Henry Oswald Simmons, Jr. (born July 1, 1970) is an American actor.

Life and career

Simmons was born in Stamford, Connecticut

Stamford, Connecticut

Stamford is a city in Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States. According to the 2010 census, the population of the city is 122,643, making it the fourth largest city in the state and the eighth largest city in New England...

, the son of Aurelia, a school teacher, and Henry Simmons, Sr., an IRS agent. He is one of three children, including his twin sister, and another sister. Simmons earned a basketball scholarship at Franklin Pierce College

Franklin Pierce College

Franklin Pierce University is a small, private, regionally-accredited university in rural Rindge, New Hampshire, founded in 1962, combining a liberal arts foundation with coursework for professional preparation...

 in New Hampshire

New Hampshire

New Hampshire is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. The state was named after the southern English county of Hampshire. It is bordered by Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Atlantic Ocean to the east, and the Canadian...

, where he earned a business degree. While there, he experimented in theater. After graduating from college, he briefly worked at a Fortune 500

Fortune 500

The Fortune 500 is an annual list compiled and published by Fortune magazine that ranks the top 500 U.S. closely held and public corporations as ranked by their gross revenue after adjustments made by Fortune to exclude the impact of excise taxes companies collect. The list includes publicly and...

 company in Stamford. Unhappy with his job, Simmons began to study acting and after a few bit roles

Bit part

A bit part is a supporting acting role with at least one line of dialogue . In British television, bit parts are referred to as under sixes...

, he landed a recurring role on the soap opera, Another World

Another World (TV series)

Another World is an American television soap opera that ran on NBC from May 4, 1964 to June 25, 1999. It ran for a total of 35 years. It was created by Irna Phillips along with William J...

. Simmons is best known for playing Detective Baldwin Jones

Baldwin Jones

Baldwin Jones was a character on the long running police drama NYPD Blue. He was played by Henry Simmons.Joining in the middle of season 7 from the Bias Squad after the departure of James Martinez, Jones was paired up with one of the squad's longest- serving detectives, Greg Medavoy...

 on the ABC

American Broadcasting Company

The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...

 drama, NYPD Blue

NYPD Blue

NYPD Blue is an American television police drama set in New York City, exploring the internal and external struggles of the fictional 15th precinct of Manhattan...

. He also played Queen Latifah's boyfriend in the 2004 action/comedy film Taxi

Taxi (2004 film)

Taxi is a 2004 American remake of the 1998 Luc Besson-penned, Gérard Pirès-directed French film of the same name, starring Queen Latifah, Jimmy Fallon and Gisele Bündchen, and directed by Tim Story.-Plot:...

. He has recently appeared in episodes of the new CBS

CBS

CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...

 legal drama Shark

Shark (TV series)

Shark is an American legal drama created by Ian Biederman that originally aired on CBS from September 21, 2006 to May 20, 2008. The series stars James Woods.-Synopsis:...

starring James Woods

James Woods

James Howard Woods is an American film, stage and television actor. Woods is known for starring in critically acclaimed films such as Once Upon a Time in America, Salvador, Nixon, Ghosts of Mississippi, Casino, and in the television legal drama Shark. He has won three Emmy Awards, and has gained...

 and played a leading role in World's Greatest Dad

World's Greatest Dad

World's Greatest Dad is a 2009 American black comedy film written and directed by Bobcat Goldthwait. It stars Robin Williams, Daryl Sabara, and Alexie Gilmore. The film was released on July 24 on video on demand providers before its limited theatrical release on August 24, 2009...

 as Mike.

Simmons was engaged to local news anchor/television personality Lauren Sánchez

Lauren Sánchez

Lauren Sanchez is an award-winning American news anchor, entertainment reporter, and media personality. She was the weekend anchor and special correspondent on Extra. She is also a co-host on KTTV Fox-11's Good Day LA and the station's top-rated "Ten o'clock News." Sánchez is also a regular...

; they broke off the engagement in 2003. In May 2010 he married actress Sophina Brown.

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role
1994	Above the Rim Above the Rim Above the Rim is a 1994 drama directed by Jeff Pollack. The screenplay was written by Pollack and journalist-turned-screenwriter Barry Michael Cooper , from a story by Pollack and Benny Medina....	Starnes
1999	On the Q.T.	Peter
1999	Let It Snow	Mitch Jennings
2002		Walter Kane
2004	Taxi	Jesse
2005	Are We There Yet? Are We There Yet? Are We There Yet? is a 2005 American family comedy film which was produced by Revolution Studios and was distributed by Columbia Pictures, directed by Brian Levant...	Carl
2006	Something New Something New (film) Something New is a 2006 American romantic drama film directed by Sanaa Hamri. The screenplay by Kriss Turner focuses on interracial relationships and traditional African American family values and social customs.-Plot:...	Kyle
2006	Madea's Family Reunion Madea's Family Reunion Madea's Family Reunion is a 2006 comedy-drama film adaptation of the stage production of the same name written by Tyler Perry and sequel to Diary of a Mad Black Woman. It was written and directed by Perry, who also played several characters, including Mabel "Madea" Simmons...	Issac
2006		Marcus
2007	South of Pico South of Pico South of Pico is a 2007 character-driven drama film written and directed by Ernst Gossner set in Los Angeles.-Plot:Four strangers witness an unimaginable tragedy and are catapulted into the defining moment of their lives...	Dr. Walter Chambers
2009	World's Greatest Dad World's Greatest Dad World's Greatest Dad is a 2009 American black comedy film written and directed by Bobcat Goldthwait. It stars Robin Williams, Daryl Sabara, and Alexie Gilmore. The film was released on July 24 on video on demand providers before its limited theatrical release on August 24, 2009...	Mike Lane
2011	From the Rough From the Rough From the Rough is an upcoming sports drama film directed by Pierre Bagley. It is based on the true story of Catana Starks, a former swim coach, who became the first woman ever to coach a college men’s golf team. The film stars Taraji P. Henson, Tom Felton, Michael Clarke Duncan and LeToya Luckett.-...	Kendrick Paulsen Jr.

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1994	Saturday Night Live Saturday Night Live Saturday Night Live is a live American late-night television sketch comedy and variety show developed by Lorne Michaels and Dick Ebersol. The show premiered on NBC on October 11, 1975, under the original title of NBC's Saturday Night.The show's sketches often parody contemporary American culture...	Basketball Player
1994		Kevin Lewis	One episode
1994–95	New York Undercover New York Undercover New York Undercover is an American police drama that aired on the FOX television network from 1994 to 1998. The series starred Malik Yoba as Detective J.C. Williams and Michael DeLorenzo as Detective Eddie Torres, two undercover detectives in New York City's 4th Precinct who were assigned to...	Jackson	Two episodes
1999	Another World Another World (TV series) Another World is an American television soap opera that ran on NBC from May 4, 1964 to June 25, 1999. It ran for a total of 35 years. It was created by Irna Phillips along with William J...	Tyrone Montgomery	One episode
2000–05	NYPD Blue NYPD Blue NYPD Blue is an American television police drama set in New York City, exploring the internal and external struggles of the fictional 15th precinct of Manhattan...	Det. Baldwin Jones	106 episodes
2004	Spartacus Spartacus Spartacus was a famous leader of the slaves in the Third Servile War, a major slave uprising against the Roman Republic. Little is known about Spartacus beyond the events of the war, and surviving historical accounts are sometimes contradictory and may not always be reliable...	Draba	Television film
2005	Lackawanna Blues Lackawanna Blues Lackawanna Blues is an American play written by Ruben Santiago-Hudson in 2001. It was later adapted as a television movie that aired in 2005. The play dramatizes the character of the author's primary caregiver when he was growing up in Lackawanna, New York, during the 1950s and 1960s.-Play:The...	Jesse	Television film
2006	Pepper Dennis Pepper Dennis Pepper Dennis is a comedy-drama television series that aired on The WB from April to July 4, 2006. It was quickly announced on May 17, 2006 that Pepper Dennis would not be one of the WB shows transferred to The CW Television Network....	Curtis Wilson	Two episodes
2006–08	Shark Shark (TV series) Shark is an American legal drama created by Ian Biederman that originally aired on CBS from September 21, 2006 to May 20, 2008. The series stars James Woods.-Synopsis:...	Issac Wright	32 episodes
2009	The Cleaner The Cleaner (TV series) The Cleaner was an A&E television series starring Benjamin Bratt. It debuted on Tuesday, July 15, 2008 at 10:00 pm EST and the last episode aired on September 15, 2009, when the show was officially cancelled....	Bobby Carmichael	One episode
2009	Georgia O'Keeffe Georgia O'Keeffe Georgia Totto O'Keeffe was an American artist.Born near Sun Prairie, Wisconsin, O'Keeffe first came to the attention of the New York art community in 1916, several decades before women had gained access to art training in America’s colleges and universities, and before any of its women artists...	Jean Toomer	Television film
2009	CSI: Miami CSI: Miami CSI: Miami is an American police procedural television series, which premiered on September 23, 2002 on CBS. The series is a spin-off of CSI: Crime Scene Investigation....	Andrew Ballard	One episode
2009	Raising the Bar Raising the Bar (TV series) Raising the Bar is an American legal drama, which ran on TNT network from September 1, 2008 to December 24, 2009. The series revolves around a group of lawyer friends who find themselves on opposite sides of the criminal law.-Production:...		One episode
2011	Man Up Man Up (TV series) Man Up! is an American situation comedy series that debuted on ABC-TV as a Fall entry in the 2011–12 United States network television schedule...	Grant

External links