Ernie Hudson was born on December 17, 1945 in Benton Harbor, Michigan. His mother Maggie Donald died of tuberculosis when he was only four months old, and he never found out who his father was. He was thus brought up instead by his maternal grandmother, Arrana Donald, and he also has a half-brother named Lewis. Hudson went on to a brief period of service with the Marine Corps, and then afterwards he moved to Detroit, becoming the resident playwright of Concept East. He studied at Wayne State University and graduated from the Yale School of Drama. Among the feature films he has acted in are Ghostbusters, The Hand that Rocks the Cradle, and Miss Congeniality. He also made appearances in television shows such as Oz and Desperate Housewives.

Warden Leo Glynn is portrayed by Ernie Hudson in the HBO prison drama television series Oz. He started to work as a correctional facility officer back during the 1960s, and has an old-fashioned and highly conservative demeanor. Glynn has been described in the journal of Augustus Hill as running a regime that centers more on retribution rather than redemption. The warden’s ambition is to one day be promoted to the Commissioner of Prisons. He also plans to be the state’s first African-American governor eventually, even as he collaborates with current governor James Devlin.




(Photo courtesy of HBO)