David Harewood

David Harewood, MBE is a British actor.

Harewood was born and grew up in the Small Heath area of Birmingham, England, where he attended St. Benedict's Junior School and Washwood Heath Comprehensive School. As a schoolboy, he excelled at all sports, from sprinting through basketball to rugby and especially football. He was the goal-keeper for the Washwood Heath side that won the Under-16 All-England Championship. If it were not for acting, it is likely that he would have followed a career as a professional goal-keeper. In his youth, he worked in a wine bar, Albert's in Dale End, in Birmingham City Centre.

At 18, Harewood gained a place at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art. He began a career in 1990 and appeared in The Hawk, Great Moments in Aviation, Harnessing Peacocks, Mad Dogs and Englishmen, Macbeth on the Estate,Strings and Ballykissangel. He is very well known for his television appearances on The Vice and Fat Friends and for his movie roles in Blood Diamond and The Merchant of Venice. He played Don Coleman in Hustle series 7 The Fall of Railton FC (2011).

In 2007, David visited Harewood House in Yorkshire and spoke with Viscount Lascelles (a cousin of the Queen). David's surname "Harewood" comes from the time when his ancestors were captured in Africa, transported to the Caribbean, and "owned" by the Lascelles family (the Earls of Harewood). Lord Lascelles explained that his wish was for the Harewood name to stand for positive things in the future, as nothing could be done about what happened 250 years ago.

In 2008, David Harewood played Major Simon Brooks in The Palace; he also appeared (that December) on Celebrity Mastermind, with specialist subject Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials — and he appeared in the BBC film adaptation of the Philip Pullman novels The Ruby in the Smoke and The Shadow in the North, both of which are titles from the Sally Lockhart Mysteries.

In 2009, David appeared in the BBC single drama Mrs Mandela, playing Nelson Mandela. He also portrayed Brother Tuck in the third series of Robin Hood. He appeared in the Doctor Who story The End of Time. He played Martin Luther King in the premiere of the play The Mountaintop, by the American playwright Katori Hall, directed by James Dacre, which opened at Theatre503 in London on 9 June 2009.

David Harewood next appeared in two episodes of Chris Ryan's Strike Back as Colonel Tshuma. From June to September 2010, he played Theseus in the premiere of Moira Buffini's play Welcome to Thebes at the National Theatre in London. He played the character Martin Viner in an episode of New Tricks. He narrates Welcome to Lagos, a BBC documentary about Lagos. And in October 2010, Harewood commenced filming for a new British independent film,The Hot Potato.