Academy-award nominated actor Terrence Howard was born on March 11, 1969 in Chicago, Illinois. Raised primarily in Cleveland, Ohio, Howard was constantly exposed to the stage from a young age: his grandmother was Minnie Gentry, a stage actress who had appeared in a number of Broadway productions, not to mention making appearances on The Cosby Show and All My Children. His mother and uncles, though not as successful as their mother, were similarly actors on the stage.

Both of his parents were multiracial in background, leading Howard to experience a great deal of racism during his childhood. More, Howard’s father Tyrone had become involved in a violent incident dubbed the Santa Line Slaying. Tyrone stabbed another man who had accused Tyrone of cutting in line at a Santa Claus department store lineup. The man assaulted Tyrone, prompting Tyrone to defend himself. The man died soon after. Tyrone served 11 months in jail on manslaughter charges.

Howard left his parents at 16 and went on welfare. By 18 he had moved to New York City. He’d originally wanted to become a science teacher, however his grades were insufficient for the job and he never completed his education. Instead he joined his brother in auditioning for The Cosby Show and received a small part. His part was cut from the episode, however, which led to a brief confrontation between Howard and Bill Cosby.

Howard starred in a number of small television roles in the next few years, though he did not truly break into Hollywood until he was chosen for the 1995 movie Mr. Holland’s Opus. The role allowed him to step up his television appearances. Of particular note was his role as Greg Sparks in the 1990’s television series Sparks. He also started appearing in music videos. He met and married Lori McCommas in this time, and they had three children (two girls and a boy) together). They would divorce, remarry and divorce again between 2003 and 2005. To this day Howard says that he still loves his former wife, and wants to get back together with her.

2005 saw an upsurge in Howard’s silver screen appearances. He received Oscar and Golden Globe nominations for his part in Hustle & Flow in 2005. From there he starred in a number of movies from 2007 to the present, including Pride, The Hunting Party, The Brave One, August Rush and Awake. His latest big screen release was Iron Man, in which he played an important secondary character in the form of Jim Rhodes.

In 2008 he made his debut on Broadway in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, playing the part of Brick. Currently Howard hosts Independent Lens, a PBS series centering on the creations of independent filmmakers.

Howard is also a burgeoning music star (as hinted in his appearances in music videos in the 90’s), and as of 2007 he was busy preparing his first album, which is set to be released in the summer of 2008. He describes the album as “urban country”, with elements of R&B and Spanish guitar mixed together.