Terrence Howard

Terrence Dashon Howard (born March 11, 1969) is an American actor performing on film and television. He has received a Screen Actors Guild Award as well as nominations for an Academy Award, a Golden Globe Award, and two Independent Spirit Awards.

Howard made his film debut in a minor role in the buddy comedy Who's the Man? (1993). In 1995 he had a minor role in Mr. Holland's Opus. He later was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor for his role as a pimp and drug dealer in Hustle & Flow (2005). He played James "Rhodey" Rhodes in the first Marvel Cinematic Universe film Iron Man (2008).

He played Quentin Spivey in the films The Best Man (1999) and The Best Man Holiday (2013) and the miniseries The Best Man: The Final Chapters (2022). On television, he portrayed Jackie Jackson in The Jacksons: An American Dream (1992), Al Cowlings in The O. J. Simpson Story (1995), Cassius Clay in King of the World (2000), and Ralph Abernathy in Boycott (2001). He won an NAACP Image Award for his role in Lackawanna Blues (2005). He starred as the lead character Lucious Lyon in the Fox musical drama series Empire from 2015 to 2020.

Howard made his Broadway debut playing Brick in the revival of the Tennessee Williams play Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (2008). His debut album, Shine Through It, was released in September 2008. In December 2022, Howard announced that he planned to retire from acting, but has since appeared in several films and television shows.

Howard was born in Chicago, on March 11, 1969, to Tyrone and Anita (née Williams) Howard, who were both of African and English ancestry. His great-grandmother was actress Minnie Gentry. Howard was raised in Cleveland, Ohio, where he had a rocky childhood. He has claimed that he endured beatings from his physically abusive father, and that he saw his father stabbing another man in the Santa Line Slaying when Terrence was two years old. His father was convicted of manslaughter and served 11 months in jail. Howard's parents divorced upon his father's release. He was raised by his great-grandmother, who died at the age of 77 in 1993.

Howard made his big film break in 1995's Mr. Holland's Opus and Dead Presidents. He continued being cast in television and movie roles, and co-starred as Greg Sparks in the late-1990s short-lived television series Sparks with James L. Avery Sr. and Miguel A. Nunez Jr. Howard also appeared in The Best Man (1999), in Ashanti's music video for her 2002 single "Foolish", and in Mary J. Blige's video for "Be Without You". Howard also made an appearance on the TV series Family Matters and Moesha.

Howard has said that he looks for characters that "teach him about himself" when choosing his film roles. For the 2005 film Hustle & Flow, Howard portrayed a pimp and aspiring rapper. He performed all the character's tracks, including "It's Hard out Here for a Pimp", which won the Academy Award for Best Original Song at the 78th Academy Awards. Howard has also worked as a film producer, as when he was credited for the 2007 film Pride. In 2008, Howard hosted the PBS series Independent Lens.

Howard was contracted to play Colonel James Rhodes in the 2008 film Iron Man. Howard was signed on before any of the other major actors and was the highest paid actor in the film. He was replaced by actor Don Cheadle in the film's sequels. Entertainment Weekly reported that Howard was offered a 50 to 80 percent pay cut for Iron Man 2, though it said that it was unclear whether Howard turned down the role or whether Marvel withdrew their offer.

Howard released his debut adult alternative album, Shine Through It, in 2008 on Columbia/SME Records. He described the album as urban country, and either wrote or co-wrote all the songs on it.

In 2008, he made his Broadway debut, playing Brick in an all-African-American production of Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, directed by Debbie Allen. During rehearsals, he allegedly attacked and seriously injured musical composer Tex Allen (brother of the director). Allen said he suffered multiple injuries and in October 2008, Allen filed a $5 million lawsuit against Howard. In 2010, Howard joined the cast of Law & Order: Los Angeles, playing Deputy District Attorney Joe Dekker. He alternated shows with Alfred Molina, who portrayed Deputy District Attorney Ricardo Morales. The series was cancelled after one season. In 2011, Howard played Nelson Mandela in the film Winnie Mandela.

As of 2007, Howard lives outside Philadelphia in Lafayette Hill, Pennsylvania. He has been married four times to three women, and has five children.

Howard married his first wife, Lori McCommas, in 1993. They had three children together, two daughters and a son. Howard has two grandchildren, a granddaughter and a grandson. Howard and McCommas' divorce was filed in 2000 and finalized in 2001, but they remarried in 2005. They subsequently filed for divorce a year later and finalized for a second time in 2007.

Howard has stated that he "went to school for chemical engineering and applied materials". Though he did not complete his engineering degree, Howard says he thinks of himself as an engineer and says he intends to return one day to complete the "three credits" of which he claims he is currently short. On February 26, 2013, Howard also said on Jimmy Kimmel Live! that he had earned a PhD degree in chemical engineering from South Carolina State University (SCSU) that year. Howard never attended SCSU, and SCSU does not confer doctorates in chemical engineering. Instead, Howard was awarded an honorary degree of "Doctorate of Humane Letters" (DHL) from SCSU after speaking at its commencement ceremony in 2012.

In a 2015 interview with Rolling Stone, Howard explained that he had formulated his own language of logic, which he called "Terryology", and which he was keeping secret until he had patented it. This logic language, he claimed, would be used to prove the statement "1 × 1 = 2".

"How can it equal one?" he said. "If one times one equals one that means that two is of no value because one times itself has no effect. One times one equals two because the square root of four is two, so what's the square root of two? Should be one, but we're told it's two, and that cannot be."

Howard blames his leaving the Pratt Institute over disagreements with a professor regarding this hypothesis. Howard stated he dedicates up to 17 hours daily to creating sculptures from plastic fragments joined with copper wire or solder, which he claims demonstrate his mathematical model.

In 2017, Howard published his "proof" of the claim that "1 × 1 = 2" on his Twitter account. Concerns were raised about the logical consistency of Howard's thinking.

In May 2024, Howard was a guest on The Joe Rogan Experience, where he attempted to debunk the Pythagorean theorem, claimed he can kill gravity, said he does not believe in the number zero, and claimed he remembers the events of the day he was born.