Joe Morton

Joseph Thomas Morton Jr. (born October 18, 1947) is an American stage, television, and film actor. He worked with film director John Sayles in The Brother from Another Planet (1984), City of Hope (1991) and Lone Star (1996). Other films he appeared in include Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991), Of Mice and Men (1992), Speed (1994), Apt Pupil (1998), What Lies Beneath (2000), Ali (2001), Paycheck (2003), Stealth (2005), and American Gangster (2007).

In 2014, Morton won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series for his role as Eli Pope, Olivia Pope's father, in Scandal, and is known for playing the role of Henry Deacon on the popular TV series Eureka.

Early life

Morton was born in Harlem, New York City, the son of Evelyn, a secretary, and Joseph Thomas Morton Sr., a U.S. Army intelligence officer. Because of his father's military service, he spent parts of his childhood in West Germany and Okinawa. When Morton was 10 years old, his father died.

Morton graduated from Andrew Jackson High School and studied drama at Hofstra University.

Career

Morton made his Broadway debut in Hair, appeared in Salvation, and was nominated for a Tony Award for Raisin. He has appeared in over 70 movies, including John Sayles' The Brother from Another Planet (as The Brother), Terminator 2: Judgment Day (as Dr. Miles Bennett Dyson) and Blues Brothers 2000 (as Cabel "Cab" Chamberlain, based upon the late Cab Calloway). He also played Police Sargent Mac, in speed. On daytime, Morton has had roles on Search for Tomorrow (Dr. James Foster, 1973–74), Another World (Dr. Abel Marsh and Leo Mars, 1983–84), and All My Children (Dr. Zeke McMillan, 2002). In 2002, he appeared on the London stage in the play Art.

Morton has made many notable TV guest appearances, including his appearances as Dr. Steven Hamilton in the first two seasons of Smallville. He starred in the Sanford and Son spin-off Grady (1975–76), M*A*S*H* (battalion aid surgeon Capt. Nick Saunders, 1976), Under One Roof (1995) and E-Ring (2005). He portrayed the jack-of-all-trades scientist Henry Deacon as a regular on Syfy Channel's Eureka (2006–12). Morton played the role of Eli Pope on the hit drama Scandal, a role for which he received the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series.

In 2016, Morton portrayed the activist and comedian Dick Gregory in the play Turn Me Loose at the Westside Theatre in Manhattan. Morton portrayed Dr. Silas Stone, father of Victor Stone/Cyborg, in a cameo role in the 2016 film Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, part of the DC Extended Universe. He reprised the character in the film Justice League (2017).

Since 2018, Morton has co-starred as Reverend Arthur Finer in the CBS series God Friended Me.

Awards and nominations