Earnest Lee Hudson (born December 17, 1945) is an American actor. He is known for his role as Winston Zeddemore in the Ghostbusters franchise. Hudson has also acted in the films Leviathan (1989), The Hand That Rocks the Cradle (1992), The Crow (1994), Airheads (1994), The Basketball Diaries (1995), Congo (1995), Miss Congeniality (2000), and The Ron Clark Story (2006).
On television, his most prominent role was Warden Leo Glynn on HBO's Oz (1997–2003). Hudson has also appeared in the television shows St. Elsewhere (1984), The Last Precinct (1986), 10-8: Officers on Duty (2003–2004), Desperate Housewives (2006–2007), The Secret Life of the American Teenager (2008–2013), Law & Order (2009–2010), the voice of Agent Bill Fowler in Transformers: Prime (2010–2013), Franklin & Bash (2012–2014), Grace and Frankie (2015–2020), and L.A.'s Finest (2019–2020). From 2022 to 2024, Hudson appeared as Herbert "Magic" Williams on the NBC drama Quantum Leap.
Early life Hudson was born on December 17, 1945, in Benton Harbor, Michigan. He never knew his father. His mother, Maggie Donald,Ernie Hudson Biography, FilmReference.com. died of tuberculosis when he was two months old. He was subsequently raised by his maternal grandmother, Arrana Donald.
Hudson joined the U.S. Marine Corps immediately after high school but was discharged after only three months on medical grounds due to asthma.Ernie Hudson Biography TV Guide. Retrieved November 2, 2023. Having moved to Detroit, he became the resident playwright at Concept East, the oldest black theater company in the United States. Hudson enrolled at Wayne State University to develop his writing and acting skills further, graduating in 1973. He established the Actors' Ensemble Theatre where he and other talented young black writers directed and appeared in their own works. Hudson began a doctoral program at the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities before leaving to appear in a stage production of The Great White Hope. Later, he studied toward a Master of Fine Arts in acting at Yale School of Drama but left after a year to appear in Leadbelly.
In an interview with Belief.net, Hudson stated that he is a practicing Christian but does not believe that "one church is the right one".
Career
One of Hudson's early film roles is in Penitentiary II (1982) starring Leon Isaac Kennedy. He had various guest roles on television series such as The Dukes of Hazzard and The A-Team. He was on the television series Fantasy Island in a first-season episode as a voodoo man named Jamu. Hudson gained fame playing Winston Zeddemore in the 1984 feature film Ghostbusters and its 1989 sequel, Ghostbusters II. He auditioned to reprise the role for the animated series, The Real Ghostbusters, but it was given to Arsenio Hall. He had a major supporting role as the developmentally disabled handyman Solomon in The Hand that Rocks the Cradle (1992).
Hudson was cast as Warden Leo Glynn on HBO's series Oz, and his son Ernie Hudson Jr. co-starred with him as Muslim inmate Hamid Khan. Hudson also appears as the character Munro in Congo (1995) and as Police Sergeant Albrecht in The Crow (1994). He switched gears when he played a preacher opening the eyes of a small town's prejudice in the 1950s in A Stranger in the Kingdom. He played Harry McDonald, the FBI superior of Sandra Bullock's character in the feature film Miss Congeniality (2000). He is in the Stargate SG-1 episode "Ethon" as Pernaux. He appeared as Reggie in the 1995 film The Basketball Diaries. In 2006, he appeared in the television film The Ron Clark Story as Principal Turner. In 2008, he began a recurring role as Dr. Fields on The Secret Life of the American Teenager. He had a recurring role on the final season of Law & Order as Lt. Anita Van Buren's boyfriend and then fiancé.
In 2011, he played Stuart Owens in Torchwood: Miracle Day.
Beginning in 2015, Hudson was cast in a recurring role as Jacob, an organic farmer who is the romantic interest for Frankie Bergstein (Lily Tomlin) in the series Grace and Frankie.
Hudson appeared in the 2016 Ghostbusters reboot, playing Bill Jenkins, the uncle of Leslie Jones's lead character Pattie Tolan.
In 2019, Hudson began starring in L.A.'s Finest, playing the estranged father of Gabrielle Union's character. Hudson called it "a very different show", citing the duality of having to protect people as a member of law enforcement while having unresolved relationships that need to be reconciled. Spectrum canceled the series after two seasons the following year.
In August 2019, he confirmed his involvement in Ghostbusters: Afterlife directed by Jason Reitman, joining original cast members Sigourney Weaver, Dan Aykroyd, Bill Murray and Annie Potts. Hudson described himself as being welled by emotions after he put on his jumpsuit and proton pack, as he had previously "accepted that [a film] was never going to happen".
Hudson appeared in the 2022 drama film Prisoner's Daughter, alongside Kate Beckinsale and Brian Cox.
On March 8, 2022, Hudson was announced as the co-lead in NBC's Quantum Leap reboot.
In January 2023, Hudson guest voiced a character, Grini Millegi, a Dowutin gangster who was an associate of Cid and oversees Riot Racing on the planet Safa Toma, on Star Wars: The Bad Batch.
Personal life Hudson married his first wife, Jeannie Moore, in 1963, when she was sixteen and he was eighteen. They had two sons, Ernie Hudson Jr. and Rahaman Hudson. When Hudson and Jeannie divorced in 1976, their sons moved to live with Hudson in California. In 1985, Hudson married former flight attendant Linda Kingsberg, and they had two sons, Andrew and Ross.
On June 8, 2024 (40 years after the original Ghostbusters was released), a portion of South Fair Avenue (M-139) near Hudson's childhood home in Benton Harbor was given the honorary name "Ernie Hudson Way".
Filmography Film Year Title Role Notes Reference(s) 1976 Leadbelly Archie The Human Tornado Bo 1977 Mad Bull Bart "Black Bart" Television film 1978 Last of the Good Guys El Coliph 1979 The Main Event Killer 1980 Joni Earl The $5.20 an Hour Dream Homer Burden Television film White Mama Counsellor The Octagon Quinine The Jazz Singer Heckler 1981 A Matter of Life and Death Mr. Harrison Television film Underground Aces African General Crazy Times Harold "Jazzman" Malloy Television film 1982 Penitentiary II "Half Dead" 1983 Spacehunter: Adventures in the Forbidden Zone Washington Going Berserk Muhammed Jerome Willy Women of San Quentin Charles Wilson Television film Two of a Kind Detective Skaggs 1984 Ghostbusters Winston Zeddemore National Lampoon's Joy of Sex Mr. Porter 1985 California Girls Ernie Television film Love on the Run Lamar 1987 Weeds Bagdad 1988 The Dirty Dozen: The Fatal Mission Joseph Hamilton Television film The Wrong Guys Dawson 1989 Leviathan Justin Jones Collision Course 'Shortcut' Trapper County War Jefferson Carter Ghostbusters II Winston Zeddemore 1992 The Hand That Rocks the Cradle Solomon 1993 Angel Street Thurman Nickens Television film The Pitch Vet Short 1994 Sugar Hill Lolly Jonas The Crow Sergeant Daryl Albrecht No Escape Hawkins The Cowboy Way Officer Sam "Mad Dog" Shaw Airheads Sergeant O'Malley Speechless Dan Ventura 1995 The Basketball Diaries Reggie Congo Captain Monroe Kelly 1996 The Substitute Principal Claude Rolle Tornado! Dr. Joe Branson Television film For Which He Stands DEA Agent Baxter Just Your Luck Willie Video The Cherokee Kid Nat Love/Deadwood Dick Television film 1997 Operation Delta Force Tipton Levitation "Downbeat" Clover Gaten Hill Television film Fakin' da Funk Joe Lee Mr. Magoo CIA Agent Gus Anders A Stranger in the Kingdom Reverend Walter Andrews 1998 Butter Curtis "8 Ball" Harris Best of the Best 4: Without Warning Detective Gresko Video Hijack Senator Douglas Wilson October 22 Arthur 1999 Michael Jordan: An American Hero James R. Jordan Sr. Television film Shark Attack Lawrence Rhodes Interceptor Force Major McKenzie Stealth Fighter President Westwood Paper Bullets Detective Ron Mills Miracle on the 17th Green Earl Fielder Television film Lillie Larry Miller 2000 Nowhere to Land Danny Gorlin Television film Everything's Jake Jake Red Letters Detective Glen Teal The Watcher FBI Special Agent Mike Ibby Miss Congeniality FBI Assistant Director Harry McDonald 2001 Walking Shadow "Hawk" Television film A Town Without Christmas Ted 2003 Anne B. Real Principal Davis 2004 Clifford's Really Big Movie P.T. Voice 2005 Marilyn Hotchkiss' Ballroom Dancing and Charm School Blake Rische Lackawanna Blues Dick Barrymore Television film Miss Congeniality 2: Armed and Fabulous FBI Assistant Director Harry McDonald Bathsheba Nathan Short Fighting the Odds: The Marilyn Gambrell Story Perry Beasley Television film Halfway Decent Tom 2006 The Ron Clark Story Principal Turner Television film Hood of Horror Roscoe 2007 Certifiably Jonathan Museum Guard Nobel Son Sergeant Bill Canega All Hat Jackson Jones Final Approach Agent Lorenzo Dawson Television film 2008 Pie'n Burger Cedric Short Lonely Street Captain Morgan 2009 Balancing the Books Detective Carter Dragonball Evolution Sifu Norris Pastor Brown Deacon Harold Todd 2010 Smokin' Aces 2: Assassins' Ball FBI Special Agent Anthony Vejar Video Machete Joe Sheriff Taylor Stasis Stranger Short Game of Death Catholic Priest 2011 Beverly Hills Chihuahua 2 Pedro Video; voice Sugarwheels Prof. Zaccharine Ragus PhD Short Deep Blue Breath Lord Vater Short; voice 2012 Mickey Matson and the Copperhead Conspiracy Ivan Stumpwater Dinner Date Man Short Beverly Hills Chihuahua 3: Viva La Fiesta! Pedro Video; voice Deer Crossing Captain Bailey Dark Canyon Cyrus Parker Turning Point Joe Johnson 2013 Battledogs Max Stevens Television film Call Me Crazy: A Five Film Percy Doonby Leroy Dear Secret Santa Pastor Avery Television film Reckless Frank Wolfe Adonis Chick Magnet CEO Short 2014 Touched Dr. Beck Television film The Grim Sleeper Detective Claymar You're Not You John Merry Ex-Mas Pastor Ed The Last Song Guest Short 2015 To Hell and Back Joe Television film Gallows Road Bob Collins Delores & Jermaine Rick Television film; voice 2016 The Man in the Silo Marcus Wells Batman: Bad Blood Lucius Fox Video; voice God's Not Dead 2 Judge Stennis Ghostbusters Uncle Bill Jenkins Spaceman Joe Infinity Train Atticus Short; voice Heaven Sent Donatello Television film 2017 High & Outside: A Baseball Noir Sanzone 2018 Nappily Ever After Richard Jones 2020 I Love You... Forever George Henry Short 2021 Redemption Day Ed Paxton Ghostbusters: Afterlife Winston Zeddemore Beebo Saves Christmas Santa Claus Voice 2022 Prisoner's Daughter Hank 2023 Champions Coach Phil Peretti The Retirement Plan Joseph 2024 Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire Winston Zeddemore 2026 Toy Story 5 Combat Carl Replacing the late Carl Weathers Oswald the Lucky Rabbit
Television