Henry Louis Gates, Jr.

Actor

September 16, 1950 (75 years)

Keyser, West Virginia, USA

Biography

Henry Louis "Skip" Gates, Jr. is an American historian, literary critic, filmmaker and public intellectual who currently serves as the Alphonse Fletcher University Professor and Director of the Hutchins Center for African and African American Research at Harvard University.

Filmography

8.0

The Simpsons

Henry Louis Gates, Jr. (voice)

Set in Springfield, the average American town, the show focuses on the antics and everyday adventures of the Simpson family; Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa and Maggie, as well as a virtual cast of thousands. Since the beginning, the series has been a pop culture icon, attracting hundreds of celebrities to guest star. The show has also made name for itself in its fearless satirical take on politics, media and American life in general.

6.1

The Late Show with Stephen Colbert

Self

Stephen Colbert brings his signature satire and comedy to The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, the #1 show in late night, where he talks with an eclectic mix of guests about what is new and relevant in the worlds of politics, entertainment, business, music, technology, and more. Featuring bandleader Jon Batiste with his band Stay Human, the Emmy Award-nominated show is broadcast from the historic Ed Sullivan Theater.

5.8

The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon

Self

After Jay Leno's second retirement from the program, Jimmy Fallon stepped in as his permanent replacement. After 42 years in Los Angeles the program was brought back to New York.

6.9

The Colbert Report

The Colbert Report is an American satirical late night television program. It stars political humorist Stephen Colbert, a former correspondent for The Daily Show with Jon Stewart. The Colbert Report is a spin-off from and counterpart to The Daily Show that comments on politics and the media in a similar way. The show focuses on a fictional anchorman character named Stephen Colbert, played by his real-life namesake. The character, described by Colbert as a "well-intentioned, poorly informed, high-status idiot", is a caricature of televised political pundits.

4.4

The View

Self - Guest

ABC Daytime's morning chatfest, currently featuring Whoopi Goldberg, Joy Behar, Sunny Hostin, Sara Haines, Alyssa Farah Griffin, and Ana Navarro discussing the most exciting events of the day. Hot topics in the news, the best experts in their field, celebrity interviews and general entertainment are all part of The View.

5.3

Jimmy Kimmel Live!

Self - Guest

Jimmy Kimmel Live! is an American late-night talk show, created and hosted by Jimmy Kimmel and broadcast on ABC.

7.6

Watchmen

Skip Gates

Set in an alternate history where “superheroes” are treated as outlaws, “Watchmen” embraces the nostalgia of the original groundbreaking graphic novel while attempting to break new ground of its own.

6.4

Finding Your Roots

Self - Host

Noted Harvard scholar Henry Louis Gates, Jr. has been helping people discover long-lost relatives hidden for generations within the branches of their family trees. Professor Gates utilizes a team of genealogists to reconstruct the paper trail left behind by our ancestors and the world’s leading geneticists to decode our DNA and help us travel thousands of years into the past to discover the origins of our earliest forebears.

3.3

Today with Jenna & Sheinelle

Self

Talk show from NBC

8.2

America: The Story of Us

Self

From wagon trains crossing the untamed frontier to man's first steps on the moon, this series offers a compelling look at the people, inventions and events that helped forge the United States of America.

4.6

Frederick Douglass: In Five Speeches

Self

Acclaimed actors draw from five of Douglass’ legendary speeches, to represent a different moment in the tumultuous history of 19th century America as well as a different stage of Douglass’ long and celebrated life, while famed scholars provide context for the speeches, and remind us that Frederick Douglass’ words about racial injustice still resonate deeply today.

7.0

Great Railway Journeys

Self - Presenter

Great Railway Journeys, originally titled Great Railway Journeys of the World, is a recurring series of travel documentaries produced by BBC Television. The premise of each programme is that the presenter, typically a well-known figure from the arts or media, would make a journey by train, usually through a country or to a destination to which they had a personal connection. There were four series broadcast on BBC Two between 1980 and 1999, with the shorter series title being used for all but the first. In 2010 a similar series also aired on BBC Two, Great British Railway Journeys.

N/A

America's Great Divide: From Obama to Trump

Self (archive footage) (as Henry Louis Gates)

A deep look into the growing divide in America from the Barack Obama era through the presidency of Donald Trump.

N/A

The Gettysburg Address

Self

In the midst of the Civil War, President Lincoln went to Gettysburg. "The Gettysburg Address" investigates the five extant copies of Lincoln's famous speech, separating fact from fiction along the way. Lincoln's greater journey to Gettysburg is chronicled, from his early anti-slavery sentiments as a poor farmer's son to his rousing orations as one of America's greatest leaders.

7.8

13th

Self

An in-depth look at the prison system in the United States and how it reveals the nation's history of racial inequality.

7.5

America Beyond the Color Line

Self - Host

Henry Louis Gates Jr., Harvard's chair of Afro-American Studies, travels the length and breadth of the United States to take the temperature of black America at the start of the new century. He explores this rich and diverse landscape, social as well as geographic, and meets the people who are defining black America, from the most famous and influential to those at the grassroots.

6.0

Making Black America

A chronicle of the vast social networks and organizations created by and for Black people—beyond the reach of the “White gaze.” Professor Henry Louis Gates, Jr. sits with noted scholars, politicians, cultural leaders, and old friends to discuss this world behind the color line and what it looks like today.

5.3

Black and Jewish America: An Interwoven History

Self - Host

Four-part docuseries that explores the complex relationship between Black Americans and Jewish Americans - forged in shared struggle, tested by division, and representing a uniquely American experience.

N/A

Great Migrations: A People on the Move

Self - Host

Explores the transformative impact of Black migration on American culture and society. From the waves of Black Americans to the North—and back South—over the last century to the growing number of immigrants from Africa and the Caribbean today, movement is a defining feature of the Black experience.

10.0

Gospel

Self

Dig deep into the origin story of Black gospel music, coming out of slavery, blending with the blues tradition, and soaring to new heights during the Great Migration. From Mahalia to Kirk Franklin, in the last century, gospel music has become the dominant form of African American religious expression and provided a soundtrack of healing and uplift to those at the front lines of protest and change.