Nelsan Ellis

Early life

Ellis was born in Harvey, Illinois, near Chicago, the son of Jackie Ellis and Tommie Lee Thompson. When Ellis and his siblings were young, their mother, a single parent after her divorce, broke down after the death of her brother. Ellis and his siblings became wards of the state, and later were raised in Bessemer, Alabama, by their maternal grandmother. He was diagnosed with dyslexia in second grade.

In Alabama, Ellis attended Jess Lanier High School for a year and transferred to McAdory High School. He moved back to Illinois at age 15, where he lived with his maternal aunt. In 1997 he graduated from Thornridge High School in Dolton, Illinois.

He joined the United States Marine Corps at the age of 17. Following this, Ellis attended Illinois State University.

In 2000, at the age of 22, he was accepted for enrollment at the Juilliard School, where he befriended Rutina Wesley, later a colleague in the series True Blood. Ellis earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from Juilliard in 2004.

Career

Ellis began his acting career in the early 2000s, with a role in the short film Lost. In 2005, he starred in the television film Warm Springs. From 2005 to 2006, he played the recurring role of Carter Howard in the television series The Inside. He followed this up with guest roles in Veronica Mars and Without a Trace, both in 2007.

In mid-2007, Ellis was cast as Lafayette Reynolds in the pilot for True Blood, as a short-order cook at Merlotte's Bar & Grill, a drug dealer, a member of Jason Stackhouse's road crew, and Tara Thornton's cousin. The pilot was shot in the early summer of 2007 and was officially ordered to series in August. Production on the series began later that fall.

In casting Lafayette Reynolds, Alan Ball had concerns because the character's homosexuality would be a dominating trait. He said "you don't want to bring in someone who's going to play that in a phony way". Nelsan Ellis said that it took him a few episodes to find the character. Ellis said that he based many of Lafayette's mannerisms on his mother and his sister, and that the costuming also helped him to get into character. He told The Philadelphia Inquirer:

True Blood premiered on September 7, 2008, and concluded on August 24, 2014, comprising seven seasons and 80 episodes. In 2008, Ellis received a Satellite Award from the International Press Academy for best supporting actor in a television series for his role as Lafayette Reynolds. In 2009, he was nominated for a Scream Award for Best Supporting Actor. In 2011, he won the NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series for his performance in True Blood.

Ellis also performed in several feature films; his early roles include The Express: The Ernie Davis Story (2008) and The Soloist (2009). In 2010, he portrayed Eddie Sweat in the Disney sports drama Secretariat.

In 2012, Ellis was cast as Martin Luther King Jr. in a supporting performance in Lee Daniels' The Butler. The Butler received mostly positive reviews from critics, with a 71% rating on the film critic aggregate site Rotten Tomatoes, based on 171 reviews.

The following year, Ellis joined the cast of Get on Up, a biographical drama film about the life of singer James Brown. He portrayed Bobby Byrd, Brown's longtime friend. Get on Up was met with positive reviews from critics.

From 2016 to 2017, Ellis starred as Shinwell Johnson in the TV series Elementary. His character dies near the end of Season 5. The first episode to air after Ellis' death, the season 6 premiere, ended with the screen "In Memory of Our Friend Nelsan Ellis". His final acting role was in True to the Game, which was released posthumously.

Death

Ellis died at the age of 39 on July 8, 2017, in Woodhull Medical Center in Brooklyn, New York. His family released a statement on July 10, 2017, saying that he had an ongoing struggle with drug and alcohol abuse. He had been reluctant to talk to anyone about his addiction because of his sense of shame. In the days prior to his death, Ellis was attempting to withdraw from alcohol on his own; he was hospitalized due to serious complications from alcohol withdrawal syndrome, which resulted in his death. Ellis was survived by his son, Breon Ellis and newborn daughter.

Awards and nominations

• While at Juilliard, Ellis wrote a semi-autobiographical play entitled Ugly, which was performed at the school and later won the Lincoln Center's Martin E. Segal Award. The play was influenced by his pregnant sister's murder at the hands of her husband.
• 2008 – Satellite Award from the International Press Academy for best supporting actor in a television series for his role as Lafayette Reynolds in HBO's True Blood.
• 2009 – NewNowNext Awards Brink of Fame: Actor award.
• 2009 – Ewwy Award for Best Supporting Actor in a Drama Series for True Blood.
• 2009 – Scream Award for Best Supporting Actor for True Blood.
• 2011 – NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series for True Blood.

Filmography

Film

Television

References

References

1. "Nelsan Ellis". Yahoo! TV.
2. Hipes, Patrick. (2017-07-10). "Nelsan Ellis' Family Shares Circumstances Of 'True Blood' Actor's Death – Update". Deadline.
3. (2017-05-08). "Why Elementary Went With That Shocking Death". CINEMABLEND.
4. "'True Blood' Actor Nelsan Ellis Dies at 39". EW.com.
5. Herrmann, Andrew. (November 22, 2008). "'True Blood' actor Nelsan Ellis credits Thornridge teachers with on- and off-screen success". [[Chicago Sun-Times]].
6. [https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/true-blood-actor-nelsan-ellis-died-due-alcohol-withdrawal-complications-family-says-1019634 "True Blood actor Nelsan Ellis died due to alcohol-withdrawal complications"], ''Hollywood Reporter''
7. [https://chicago.suntimes.com/entertainment/chicagoan-nelsan-ellis-starred-in-true-blood-dies-at-39/ "Chicagoan Nelsan Ellis starred in True Blood; dies at 39"], ''Chicago Sun-Times''
8. Wallace, Jane. "Nelsan Ellis: Actor, Dyslexic". The Yale Center for Dyslexia & Creativity.
9. Sharp, Dave. (August 9, 2009). "'True Blood's' Lafayette a glamorously shady character". [[The Birmingham News]].
10. Castro, Danilo. (2017-07-08). "Nelsan Ellis Cause of Death: How Did the 'True Blood' Actor Die?". Heavy.com.
11. Gopala, Nisha. (July 7, 2011). "Nelsan Ellis on True Blood's Season of the Witches, Lafayette's Mohawk, and Dodging the Marines".
12. "National Tournament Results – National Forensic Association".
13. (May 2008). "Alumni News". [[The Juilliard School]].
14. (September 6, 2011). "Juilliard School Newsletter".
15. Schneider, Michael. (August 9, 2007). "HBO rolls with Ball's 'True Blood'". [[Variety (magazine).
16. Mitovitch, Matt Webb. (August 10, 2007). "''True Blood'' Vampire Saga Tests Positive at HBO". [[TV Guide]].
17. Hiltbrand, David. "Actor brings extended life to 'True Blood' character". The Philadelphia Inquirer.
18. Rhett, Starrene. (June 28, 2010). "Nelsan Ellis (Lafayette) Talks 'True Blood,' Gay Marriage, Tyler Perry". Vibe Magazine.
19. (July 15, 2013). "HBO Renews True Blood for Seventh Season". Daily Dead.
20. The Screen Spy Team. (September 3, 2013). "True Blood to End its Run in 2014". Screen Spy.
21. "2008 13th Annual SATELLITE Awards Nominees". International Press Academy.
22. [http://www.spike.com/event/scream2009/page/vote/category/33653 "Scream 2009 Best Supporting Actor"] {{Webarchive. link. (September 2, 2009 . Retrieved on September 1, 2009.)
23. Patterson, John. (2010-11-27). "Secretariat is simply Seabiscuit reconfigured for the Tea Party set".
24. Nordyke, Kimberly. (May 7, 2013). "'The Butler' Trailer: Oprah Winfrey Plays 'Proud' Wife to Forest Whitaker (Video)". [[The Hollywood Reporter]].
25. Labrecque, Jeff. (May 8, 2013). "'The Butler': The new trailer showcases Oscar-winning actors tackling history – VIDEO". [[Entertainment Weekly]].
26. (August 16, 2013). "''Lee Daniels' The Butler'' (2013)".
27. Gallagher, Brian. (October 21, 2013). "Nelsan Ellis Joins the James Brown Biopic Get on Up". movieweb.com.
28. "Get on Up (2014)".
29. (2017-07-09). "Actor Nelsan Ellis' final role in upcoming film 'True to the Game' (trailer)". Rolling Out.
30. Parker, Ryan. (2017-07-08). "'True Blood' Star Nelsan Ellis Dies at 39.". The Hollywood Reporter.
31. (2017-07-08). "True Blood star Nelsan Ellis dies aged 39". [[BBC]].
32. Calfas, Jennifer. (2017). "True Blood Star Nelsan Ellis Dies at 39".
33. Parker, Ryan. (July 10, 2017). "Nelsan Ellis' Family Shares Circumstances of 'True Blood' Actor's Death". The Hollywood Reporter.
34. Gonzalez, Sandra. (July 10, 2017). "Nelsan Ellis struggled with addiction before death".
35. Kelley, Seth. (2017-07-10). "Nelsan Ellis' Family Shares Details About 'True Blood' Star's Cause of Death". Variety.
36. Parker, Ryan. (2017-07-10). "Nelsan Ellis' Family Shares Circumstances of 'True Blood' Actor's Death????".
37. Riley, Jenelle. "Interview: Sweat and Tears, Too". Backstage.
38. [http://www.newnownext.com/2009/05/newnownext-awards-who-won.html "NewNowNext Awards: Who Won?"]. Retrieved on May 23, 2009.
39. (July 9, 2017). "Nelsan Ellis".