Producer / Actor

Stephen McKinley Henderson made his film debut in A Pleasure Doing Business (1979) and has since appeared in Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close (2011), Lincoln (2012), Fences (2016), Manchester by the Sea (2016), Lady Bird (2017), Dune (2021), Causeway (2022), Beau Is Afraid (2023), and Civil War (2024).

His television debut came in 1984 in PBS's The Killing Floor. He has since appeared in Law & Order (1995–2010), Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (2005–2006), The Newsroom (2013), The Blacklist (2018), Wu-Tang: An American Saga (2019–2020), Devs (2020), and A Man on the Inside (2024-2025).

Stephen McKinley Henderson has worked on stages throughout the United States and abroad, on and off Broadway, and in television and film. His eight Broadway performances include BETWEEN RIVERSIDE AND CRAZY (Tony nomination), FENCES (Tony nomination), A RAISIN IN THE SUN, MA RAINEY’S BLACK BOTTOM, and A DOLL’S HOUSE PART 2. Off Broadway roles include LAByrinth Theatre Company’s THE LAST DAYS OF JUDAS ISCARIOT and Second Stage Theater’s JITNEY (Drama Desk, Obie, and Audelco awards for outstanding ensemble). His stage directing credits include Signature Theater’s ZOOMAN AND THE SIGN, ALI! in New York and London, and THE MEETING for St. Louis Black Repertory Theater presented at Kennedy Center.  Stephen’s work appears in six Oscar nominated films: DUNE; Fences; Lady Bird; LINCOLN; Manchester by the Sea; and Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close. In his freshman year at Lincoln University in Missouri, a historically black institution, he auditioned for John Houseman and Michael Kahn and became a member of Group l, Juilliard Drama Division in 1968. His conservatory training continued at North Carolina School of the Arts (BFA) where he served as president of the student government. At Purdue University Graduate School (MA), Stephen was Director of the Drama Workshop for the Black Cultural Center. He is a Lunt and Fontanne Ten Chimneys Fellowship Teacher and a former Chair of the University at Buffalo Department of Theatre and Dance. John Houseman cited Stephen’s work as a student in his memoir, Final Dress, and Dr. Samuel Hay cites his work as an actor, director, and educator in his text, African American Theater, A Critical Analysis. He is the 2023 recipient of the Drama Desk’s Harold Prince Lifetime Achievement Award. Mr. Henderson will be inducted into the American Theatre Hall of Fame at Broadway's Gershwin Theatre on November 18, 2024.