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Who is Harold Perrineau?
American actor Harold Perrineau Jr. was born in Brooklyn, New York City USA on 7 August 1963, making Leo his zodiac sign. He has over 100 acting credits but is perhaps still known best for portraying Mercutio in the 1996 romantic movie “Romeo + Juliet”, which starred Claire Danes and Leonardo DiCaprio, was directed by Baz Luhrmann and written by William Shakespeare. It’s a modern-day film version of the play, and the movie won 15 of its 44 award nominations, including an Oscar nomination for Best Art Direction – Set Decoration.
Harold is still today highly active in the movie industry, and is currently shooting for the upcoming movies “The Dancing Bull” and “When We Were Pirates”.
Education and early life
Harold was raised in New York City alongside his four brothers, by their father Harold Williams Sr. and mother Sylvia Perrineau; his parents changed his last name to ‘Williams’ when he was four, but he changed it back to ‘Perrineau’ after learning that the Screen Actors Guild already had a member named Harold Williams.
He studied at a local high school and became interested in acting during his years there; Harold appeared in a number of school plays and also loved to read books and plays, especially Shakespeare’s. He matriculated in 1981 and then enrolled at Shenandoah University, from which he graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in 1985.
Roles in TV series
Harold’s debut TV series role was playing Fame Dancer in 18 episodes (1986) of the popular musical “Fame”, which starred Carlo Imperato and Gene Anthony Ray, and was created by Christopher Gore. It follows the lives of several students attending the New York City High School of the Performing Arts, the series aired from 1982 through 1987 and won 16 of its 52 award nominations. The remainder of the ‘80s saw Harold appear in an episode of the romantic family comedy “The Cosby Show” and the adventure comedy “CBS Schoolbreak Special”.
He had only a couple of TV series roles in the ‘90s; what marked the decade for him was perhaps playing August Hill in all 55 episodes of the crime thriller “Oz”, which starred J. K. Simmons and Ernie Hudson, and was created by Tom Fontana. It follows the daily activities at an unusual prison facility, the series aired from 1997 through 2003, and won 16 of its 70 award nominations.
Harold played and voiced characters in an episode of a couple of series in the 2000s, such as the fantasy comedy “Dead Like Me”, the animated action adventure “Spider-Man” (voice role) and the crime mystery “CSI: Crime Scene Investigation”. The highlight of the decade for him was portraying Michael Dawson in 64 episodes of the hit adventure fantasy “Lost”, which starred Josh Holloway and Jorge Garcia, and was created by Jeffrey Lieber and J. J. Abrams. It follows the survivors of a plane crash who’ve found themselves fighting a supernatural force on a deserted tropical island; the series aired from 2004 through 2010, and won 113 of its 510 award nominations.
Ok not a selfie but photo w/ The lovely and talented Harold Perrineau! Another grt day of filming FULL CIRCLE MIAMI! pic.twitter.com/m5PXRUetGM
— Kim Raver (@KimRaver) January 19, 2016
In 2011, Harold voiced the lead character Blade in all 12 episodes of the English version of the animated action horror mini-series “Blade”, and some of his following roles were in the animated action adventure “Phineas and Ferb” (voice role), the short comedy “Georgia”, and the crime thriller “Sons of Anarchy”. In 2016, he played Damon Houserman in 10 episodes of the drama “Full Circle”, which starred Aaron Haedt and Christopher Gorham, and follows several adults whose lives have intertwined.
Some of Harold’s most recent roles have been in 40 episodes of the crime comedy “Claws” from 2017 through 2022, all eight episodes of the 2022 comedy “The Best Man: The Final Chapters” and all 20 episodes of the horror mystery “From” since 2022 (lead role).
Roles in movies
Harold’s debut film role was playing Tommie in the 1988 crime action “Shakedown”, and some of his following roles were in the 1990 crime thriller “King of New York”, and in 1995 the comedy “Smoke” and the romantic drama “Flirt”.
In 1997, Harold played Stephen in the hit action adventure “The Edge”, which starred Alec Baldwin and Anthony Hopkins, and was directed by Lee Tamahori. It follows an intelligent billionaire who’s become stranded in the Alaskan wilderness with two other men, and the film was nominated for three awards. The remainder of the decade saw Harold appear in the musical mystery “Lulu on the Bridge” and the drama “The Tempest” both in 1998, and the 1999 drama “A Day in Black and White”.
In 2003, Harold played Link in the evergreen science fiction action “The Matrix Reloaded”, which starred Laurence Fishburne and Keanu Reeves, and was written and directed by Lilly and Lana Wachowski. It follows Morpheus, Trinity and Neo as they’re fighting the Machine Army, and the movie won eight of its 42 award nominations. The remainder of the 2000s saw Harold appear in a couple of hit movies, such as the 2003 action science fiction “The Matrix Revolutions”, the 2007 action adventure horror “28 Weeks Later”, and the 2010 crime mystery thriller “The Killing Jar”.
He portrayed Jackson in the popular 2014 crime action “Sabotage”, which starred Sam Worthington and Arnold Schwarzenegger, and was written and directed by David Ayer. It follows a DEA task force which has robbed a cartel safe house, while they’re now being killed one by one; the movie won two of its seven award nominations.
Some of Harold’s most recent film roles have been in the 2018 comedy “Dumplin’”, the 2022 romantic science fiction “Without Ward”, and the 2023 animated drama “Unicorn Boy” (voice role).
Other credits
Harold sang the song “Happy Together” in the 1997 episode “Visits, Conjugal and Otherwise” of the crime thriller “Oz”.
He received special thanks for the 2008 romantic movie “Lovely, Still”.
Harold produced the 2010 drama movie “Case 219”, the 2013 documentary film “Finding Hillywood”, and the 2018 short movie “A Meditation”.
Some of his recent talk-show appearances have been in “Hollywood First Look”, “IMDb on the Scene – Interviews” and “The Man Cave Chronicles Podcast”.
Awards and nominations
Harold’s won six of his 16 award nominations; some of these wins include a 2006 Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series, for “Lost”, a 2008 Gold Derby Award for Ensemble of the Year, also for “Lost”, and a 2013 World Music and Independent Film Festival Award for Best Supporting Actor in a Short Film for “The Championship Rounds”.
Love life and relationships
Harold rarely speaks about his love life in public, which is why not many details about it are known.
He and former American actress, producer and model Brittany Perrineau exchanged vows in a private ceremony on 27 August 2002, after having been together for nearly 10 years; she played Mary Jo in three episodes of the series “Lost” and retired from acting in 2008, after appearing in the popular crime thriller movie “Felon”.
Brittany gave birth to their first daughter Aurora Perrineau on 23 September 1994; Aurora’s today a popular actress with 22 credits to her name, and is perhaps known best for playing Shana in the 2015 family adventure film “Jem and the Holograms”. Brittany gave birth to their second daughter Wynter Perrineau on 7 May 2008, and third daughter Holiday Grace on 21 March 2013.
There are no other women whom Harold’s dated, that we know about; he’s married to Brittany Perrineau as of June 2023, and they have three daughters together.
Interesting facts and hobbies
One of Harold’s best friends is American actress and producer Rita Moreno, who was also once his acting mentor; Rita won a 1962 Oscar for Best Actress in a Supporting Role, for her performance in the critically acclaimed 1961 crime musical movie “West Side Story”.
Harold honed his acting skills at the Shenandoah Conservatory.
His brothers’ names are Mali K, Lance, Bryan and Anthony.
More than 110,000 people are following Harold on Instagram today, and he’s posted nearly 600 pictures and videos, most of which feature him during his everyday life.
Harold enjoys playing golf and tennis with his friends in his spare time.
Will Smith is one of his favorite actors, and some of his favorite movies include “King Richard”, “Bad Boys” and “Hitch”.
Height, eyes and wealth
Harold’s age is 59. He has brown eyes and black hair, is 5ft 10ins (1.79m) tall and weighs around 170lbs (77kgs).
Harold’s net worth’s been estimated at over $8 million, as of June 2023.
