As a child growing up in Benton Harbor, Michigan, Ernie Hudson wrote
short stories, poems and songs, always thinking that his words might
one day come to life on stage. After a short stint in the Marine Corps,
he moved to Detroit where he became the resident playwright at Concept
East, the oldest Black theatre in the country. In addition, he enrolled
at Wayne State University to further develop his writing and acting
skills and found time to establish the Actors' Ensemble Theatre, where
he and other talented young black writers directed and appeared in
their own works. After graduating with a B.A. from Wayne State, he was
rewarded a full scholarship to the M.F.A. program at the prestigious
Yale School of Drama. While performing with the school's repertory
company, he was asked to appear in the Los Angeles production of
Lonne Elder III's musical "Daddy Goodness," which led to his meeting Gordon Parks,
who gave Hudson the costarring role in his first feature film, Leadbelly (1976).
Unfortunately, all that followed "Leadbelly" was a year of "bit parts
and some harsh lessons about Hollywood," which led Hudson to enroll in
another academic doctorate program at the University of Minnesota. He did not complete the program. Through his experience, he learned another vital lesson:
"There are those who spend their lives studying it and those who spend
their lives doing it." Hudson definitely wanted to be in the second
group. Keeping in mind this self-revelation, Hudson accepted the
starring role of Jack Jefferson in the Minneapolis Theatre In The
Round's production of "The Great White Hope," a role that he put
"everything he had into," including shaving his head. A series of
starring and guest roles followed on such television shows as Fantasy Island (1977),
Der unglaubliche Hulk (1977), Unsere kleine Farm (1974), Noch Fragen Arnold? (1978), Taxi (1978), One Day at a Time (1975), Gimme a Break! (1981), Das A-Team (1983) and
Webster (1983), as well as costarring roles in the TV movies White Mama (1980) with
Bette Davis, Roots - Die nächsten Generationen (1979), Die Frauen von San Quentin (1983), Kalifornien, ich komme! (1985), Mad Bull - Der Supercatcher (1977) and Der Mörder und die Lady (1985). Other feature
film credits include The Jazz Singer (1980), Was, du willst nicht? (1979), Spacehunter - Jäger im All (1983), Blutige Lorbeeren (1982), Auf die Bäume, ihr Affen! (1983),
Joy of Sex (1984) and, of course, the mega-hit Ghostbusters - Die Geisterjäger (1984).
