Steve Harris (actor)


Steve Harris is an American actor. He has played Eugene Young on the legal drama The Practice, Detective Isaiah "Bird" Freeman on the NBC drama Awake, and Charles McCarter in Tyler Perry’s Diary of a Mad Black Woman.
For The Practice, Harris was twice nominated for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series.

Early life

Harris was born in Chicago, Illinois, the son of John Henry Harris, a bus driver and Mattie Harris, a housewife. He is the older brother of actor Wood Harris. He attended St. Joseph High School in Westchester, Illinois, a private school with a reputation for developing star athletes, which also is the focus of the 1994 documentrary, Hoop Dreams. Harris was a running back and later played linebacker for Northern Illinois University, where he studied drama. His athletic career was cut short due to a torn ligament in his ankle. After graduating from Northern Illinois University in 1989, Harris obtained a master's degree in acting at the University of Delaware.

Career

Harris appeared on Law & Order and earlier had a role in Homicide: Life on the Street's pilot. In 2006, he appeared in the now-cancelled TV series Heist. He also appeared in an episode of Grey's Anatomy and in several episodes of New York Undercover. He has appeared in a number of films including; Quarantine, Tyler Perry's Diary of a Mad Black Woman, Bringing Down the House, The Rock, The Mod Squad, Takers, and Minority Report.
From 1997 to 2004, Harris starred as Eugene Young in David E. Kelley's legal drama The Practice. He was nominated for two Emmys and starred in all eight seasons. He has also occasionally done voice acting for animation, notably as Ethan Bennett/Clayface in The Batman.
Harris starred in actress Regina King's directorial debut Let The Church Say Amen which was adapted from ReShonda Tate Billingsley's 2005 best selling novel. The film premiered on Black Entertainment Television in 2013. He appeared as Nelson Gates, the boss of troubled FBI agent Martin Odum, in the TV show Legends, which aired on TNT from August 13, 2014 to December 28, 2015.