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Nelsan Ellis was an American actor and playwright. He achieved critical acclaim for his portrayal of Lafayette Reynolds in the HBO television series True Blood (2008–2014), for which he won a Satellite Award from the International Press Academy, among other accolades. He also starred as Shinwell Johnson in Elementary from 2016 to 2017, and played a variety of guest roles in other television series, including Veronica Mars and Without a Trace.
Birth Name
Nelson Ellis
Born
Wednesday, 30 November 1977
Died
Saturday, 08 July 2017
Actor Filmography
| Title | Character | Year |
|---|
| See It Loud: The History of Black Television | Self | 2023 |
| Roxanne Roxanne | Mr. Lester | 2018 |
| The 69th Primetime Emmy Awards | Self - In Memoriam | 2017 |
| True to the Game | Tyrik | 2017 |
| Little Boxes | Mack Burns / Mack | 2017 |
| The Stanford Prison Experiment | Jesse Fletcher | 2015 |
| Get on Up | Bobby Byrd | 2014 |
| Gods Behaving Badly | Dionysus | 2013 |
| Lee Daniels' The Butler | Martin Luther King Jr. | 2013 |
| The Reluctant Fundamentalist | Wainwright | 2013 |
Actor Filmography
| Title | Character | Year |
|---|
| See It Loud: The History of Black Television | Self | 2023 |
| Roxanne Roxanne | Mr. Lester | 2018 |
| The 69th Primetime Emmy Awards | Self - In Memoriam | 2017 |
| True to the Game | Tyrik | 2017 |
| Little Boxes | Mack Burns / Mack | 2017 |
| The Stanford Prison Experiment | Jesse Fletcher | 2015 |
| Get on Up | Bobby Byrd | 2014 |
| Gods Behaving Badly | Dionysus | 2013 |
| Lee Daniels' The Butler | Martin Luther King Jr. | 2013 |
| The Reluctant Fundamentalist | Wainwright | 2013 |
| Elementary | Shinwell Johnson | 2012 |
| The Help | Henry The Waiter | 2011 |
| Secretariat | Eddie Sweat | 2010 |
| True Blood: Webisodes | Lafayette Reynolds | 2010 |
| The Soloist | David Carter | 2009 |
| RuPaul's Drag Race | Self - Guest Judge | 2009 |
| The Express | Will Davis, Jr. | 2008 |
| True Blood | Lafayette Reynolds | 2008 |
| Young@Heart | 2008 | |
| Chelsea Lately | Himself - Guest | 2007 |
| CollegeHumor Originals | Self | 2006 |
| Made in Hollywood | Self | 2005 |
| The Inside | Carter Howard | 2005 |
| Warm Springs | Roy Collier | 2005 |
| Veronica Mars | Apollo Bukenya | 2004 |
| Without a Trace | Deng Nimieri | 2002 |
Director Filmography
| Title | Year |
|---|
| Page 36 | 2010 |
Producer Filmography
| Title | Year |
|---|
| Page 36 | 2010 |
