Dennis Haysbert

Born: June 1954
Where: San Mateo, California, USA

Haysbert's big break came when he was chosen to star opposite Michelle Pfeiffer in the civil rights road picture-cum-romance Love Field.

However, he only got the part after Denzel Washington dropped out and Eriq La Salle was hired and fired.

His early acting days were a string of episodic roles beginning with an appearance on Lou Grant and he featured in regular or recurring roles in Buck Rogers in the 25th Century among them.

His feature was Major League in which he portrayed the voodoo-practicing Cuban ballplayer Pedro Cerrano, a role he reprised in the sequels Major League II and Major League: Back to the Minors.

Reteaming with Major League co-star Charlie Sheen, Haysbert was one of the Navy SEALs while in Mr Baseball he was a teammate of Tom Selleck's who leaves Japan to return to the USA.

Love Field offered him the opportunity to demonstrate his range, playing a single father evading police who stumbles upon a well-meaning Southern white woman (Pfeiffer) on a bus.

In 1995, Haysbert had supporting roles in two high-profile features: Michael Mann's Heat, in which he was an ex-con trying to go straight, and Forest Whitaker's Waiting to Exhale, as Whitney Houston's boyfriend.

Roles in 1997's Absolute Power and the 1999 releases The Thirteenth Floor, The Minus Man and Random Hearts raised his profile and solidified his image as a dependable actor with a quietly commanding screen presence.

He continued to impress on the big screen with two memorable turns in 2000 independent releases: Love & Basketball and What's Cooking?.

His next TV venture in 2001 saw him playing the Presidential candidate David Palmer in the high-concept series 24.

His Sidney Poitier-esque performance as the kind and gentle black gardener who embarks on a frowned-upon interracial romance with neglected wife Julianne Moore was roundly praised in Far From Heaven.