Eriq La Salle


Erik Ki La Salle, professionally known as Eriq La Salle, is an American actor, director, writer and producer. La Salle is known for his performance as Dr. Peter Benton in the NBC medical drama ER which earned him three NAACP Image Awards and nominations for a Golden Globe Award and three Primetime Emmy Awards.

Early life

La Salle, one of four children, was born and raised in Hartford, Connecticut, by his mother, Ada Haynes. He is an alumnus of Weaver High School and the Artists Collective, Inc. in Hartford. He attended the Juilliard School's Drama Division for two years as a member of Group 13, then attended New York University's Tisch School of the Arts, where he earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from the Graduate Acting Program in 1984.

Career

At the time of his graduation from NYU, La Salle was cast in Joseph Papp's Shakespeare in the Park production of Henry V. Soon after, he found continuous acting work on Broadway, off-Broadway, and on several daytime TV dramas including One Life to Live, where he played the reporter Mike Rivers.
In 1988, La Salle co-starred as Darryl Jenks in the Eddie Murphy movie Coming to America.
In 1994, the medical drama ER premiered on NBC with La Salle starring as Dr. Peter Benton. He held the role until leaving during the eighth season. In the fourth season of the show, he attracted headlines for requesting the interracial relationship between his character and Alex Kingstons Dr. Elizabeth Corday be written out saying: "As an African-American man, it becomes a bit offensive if the negative things are all you're showing. Because in real life, we romance and get on each other's nerves and laugh and do all the things that any other race of people do. So if the only time you show a balanced relationship is in an interracial relationship, whether it's conscious or subconscious, it sends a message I'm not comfortable with.".
While being interviewed by Johnnie Cochran on Johnnie Cochran Tonight, La Salle commented, "We have to take care of the message that we're sending as African-Americans or any other group of minorities, that we have the exact same type of exchanges with our mates that we get to see our White counterparts have."
In subsequent episodes, Benton was shown to be compassionate to his former girlfriend, Jeanie and offering his surgical skills pro bono to a young girl left disfigured by a dog attack.
La Salle returned to ER for three episodes during its 15th and final season, including an uncredited appearance as himself in the opening of "Heal Thyself" to tell the audience of the death of the show's creator Michael Crichton. During season 15, he returned to direct an episode.
On January 31, 2003, he made a cameo appearance in Biker Boyz as Slick Will, a mechanic. He played a Jamaican gangster in the independent film Johnny Was opposite Vinnie Jones, Samantha Mumba, Lennox Lewis, and Roger Daltrey. La Salle lived in Belfast for four weeks while filming the movie, which he supported at the premiere of the film during the 2006 American Black Film Festival in Miami.
La Salle starred in the Hallmark Channel original movie, Relative Stranger, which premiered on March 14, 2009. Also in the movie were Cicely Tyson and La Salle's former ER castmates Michael Michele and Michael Beach.
In 2010, La Salle played the United Nations Secretary General in the series finale of 24, and guest-starred in an episode of Covert Affairs in August of the same year. In 2011, he played two recurring roles: first as a Caribbean community leader who rallied against the product Rasta Monsta in HBO's How to Make it in America, the second as the neuropsychiatrist E-Mo in CBS' A Gifted Man.
In 1996, La Salle began his directorial career with his debut in the HBO made-for-TV movie Rebound: The Legend of Earl "The Goat" Manigault, starring Don Cheadle, James Earl Jones and Forest Whitaker. Shortly after that, La Salle directed the pilot for Soul Food: The Series on Showtime.
In 2002, he produced the feature film The Salton Sea. That same year, he produced, directed and starred in the movie Crazy as Hell. In 2003 he wrote, directed and starred in "Memphis", an episode of The Twilight Zone. He directed the 2012 Hallmark Channel movie Playing Father, and multiple episodes of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, CSI: NY, Ringer, and NBC’s spinoff Law & Order: Organized Crime.
La Salle's first novel, Laws of Depravity, was published in 2012.
In 2015, La Salle returned to television with a role in Under the Domes third season, after directing one episode of the second season. He also directed an episode in the third season. He both acted in and directed episodes of CSI: Cyber. He performed in other series, such as The Night Shift and Madam Secretary.
In 2016, La Salle directed the episode "Wingman" in the Fox series Lucifer and the episode "Black and Blue" of TNT's Murder in the First. He co-starred as Will Munson in the 2017 superhero film Logan. La Salle also directed and produced multiple episodes of Chicago P.D. throughout its many seasons.

Filmography

Film

Acting roles
YearTitleRoleNotes
1985Rappin'Ice
1985Cut and RunFargas
1986Where Are the Children?Deputy Bernie Miles
1987Five CornersSamuel Kemp
1988Coming to AmericaDarryl Jenks
1990Jacob's LadderFrank
1994Color of NightAnderson
1994Drop SquadBruford Jamison Jr
1996Rebound: The Legend of Earl "The Goat" ManigaultDiego
2002One Hour PhotoDet. James Van Der Zee
2002Crazy as HellBarnett
2003Biker BoyzTariq 'Slick Will'Uncredited
2005The Seat FillerAlonso GrantUncredited
2005Inside OutDoctor Peoples
2005ConvictionPeter Seidman
2006Johnny WasJulius
2017LoganWill Munson

Television

Acting roles
YearTitleRoleNotes
1986Spenser: For HireJeffrey MillerEpisode "Angel of Desolation"
1986One Life to LiveMike Rivers1 episode
1986ABC Afterschool SpecialCharlieEpisode "Teen Father"
1987Another WorldCharles Thompson1 episode
1987MariahEpisode "Equations"
1987Vietnam War StoryK.C.Episode "The Mine"
1987Leg WorkGoro AsatoEpisode "Mystery Woman"
1988KnightwatchDerek D.Episode "Codes"
1989Gideon OliverEzraEpisode "By the Waters of Babylon"
1990B.L. StrykerMark Hastings JrEpisode "Winner Takes All"
1990A Different WorldProf. Paul MannEpisode "The Power of the Pen"
1991L.A. LawKenny WebsterEpisode "Speak, Lawyers, for Me"
1991ScreenplayEricEpisode "Murder in Oakland"
1992Quantum LeapBobby LeeEpisode "A Song for the Soul"
1992The Human FactorMichael Stoven5 episodes
1994Under SuspicionDet. LeBlancEpisode "Pilot"
1994–2002, 2009ERDr. Peter Benton171 episodes
1998Adventures from the Book of VirtuesKing MenelausEpisode "Determination"
1998The Larry Sanders ShowHimselfEpisode "Beverly's Secret"
2003The Twilight ZoneRay EllisonEpisode "Memphis"
2003The SystemAndrew Evans9 episodes
2006Without a TraceAaron GibbsEpisode "The Calm Before"
201024UN Secretary General2 episodes
2010Covert AffairsChristopher McAuleyEpisode "In the Light"
2011How to Make It in AmericaEverton Thompson3 episodes
2011–2012A Gifted ManEvan 'E-Mo' Morris5 episodes
2012BlackoutGeorge Lumas3 episodes
2013We Need HelpPolice Officer-
2014–2015Under the DomeHektor Martin5 episodes
2025On CallSergeant Lasman8 episodes