Bio
Ruben Santiago-Hudson is an American actor and playwright best known for writing, producing and starring in the TV film adaptation of his stage play Lackawanna Blues (in 2005) and the feature film version in 2009.
He also co-starred as NYPD Captain Roy Montgomery in the television drama series Castle, from 2009-2016.
Tony and Obie winning actor, writer and director Ruben Santiago-Hudson made his debut as a screenwriter with Lackawanna Blues, for which he received the Humanitas Prize, a Christopher Award, National Board of Review Honors, an NAACP Award and Emmy, Golden Globe and a WGA nomination.
Lackawanna Blues was originally commissioned as a solo piece, but Santiago-Hudson penned the play to pay homage to the woman who raised him in a boarding house in upstate New York, and performed it portraying almost three dozen characters.
On film Santiago-Hudson starred opposite Halle Berry in Their Eyes Were Watching God; Denzel Washington and Russell Crow in American Gangster; Demi Moore and Kevin Costner in Mr. Brooks; Samuel L. Jackson in Shaft; Al Pacino in Devil's Advocate; and John Travolta in Domestic Disturbance.
On television he portrayed famed chemist Dr. Percy Julian in Forgotten Genius; starred opposite Gregory Hines in The Red Sneakers; in American Tragedy with Christopher Plummer; Solomon and Sheba with Jimmy Smits and Halle Berry—the first time a biblical movie starred actors of colour; and opposite Christopher Reeves in Rear Window.
Other TV credits include Law & Order, The West Wing, Canterbury's Law, Whoopi, NYPD Blue, Dear John and Michael Hayes.
Santiago-Hudson made his directorial debut with August Wilson's Gem of the Ocean at the McCarter Theater in Princeton. He went on to direct Gem at the American Conservatory Theater in San Francisco.
He also directed a tribute to August Wilson at The Kennedy Center in Washington DC. His New York directing credits include Wilson's Seven Guitars and Leslie Lee's The First Breeze of Summer for The Signature Theater Company, where Santiago-Hudson currently holds the position of Associate Artist.
In the Spring of 2009 he directed Naomi Wallace's Things of Dry Hours at New York Theater Workshop. He made his Broadway debut in Jelly's Last Jam, opposite Gregory Hines. His work in Seven Guitars won him a Tony Award. His regional theatre and off-Broadway credits spanning 30 years and innumerable roles.
Santiago-Hudson received a Master of Fine Arts from Wayne State University and an honorary Master's from A.C.T. in San Francisco, a Bachelor of Arts from SUNY Binghamton and an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters from Buffalo State College in 2006.
Other awards and honours include Outer Critics Circle, Dramalogue, Clarence Derwent, Glen G. Bartle Award from SUNY Binghamton, Distiguished Alumni Award from Wayne State University, two Audelco Awards, Black Filmmaker's Award, a N.A.M.I.C. Award and an HBO Comedy Arts Festival Theater Award.
Santiago-Hudson is the father of four children.