Early life and education

Dutton was born January 30, 1951, on the East side of Baltimore, Maryland. His father was a truck driver.

In his youth, Dutton dropped out of school before finishing middle school. He had a short-lived stint as an amateur boxer with the nickname "Roc." When he was 17, he got into a fight which resulted in the death of a man Dutton claimed had attacked him. Dutton was charged and convicted of manslaughter, and he spent the next seven years in prison. Several months after being released from prison, Dutton was arrested for possession of a deadly weapon, and was sentenced to three years in prison.

Prison conviction

Several months into his second prison term, Dutton was sentenced to six days of solitary confinement, which allowed prisoners to take one book. By accident, he grabbed an anthology of black playwrights. He enjoyed the plays so much that, upon his release from confinement, he petitioned the warden to start a drama group for the Christmas talent show. The warden agreed on the condition that Dutton go back to school and get his GED. Dutton accomplished that and went on to eventually complete a two-year college program at Hagerstown Junior College (now Hagerstown Community College) in Hagerstown, Maryland, graduating with an Associate of Arts degree in 1976. Upon his release, he enrolled as a drama major at Towson State University (now known as Towson University) in the Baltimore suburb of Towson, Maryland, where he graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1978.

After his time at Towson, Dutton earned a master's degree in acting from the Yale School of Drama in 1983.

Career

In 1984, Dutton made his Broadway debut in August Wilson's Ma Rainey's Black Bottom, winning a Theatre World Award and a Tony Award nomination for Best Actor. In 1988, Dutton played a killer in the television miniseries The Murder of Mary Phagan opposite Jack Lemmon and Kevin Spacey. 1990 brought him a second Best Actor Tony nomination for his role in another Wilson play, The Piano Lesson. From 1991-1994, he starred in the Fox television series Roc. Dutton co-starred in Alien 3, the debut film of director David Fincher, then co-starred in 1993's Rudy. Other films he has appeared in include Get on the Bus; A Time to Kill; Cookie's Fortune; Crocodile Dundee II; Cry, the Beloved Country; Menace II Society; and Secret Window.

Dutton won Outstanding Guest Actor Emmy Awards in 2002 and 2003 for his roles in The Practice and Without a Trace. He was previously nominated in 1999, for his guest-starring role as Alvah Case in the HBO prison drama Oz in its second season premiere episode. For this role, he was also nominated for an NAACP Image Award. Also in 1999, he starred in an ensemble cast in Aftershock: Earthquake in New York in which he played the Mayor of New York City. Dutton gained acclaim for his comedy show Roc shown on FOX television (but produced by HBO) from 1991-1994, especially mid-run when the show was broadcast live. His work in this role won him an NAACP Image Award. He co-starred in the popular but short-lived 2005 CBS science fiction series, Threshold.

In 2000, Dutton directed the HBO miniseries The Corner. The miniseries was close to his heart for Dutton grew up on the streets of East Baltimore. It was adapted from The Corner: A Year in the Life of an Inner-City Neighborhood (Broadway Books, 1997) by David Simon (a reporter for the Baltimore Sun) and Ed Burns (a retired Baltimore homicide detective). The Corner won several Emmys in 2000, including Best Miniseries. Dutton won for his direction of the miniseries. He worked with Simon previously in a 1996 episode of Homicide: Life on the Street.

He starred as Montgomery County, Maryland Police Chief Charles Moose in the 2003 made-for-TV movie D.C. Sniper: 23 Days of Fear, and appears in Season 2 of The L Word. Dutton also appeared in "Another Toothpick," an episode of The Sopranos. He guest starred on House M.D. as the father of Doctor Eric Foreman (Omar Epps) and on Sleeper Cell: American Terror as the father of undercover FBI agent Darwyn Al-Sayeed. He also directed two episodes of Sleeper Cell.

On October 9, 2007, HBO announced that it has arranged a deal with Dutton where he will develop, direct and star in series and movies for the network. He also appeared in the 2007 film Honeydripper.

On February 14, 2013 Dutton returned to TV in Zero Hour playing the role of a priest.

In 2013, Dutton played Detective Margolis in the horror film The Monkey's Paw.

Personal life

Dutton owns a farm in Ellicott City, Maryland. He was married to actress Debbi Morgan in 1989, but the couple divorced in 1994.

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1985	Cat's Eye	Dom
1986	No Mercy	Sergeant Sandy
1986	Apology	Asst. District Attorney	Television movie
1988	The Murder of Mary Phagan	Jim Conley	Television movie
1988	Crocodile Dundee II	Leroy Brown
1989	Jacknife	Jake
1990	Q&A	Detective Sam Chapman
1991	Mississippi Masala	Tyrone Williams
1992	Alien 3	Dillon	Nominated—Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actor
1992	The Distinguished Gentleman	Elijah Hawkins
1993	Menace II Society	Mr. Butler
1993	Rudy	Fortune
1994	Surviving the Game	Walter Cole
1994	Foreign Student	Howlin' Wolf
1994	A Low Down Dirty Shame	Sonny Rothmiller
1995	The Piano Lesson	Boy Willie	Television movie Nominated—Golden Globe Award for Best Actor - Miniseries or Television Film Nominated—Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Miniseries or a Movie
1995	Zooman	Emmett	Television movie
1995	Cry, the Beloved Country	John Kumalo
1995	Seven	Cop	Uncredited
1995	Nick of Time	Huey
1996	A Time to Kill	Sheriff Ozzie Walls
1996	Get on the Bus	George
1997	Mimic	Leonard
1998	Black Dog	Ford
1998	Blind Faith	Charles Williams	Nominated—Independent Spirit Award for Best Supporting Male Nominated—Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Miniseries or Television Movie
1999	Cookie's Fortune	Willis Richland	Nominated—Independent Spirit Award for Best Supporting Male
1999	Random Hearts	Alcee
1999	Aftershock: Earthquake in New York	Mayor Bruce Lincoln	Television movie
1999	The 60's	Reverend Willie Taylor	Television movie
2000	Deadlocked	Jacob Doyle	Television movie
2000	For Love or Country	Dizzy Gillepsie	Television movie
2002	D-Tox	FBI agent Chuck Hendricks
2002	10,000 Black Men Named George	Milton Webster	Television movie
2003	D.C. Sniper: 23 Days of Fear	Chief Charles Moose	Television movie
2003	Gothika	Dr. Douglas Grey
2004	Against the Ropes	Felix Reynolds
2004	Secret Window	Ken Karsch
2004	Something the Lord Made	William Thomas	Television movie
2005	The L.A. Riot Spectacular	The Mayor
2007	Honeydripper	Maceo
2008	The Third Nail	Sydney
2008	Racing for Time	Lt. Stack	Television movie
2008	American Violet	Reverend Sanders
2008	The Express	Willie Davis
2009	Fame	Mr. James Dowd
2010	Legion	Percy Walker
2012	Bad Ass	Panther
2012	Least Among Saints	George
2012	The Obama Effect	John Thomas
2012	LUV	Cofield
2013	The Monkey's Paw	Detective Margolis
2014	Android Cop	Mayor Jacobs
2014	Scooby-Doo! WrestleMania Mystery	Cookie
2015	Bessie	William 'Pa' Rainey	Television movie
2015	The Perfect Guy	Leah's father
2016	Midnight Rider	Chank Middleton	Filming

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1985	Miami Vice	Lieutenant Pearson	Episode: "The Prodigal Son"
1985	The Equalizer	Abmennet	Episode: "Bump and Run"
1986	Miami Vice	Ed McCain	Episode: "The Good Collar"
1986	Cagney & Lacey	Mr. Johnson	Episode: "The Marathon"
1991-1994	Roc	Roc Emerson	72 episodes
1993	Are You Afraid of the Dark?	Captain Jonas Cutter	2 episodes
1996	Homicide: Life on the Street	Elijah Sanborn	Episode: "Prison Riot"
1998	Oz	Professor Alva Case	Episode: "The Tip" Nominated—Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series
2001	Ed	Reverend Carver	Episode: "Valentine's Day"
2001	The Sopranos	Officer Wilmore	Episode: "Another Toothpick"
2001	The Practice	Leonard Marshall	Episode: "Killing Time" Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series
2002-2003	Without a Trace	Chet Collins	2 episodes Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series
2005	The L Word	Dr. Benjamin Bradshaw	4 episodes
2005-2006	Threshold	J.T. Baylock	13 episodes
2006-2007	House	Rodney Foreman	2 episodes
2007	My Name Is Earl	Reggie	Episode: "Get a Real Job"
2009	CSI: NY	Talmadge Neville	Episode: "Greater Good"
2010	Dark Blue	Walter Shell	Episode: "Shell Game"
2011	Law & Order: LA	Reverend Davidson	Episode: "Carthay Circle"
2011	Criminal Minds	Tony Cole	Episode: "The Bittersweet Science"
2011	American Horror Story: Murder House	Detective Granger	2 episodes
2012	The Good Wife	Pastor Damon	Episode: "Blue Ribbon Panel"
2012-2013	Longmire	Detective Fales	5 episodes
2013	Zero Hour	Father Mickle	6 episodes
2014	The Following	FBI Director Tom Franklin	Episode: "The Messenger"

[ Source: Wikipedia ]