Ruben Santiago-Hudson

Ruben Santiago-Hudson (born Ruben Santiago Jr., November 24, 1956) is an American actor, playwright, and director who has won national awards for his work in all three categories. He is best known for his role of Captain Roy Montgomery from 2009 to 2011 on ABC's Castle. In November 2011 he appeared on Broadway in Lydia R. Diamond's play Stick Fly.[1][2] In 2013 he starred in the TV series Low Winter Sun, a police drama set in Detroit.

Ruben Santiago-Hudson
Santiago-Hudson at the 2010 Tribeca Film Festival
Born
Ruben Santiago Jr.

(1956-11-24) November 24, 1956
Lackawanna, New York, U.S.
OccupationActor, playwright, director
Spouse(s)Jeannie Brittan
Children4

Early life

Ruben Hudson was born in 1956 in Lackawanna, New York, the son of Alean Hudson and Ruben Santiago, a railroad worker. He later adopted his mother's maiden name as part of his compound surname.[3] His father was Puerto Rican and his mother was African American.[4] He went to Lackawanna High school, earned his bachelor's degree from Binghamton University, his master's degree from Wayne State University and received an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters from Buffalo State College and Wayne State University.[4]

Career

In 2003, he was the reader in Volume 13 of the HBO film, Unchained Memories: Readings from the Slave Narratives. The series was narrated by Whoopi Goldberg. He wrote Lackawanna Blues (2001), an autobiographical play in which he portrayed himself and some twenty different characters from his past, which was produced in New York at the Joseph Papp Theatre in 2001.[5] He adapted it for a highly acclaimed, award-winning 2005 HBO film, in which the parts were played by different people.[6] It won the Humanitas Prize and earned Emmy and Writers Guild of America Award nominations.[7]

Santiago-Hudson appeared on Broadway in Jelly's Last Jam (1992), written by George C. Wolfe. He received the 1996 Tony for his performance in August Wilson's Seven Guitars.[8]

On television, he has appeared on the daytime soaps Another World and All My Children. His work in primetime series have included The Cosby Mysteries, New York Undercover, NYPD Blue, Touched by an Angel, The West Wing, Third Watch, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit and five episodes of Law & Order (which coincidentally stars Lackawanna Blues star S. Epatha Merkerson), among others. He starred as New York City Police Captain Roy Montgomery in the ABC series Castle until his character's death occurred in the third season finale. In 2007 he starred in a PBS Nova documentary about the life of chemist Percy Lavon Julian.

In 2013, Santiago-Hudson won the Lucille Lortel Award for Outstanding Director,[9] an Obie Award for Direction,[10][11] and was nominated for the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Director of a Play for his work in the Off-Broadway production of August Wilson's The Piano Lesson.[12]

In 2016, he won the Obie Awards Special Citation for Collaboration for his work on Skeleton Crew with Dominique Morisseau and the Atlantic Theater Company.[13]

Selected filmography

Film
Year Title Role Notes
1988 Coming to America Street Hustler Credited as Ruben Hudson
1994 Blown Away Blanket
Bleeding Hearts Todd
1997 The Devil's Advocate Leamon Heath
2000 Shaft Jimmy Groves
2001 Domestic Disturbance Sergeant Edgar Stevens
2002 Winning Girls Through Psychic Mind Control Samuel Menendez
2006 Brother's Shadow Manny Botero
2007 Mr. Brooks Hawkins
Honeydripper Stokely
American Gangster Doc
2009 The Invention of Lying Landlord
2014 Selma Bayard Rustin
2020 Ma Rainey's Black Bottom Screenplay by

Television
Year Title Role Notes
1990–1992 Dear John Larry/Orlando/Curtis 6 episodes
1990–1993 Another World Billy Cooper Soap opera
1990–2008 Law & Order Mr. Gaines/Detective Brian Keene/Attorney Winters/Dr. Paul Jackson 6 episodes
1994 The Cosby Mysteries Police Officer Episode: "Expert Witness"
1994–1995 NYPD Blue Otis 2 episodes
1994–1996 New York Undercover Johnny/Walter Perry 2 episodes
1995 Solomon & Sheba Tamrin TV film
1995 The Return of Hunter: Everyone Walks in L.A. Detective Stan Lewis TV film
1995–1996 Gargoyles Gabriel 3 episodes (voice)
1997 Spawn Jess Chapel Direct-to-video (voice)
1997–1998 Michael Hayes Eddie Diaz 21 episodes
1997–1999 Spawn Jess Chapel Voice
1998 Rear Window Antonio Fredericks TV film
1999 The Hunt for the Unicorn Killer Detective Newhouse TV film (credited as Ruben Santiago Hudson)
1999 Touched by an Angel Dr. Joe Acot Episode: "Such a Time as This"
1999 The West Wing Morris Tolliver Episode: "Post Hoc, Ergo Propter Hoc"
1999 Third Watch Detective Wolfort, NYPD Episode: "History of the World"
2000 American Tragedy Christopher Darden TV film
2002 The Red Sneakers Uncle Joe TV film (credited as Ruben Santiago Hudson)
2005 Lackawanna Blues Freddie Combs TV movie (also wrote the screenplay)
2005 Their Eyes Were Watching God Joe Starks TV film
2005 Law & Order: Special Victims Unit Carlos Guzman Episode: "Name"
2009–2014 Castle Captain Roy Montgomery 59 episodes
2011 Person of Interest Sam Latimer Episode: "Mission Creep"
2013 Low Winter Sun Charles Dawson 10 episodes
2015 Public Morals Lieutenant King 10 episodes
2016 The Family Chief of Police Len Bucksey 3 episodes
2016–2019 Billions Raul Gomez 8 episodes
2017 Designated Survivor General Contreras Episode: "Commander-in-Chief"
2017 The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks Dr. Roland Pattillo TV film
2017–2018 The Quad Cecil Diamond 18 episodes

Honors
  • 1996, Tony Award for performance in Seven Guitars
  • 2006, Humanitas Award for writing, for HBO film adaptation of his play Lackawanna Blues.[14]
  • 2009, NAACP Lifetime Achievement Theatre Award at the Los Angeles NAACP Theatre Awards.[14] He played Mayor Joe Starks in Their Eyes Were Watching God.

Personal life

Santiago-Hudson has four children: Broderick and Ruben III from previous relationships, and Trey and Lily from his marriage with Jeannie Brittan.[15]

When he came to New York in 1983, he was known as Ruben Santiago. He tried to get a part at the Puerto Rican Traveling Theater and was asked if he spoke Spanish, which he does not. When he wanted to work at the Negro Ensemble Company, "they laughed and said, 'We don't have Puerto Ricans.'" So he added his mother's name, Hudson, and eventually won a part in A Soldier's Play at the Ensemble Company.[16]

See also
  • List of famous Puerto Ricans
  • List of Puerto Ricans of African descent

References
  1. "All that you wanted to know about the Broadway production 'Stick Fly'". StickFlyBroadway.com. Retrieved June 22, 2016.
  2. Hetrick, Adam (September 7, 2011). "Ruben Santiago-Hudson, Dulé Hill and Tracie Thoms to Star in Stick Fly on Broadway". Playbill. Archived from the original on October 7, 2011. Retrieved June 22, 2016.
  3. "Ruben Santiago-Hudson profile, FilmReference.com; accessed October 14, 2010.
  4. Ruben Santiago-Hudson profile, DanaRoc.com; accessed April 19, 2016.
  5. Gordon, Eric A. (March 15, 2019). "'Lackawanna Blues' a theatrical triumph for Ruben Santiago-Hudson". www.peoplesworld.org. Retrieved 16 September 2019.
  6. "The Many Lives of 'Lackawanna Blues'". centertheatregroup.org. February 25, 2019. Retrieved 16 September 2019.
  7. "Ruben Santiago-Hudson". sdcfoundation.org. Stage Directors and Choreographers Workshop Foundation. Retrieved 16 September 2019.
  8. Gerard, Jeremy (June 2, 2017). "Tony Watch: Ruben Santiago-Hudson On His August Wilson Passion Project, 'Jitney'". Deadline.com. Retrieved 16 September 2019.
  9. Healy, Patrick (2013-05-05). "'Piano Lesson' and 'The Whale' Win Lortel Awards". The New York Times. Retrieved 2013-05-06.
  10. Gans, Andrew (2013-05-20). "Detroit, Grimly Handsome, Eisa Davis, John Rando, Shuler Hensley and More Are Obie Winners". Playbill. Retrieved 2013-05-21.
  11. Healy, Patrick (2013-05-20). "Obie Awards Honor 'Detroit' and 'Grimly Handsome'". The New York Times. Retrieved 2013-05-21.
  12. Hetrick, Adam (2013-05-19). "Billy Porter, Andrea Martin, Pippin, Matilda, Vanya and Sonia Win Drama Desk Awards". Playbill. Archived from the original on 2013-06-05. Retrieved 2013-05-20.
  13. Village Voice Staff, "The Complete List of 2016 Obie Award Honorees", The Village Voice, May 24th, 2016.
  14. ABC's Castle "Ruben Santiago- Hudson" aka Det.Montgomery, October 17, 2009; accessed October 14, 2010.
  15. "Ruben Santiago-Hudson | The HistoryMakers". www.thehistorymakers.org. Retrieved 12 November 2018.
  16. Smith, Dinitia. "A Performance Shaped by Life". The New York Times. Retrieved 12 November 2018.
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