed Man" |
| 2023–2024 | Unprisoned | Edwin Alexander | Main cast; also executive producer |
| {{TableTBA}} | Anansi Boys | Mr Nancy | Filming |
= Theatre =
=Video games=
| class="wikitable" |
| Year
! Title ! Role |
|---|
| 2009
| Up | Beta (voice) |
Awards and nominations
Notes
{{notelist}}
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- {{IMDb name|5148}}
- {{IBDB name}}
- Mosi Secret, [https://www.gq.com/story/the-triumphant-career-of-delroy-lindo "The Long, Occasionally Dark, and Ultimately Triumphant Career of Delroy Lindo"], GQ, 20 April 2021
{{Navboxes
|title = Awards for Delroy Lindo
|list =
{{American Riviera Award}}
{{Detroit Film Critics Society Award for Best Actor}}
{{NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series}}
{{National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Actor}}
{{New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actor}}
{{Online Film Critics Society Award for Best Actor}}
{{Satellite Award Best Actor Television Miniseries or Film}}
}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lindo, Delroy}}
Category:20th-century American male actors
Category:21st-century American male actors
Category:20th-century English male actors
Category:21st-century English male actors
Category:American male film actors
Category:American male television actors
Category:American male voice actors
Category:American Conservatory Theater alumni
Category:Black British male actors
Category:20th-century African-American male actors
Category:21st-century African-American male actors
Category:English expatriate male actors in the United States
Category:English male film actors
Category:English male stage actors
Category:English male television actors
Category:English people of Jamaican descent
Category:Male actors from London
Category:Male actors from San Francisco
Category:Actors from the Royal Borough of Greenwich
Category:Actors from the London Borough of Lewisham
Category:San Francisco State University alumni
Category:American people of English descent