Don Cheadle

Don Cheadle
Cheadle at a Brooklyn's Finest interview, February 27, 2010
Born	Donald Frank Cheadle, Jr. (1964-11-29) November 29, 1964 Kansas City, Missouri, U.S.
Occupation	Actor, producer, author
Years active	1984–present
Partner(s)	Bridgid Coulter (1992–present)
Children	2

Donald Frank "Don" Cheadle, Jr. (/ˈtʃiːdəl/; born November 29, 1964)^[1] is an American actor and producer. Cheadle had an early role in Picket Fences and followed it with performances in Devil in a Blue Dress (1995), Rosewood (1997) and Boogie Nights (1997). He then started a collaboration with director Steven Soderbergh that resulted in the movies Out of Sight (1998), Traffic (2000) and Ocean's Eleven (2001). Other Cheadle films include The Rat Pack (1998), Things Behind the Sun (2001), Swordfish (2001), Crash (2004), Ocean's Twelve (2004), Ocean's Thirteen (2007), Reign Over Me (2007), Talk to Me (2007), Traitor (2008), Iron Man 2 (2010) and Iron Man 3 (2013).

In 2004, his lead role as Rwandan hotel manager Paul Rusesabagina in the genocide drama film Hotel Rwanda, which was set during the Rwandan Genocide earned him a nomination for an Academy Award for Best Actor. He also campaigns for the end of genocide in Darfur, Sudan, and co-authored, with John Prendergast, a book concerning the issue entitled Not On Our Watch: The Mission to End Genocide in Darfur and Beyond. Along with George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Matt Damon, David Pressman, and Jerry Weintraub, Cheadle co-founded the Not on Our Watch Project, an organization focusing global attention and resources to stop and prevent mass atrocities. In 2010, Cheadle was named U.N. Environment Program Goodwill Ambassador. He stars as Marty Kaan on the Showtime sitcom House of Lies, for which he most recently won a Golden Globe Award in 2013.^[2]

Early life

Cheadle was born in Kansas City, Missouri, the son of Bettye (née North), a teacher,^[1] and Donald Frank Cheadle, Sr., a clinical psychologist.^[1] He has a sister, Cindy, and a brother, Colin. His family moved from city to city throughout his childhood. Cheadle graduated in 1982 from East High School in Denver, Colorado. He then graduated from the California Institute of the Arts (CalArts) with a B.F.A. in Theater.^[3]

Career

Cheadle first became eligible for his Screen Actors Guild (SAG) card when he appeared as a burger joint employee in the 1985 comedy Moving Violations.^[4]

He then appeared in Hamburger Hill in 1987, and played the role of Jack in the April 1, 1988 "Jung and the Restless" episode of Night Court. Although his character was supposed to be 16 years old, Cheadle was 23 at the time.

Cheadle then played the role of Rocket in the 1988 movie Colors. In 1989, he appeared in a video for Angela Winbush's No. 2 hit single "It's the Real Thing", performing dance moves in an orange jump suit, working at a car wash. In 1990, he appeared in an episode of The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air titled "Homeboy, Sweet Homeboy", playing Will Smith's friend and Hilary's first love interest, Ice Tray.^[5] In 1992, he played a supporting role in The Golden Girls spin-off The Golden Palace. Cheadle subsequently played district attorney John Littleton on two seasons of Picket Fences.

Cheadle first received widespread notice for his portrayal of Mouse Alexander in the film Devil in a Blue Dress, for which he won Best Supporting Actor awards from the Los Angeles Film Critics Association and the National Society of Film Critics and was nominated for similar awards from the Screen Actors Guild and the NAACP Image Awards. Following soon thereafter was his performance in the title role of the 1996 HBO TV movie Rebound: The Legend of Earl "The Goat" Manigault. He also starred in the 1997 film Volcano, directed by Mick Jackson.

Cheadle's television credits include Emmy-nominated performances in the movies The Rat Pack, A Lesson Before Dying, Things Behind the Sun and in a guest appearance on ER. The last of these spanned four episodes during the show's ninth season, in which he portrayed Paul Nathan, a medical student struggling to cope with Parkinson's disease. He has made appearances in films including Rosewood, The Family Man, Boogie Nights, a cameo appearance in the film Abby Singer, Out of Sight, Traffic, and Ocean's Eleven. These last three were directed by Steven Soderbergh. In 2005, Cheadle was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor for his portrayal of Paul Rusesabagina in the film Hotel Rwanda. He also starred in, and was one of the producers of Crash, which won the 2005 Academy Award for Best Picture. For his performance in Crash, Cheadle was nominated for BAFTA and Screen Actors Guild Award for Best Supporting Actor. He played the main character in the movie Traitor. Cheadle starred in Hotel for Dogs by DreamWorks.^[6][7]

In 2007 Cheadle published a book, Not on Our Watch: The Mission to End Genocide in Darfur and Beyond, co-authored with John Prendergast.

Cheadle was to make his directorial debut with the adaptation of Elmore Leonard's Tishomingo Blues. In a July 2007 interview he stated, "'Tishomingo' is dead..."^[8]

Cheadle appeared in NFL commercials promoting the Super Bowl from 2002 to 2005. He so regularly appeared for the NFL in its Super Bowl advertising that in 2006, in a drive to get fans to submit their own advertising ideas, the NFL sought his permission to reference his previous commercials to portray themselves as having no new ideas: "he quickly signed off on the idea and found it funny." Abe Sutton (along with Etan Bednarsh), one of the finalists in this NFL contest, played on this commercial by proposing an ad where an entire team of football players are Don Cheadle.^[9]

Cheadle and Boondocks creator Aaron McGruder are working together to launch a comedy show on NBC.^[10] The "project revolves around mismatched brothers who reunite to open a private security company."^[10] Cheadle will serve as an executive producer, along with McGruder, who will write the script.^[11]

In 2009, Cheadle performed in The People Speak, a documentary feature film that uses dramatic and musical performances of the letters, diaries, and speeches of everyday Americans, based on historian Howard Zinn's A People's History of the United States.^[12]

In 2010, Cheadle assumed the role of James Rhodes in the film Iron Man 2, replacing Terrence Howard.^[13]

In 2010, Cheadle was appointed, "U.N. Environment Program Goodwill Ambassador."^[14] He and Prendergast published their second book, The Enough Moment: Fighting to End Africa's Worst Human Rights Crimes, in 2010.

He also appeared in Derek Water's "Drunk History" video as Frederick Douglass.^{[citation needed]} As of the show's January 8, 2012 premiere, Cheadle stars in the Showtime TV series House of Lies. He will also make an appearance in 2015 film, Avengers: Age of Ultron, reprising his role as Col. James Rhodes.^[15]

In 2013, Cheadle won the Golden Globe as Best Actor in a Comedy Series for his role in the "House of Lies".^[2]

Personal life

Cheadle in February 2007

At the 2007 World Series of Poker, Cheadle and poker player Annie Duke organized an annual charity poker tournament, Ante Up for Africa.^[16][17][18]

In 2007, Cheadle was awarded the BET Humanitarian award of the year for his numerous humanitarian services he rendered for the cause of the people of Darfur and Rwanda.^[19]

On December 13, 2007, Cheadle and fellow actor George Clooney were presented with the Summit Peace Award by the Nobel Peace Prize Laureates in Rome for their work to stop the genocide and relieve the suffering of the people of Darfur.^{[citation needed]}

In 2008, Cheadle's family history was profiled on the PBS series African American Lives 2.^[20]

Filmography

Television

As producer

Video games

• Iron Man 2^[21] video game (2010), Col. James 'Rhodey' Rhodes/War Machine

Theatre

• Topdog/Underdog off-Broadway performances (2001)

Internet

• Drunk History Volume 5 (Frederick Douglass)
• Don Cheadle is Captain Planet^[22]

Awards and nominations

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Don Cheadle.

• Don Cheadle at the Internet Movie Database
• Don Cheadle: The Hotel for Dogs Interview with Kam Williams
• European edition of Don Cheadle's book Not on Our Watch, published by Maverick House Publishers 2007
• 10 Questions for Don Cheadle on Time.com (a division of Time Magazine)
• Not On Our Watch: George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Matt Damon, Don Cheadle, Jerry Weintraub
• Don Cheadle signs TV production deal
• The People Speak at the Internet Movie Database
• 'The People Speak' (LA Times article)