Get a closer look at some of Hollywood's perfect pairs.

Hollywood Power Couples

Get a closer look at some of Hollywood&#39;s perfect pairs.

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As a child growing up in Benton Harbor, Michigan, Ernie Hudson wrote short stories, poems and songs, always thinking that his words might one day come to life on stage. After a short stint in the Marine Corps, he moved to Detroit where he became the resident playwright at Concept East, the oldest Black theatre in the country. In addition, he enrolled at Wayne State University to further develop his writing and acting skills and found time to establish the Actors' Ensemble Theatre, where he and other talented young black writers directed and appeared in their own works. After graduating with a B.A. from Wayne State, he was rewarded a full scholarship to the M.F.A. program at the prestigious Yale School of Drama. While performing with the school's repertory company, he was asked to appear in the Los Angeles production of Lonne Elder III's musical "Daddy Goodness," which led to his meeting Gordon Parks, who gave Hudson the costarring role in his first feature film, Leadbelly (1976). Unfortunately, all that followed "Leadbelly" was a year of "bit parts and some harsh lessons about Hollywood," which led Hudson to enroll in another academic doctorate program at the University of Minnesota. He did not complete the program. Through his experience, he learned another vital lesson: "There are those who spend their lives studying it and those who spend their lives doing it." Hudson definitely wanted to be in the second group. Keeping in mind this self-revelation, Hudson accepted the starring role of Jack Jefferson in the Minneapolis Theatre In The Round's production of "The Great White Hope," a role that he put "everything he had into," including shaving his head. A series of starring and guest roles followed on such television shows as Fantasy Island (1977), The Incredible Hulk (1977), Little House on the Prairie (1974), Diff'rent Strokes (1978), Taxi (1978), One Day at a Time (1975), Gimme a Break! (1981), The A-Team (1983) and Webster (1983), as well as costarring roles in the TV movies White Mama (1980) with Bette Davis, Roots: The Next Generations (1979), Women of San Quentin (1983), California Girls (1985), Mad Bull (1977) and Love on the Run (1985). Other feature film credits include The Jazz Singer (1980), The Main Event (1979), Spacehunter: Adventures in the Forbidden Zone (1983), Penitentiary II (1982), Going Berserk (1983), Joy of Sex (1984) and, of course, the mega-hit Ghostbusters (1984).

(1984) Stage: Appeared in &quot;The Cage&quot;

Stage: Appeared in &quot;The Great White Hope&quot;

Stage: Appeared in &quot;Daddy Goodness&quot;

(1984) Music video: Appeared in the <a class="ipc-md-link ipc-md-link--entity" href="/name/nm0662018/?ref_=nmwrk">Ray Parker Jr.</a> video &quot;Ghost Busters&quot;

(March 19, 2009 - June 14, 2009) &quot;Joe Turner&#39;s Come and Gone,&quot; dramatic revival; written by <a class="ipc-md-link ipc-md-link--entity" href="/name/nm0933025/?ref_=nmwrk">August Wilson</a>; directed by <a class="ipc-md-link ipc-md-link--entity" href="/name/nm2324389/?ref_=nmwrk">Bartlett Sher</a>; with <a class="ipc-md-link ipc-md-link--entity" href="/name/nm0001368/?ref_=nmwrk">Ernie Hudson</a> (portraying Seth Holly); on Broadway at the Belasco Theatre, Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA (100 total performances, including 31 previews beginning March 19, 2009).

(May 2015 - June 2015) Public Service Announcement (PSA) TV commercial, &quot;What is Love,&quot; with <a class="ipc-md-link ipc-md-link--entity" href="/name/nm0004984/?ref_=nmwrk">Deidre Hall</a>, <a class="ipc-md-link ipc-md-link--entity" href="/name/nm0683986/?ref_=nmwrk">Robert Pine</a>, <a class="ipc-md-link ipc-md-link--entity" href="/name/nm0004958/?ref_=nmwrk">Marla Gibbs</a>, <a class="ipc-md-link ipc-md-link--entity" href="/name/nm0000392/?ref_=nmwrk">Morgan Fairchild</a>, <a class="ipc-md-link ipc-md-link--entity" href="/name/nm0001283/?ref_=nmwrk">Louis Gossett Jr.</a>, and <a class="ipc-md-link ipc-md-link--entity" href="/name/nm0001368/?ref_=nmwrk">Ernie Hudson</a>, for Shriner&#39;s Hospitals for Children and LoveShriners.org.

(2018) TV commercial for CarShield extended vehicle service protection; also appeared on company&#39;s website during campaign.

(2020) TV commercial, &quot;Beyond Healthcare. A Better You.,&quot; for WellCare Medicare Advantage health plan (voiceover).

Other works

Ernie Hudson

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