Harold Perrineau Biography
Summary
"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". He recently starred in ABC's comedy-drama television series "The Unusuals," playing NYPD homicide detective Leo Banks.
Biography
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 attended Shenandoah University, but did not graduate. Perrineau and his wife, Brittany, have a daughter, Aurora Robinson Perrineau, born 1994. Their second daughter, Wynter Aria, was born on May 7, 2008.
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, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
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. "Lost" co-star Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje starred with Perrineau on the HBO series "Oz".
Perrineau played 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. He was later killed off in the season four finale.
Following his 'Lost' departure, news broke that Perrineau had been cast in the upcoming pilot for ABC dramedy 'The Unusuals.'
He stars also in 30 Days of Night: Dark Days alongside Rhys Coiro, Mia Kirshner, Kiele Sanchez, Diora Baird and Monique Ganderton.
Perrineau appeared in the 2008 music video, Yes we can, to Barack Obama.
Credit
This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article about Harold Perrineau.
