Harold Perrineau, Jr.

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Harold Perrineau, Jr.

Harold Perrineau, Jr., 2007
Born Harold Perrineau
August 7, 1963 (1963-08-07) (age 44)
Brooklyn, New York,
United States
Spouse(s) Brittany Perrineau (2002-present)

Harold Perrineau, Jr. (born August 7, 1963) is an American actor, known for the roles of Michael Dawson in the U.S. television series Lost, Link in The Matrix films and games, Augustus Hill in the American television series Oz (his character also serves as the narrator for the series), and Mercutio in Baz Luhrmann's Romeo + Juliet.

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[edit] Biography

[edit] Personal life

Perrineau, Jr. was born Harold Perrineau in Brooklyn, New York, the son of Harold Williams, Sr. His parents changed his name to Williams at the age of 7. Harold later legally changed his name back to his birth name, after discovering there was already a Harold Williams in the screen actors guild union. His French surname is actually his mother's maiden name. Perrineau and his wife, Brittany, have a daughter, Aurora Robinson Perrineau, born 1995. It was confirmed in People Magazine that Brittany and Harold are expecting their second daughter, due in May of 2008. Their second daughter, Wynter Aria, was born on May 7, 2008.[1]

[edit] Acting career

In 1989, Perrineau was cast as the original Tyrone Jackson in the world premiere of the stage adaptation of the 1980 hit movie Fame (now known as Fame: The Musical) at the Walnut Street Theatre, .[2]

Perrineau took the role of Link in The Matrix series after the original operator Tank was written off the script when Marcus Chong was fired over money disputes.[3] Lost co-star Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje starred with Perrineau on the HBO series Oz.

Perrineau plays the character Michael Dawson on Lost. He was temporarily written off Lost when his character left the island with his son at the end of season two and did not appear at all in season three; however, his return to the show for its fourth season was announced in July 2007.[4] At the end of the fourth season, Perrineau's character Michael dies, about which Perrineau says:

Listen, if I'm being really candid, there are all these questions about how they respond to black people on the show. Sayid gets to meet Nadia again, and Desmond and Penny hook up again, but a little black boy and his father hooking up, that wasn't interesting? Instead, Walt just winds up being another fatherless child. It plays into a really big, weird stereotype and, being a black person myself, that wasn't so interesting.[5]

Following his "Lost" departure[6], news broke that Perrineau had been cast in the upcoming pilot for ABC dramedy "The Unusuals."[7]

[edit] Filmography

Note: He is often credited without the suffix "Jr."

[edit] References

[edit] External links