Joe Morton | Rotten Tomatoes (2025)

American actor Joe Morton crafted an award-winning career that brought him acclaim on stage, television, and film. A native of Harlem in New York City, he began his professional acting career with a role in the Broadway production of "Hair." Shortly after, he landed his first roles on television with guest spots on "Mission: Impossible" (CBS, 1966-73) and "Bracken's World" (NBC, 1969-70). As his stage career continued, he added to his resume with a role on the daytime soap opera "Search for Tomorrow" (CBS, 1951-86), and appearances on "M*A*S*H" (CBS, 1972-83) and "What's Happening!!" (ABC, 1976-79). An earlier guest role on "Sanford and Son" (NBC, 1972-77), led to his being cast as one of the leads in the short-lived spinoff series "Grady" (NBC, 1975-76). He followed with a starring role in another short-lived TV effort, "Watch Your Mouth" (PBS, 1978). His big break in features came with the title role in John Sayles' "The Brother From Another Planet" (1984). The inner city sci-fi tale quickly gained a cult following, and gave Morton his calling card. He continued stringing together TV appearances, including a recurring role on "The Equalizer" (CBS, 1985-89), before another foray into sci-fi again raised his profile. Playing opposite Arnold Schwarzenegger, he appeared as Miles Dyson, the unwitting developer of the evil Skynet, in "Terminator 2: Judgment Day" (1991). Returning to television, he was part of the ensemble cast of the drama "Equal Justice" (ABC, 1990-91), had a recurring role on "A Different World" (NBC, 1987-93), was a series regular on Robert De Niro's anthology show "Tribeca" (Fox, 1993), and starred opposite James Earl Jones on "Under One Roof" (CBS, 1995). In films, he played the police captain in "Speed" (1994) and starred in "The Inkwell" (1994). Morton had the opportunity to show off his musical side when he joined Dan Aykroyd and John Goodman for "Blues Brothers 2000" (1998). He continued pursuing television, starring in the short-lived series "Mercy Point" (UPN, 1998-99) and "Prince Street" (NBC, 1997). After another string of guest appearances on shows like "JAG" (CBS, 1995-2005) and "Law & Order" (NBC, 1990-2010), he found sustained success as scientist Henry Deacon on "Eureka" (SyFy, 2006-2012). After contributing to a story arc on "The Good Wife" (CBS, 2009-16), Morton began an award-winning turn on Shonda Rhimes' political drama "Scandal" (ABC, 2012-18). Playing the duplicitous father of Kerry Washington's Olivia Pope, he earned the Emmy for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series in 2014. He also appeared as a series regular in the drama "Proof" (TNT, 2015). Morton later joined the DC superhero universe, playing the scientist father of Cyborg first in Zack Snyder's "Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice" (2016) and more extensively in "Justice League" (2017). Returning to television, he joined the cast of the spiritual drama "God Friended Me," playing the pastor father of Brandon Michael Hall's lead character.