Terence Howard’s acting career goes back two decades, but it was only lately when he is recognized for his performances.
He was born on March 11, 1969 in Chicago, and he was raised in Cleveland. He aspired to be a science teacher, although at 18, he moved to New York to pursue an acting career. He didn’t finish his college studies at the Pratt Institute when he got a role on The Cosby Show.
He appeared in several films, such as 1992’s The Jacksons: An American Dream and 1995’s Dead Presidents. He also appeared in several music videos. His first major role, however, was in the 1995 film Mr. Holland’s Opus, as student Louis Russ, alongside Richard Dreyfuss. He appeared next in the late-‘90s television series Sparks, as Greg Sparks. In 2004, he appeared in the acclaimed film Crash, winning a Screen Actors Guild Award for Best Performance by a Cast. He also had a minor role in the award-winning film Ray.
In 2005, he received nominations from the Oscars and the Golden Globes, both for Best Actor, for the film Hustle & Flow. He was paid only $12,000 for his role as dissatisfied hustler DJay. In 2007, he appeared in the film Pride, playing the role of Jim Ellis, a schoolteacher who founded the first African-American swimming team in the 1970s. He also starred in the comic thriller The Hunting Party, opposite Richard Gere and Jesse Eisenberg; August Rush, alongside Robin Williams; and Awake, a thriller with Hayden Christiansen and Jessica Alba. In 2008, he played the role of Jim Rhodes in the superhero film Iron Man.
He has also acted on stage, debuting in 2008 as Brick in an all-African-American production of Cat on a Hot Tin Roof. He also currently hosts the PBS documentary program, Independent Lens.