From stage to screen, Carl Lumbly is an actor known for his steadfast talent, versatility and class. He has more than 50 credits to his name, including portraying CIA Director Marcus Dixon on the hit spy series
Alias, for which he has won rave reviews. The
San Jose Mercury News said "'Dixon could have come off as the dullest tool in the box, but Lumbly has made him into a totally engaging character."
"What characterizes Alias most is its intelligence and heart," says Lumbly. "It does what the best fairy tales and comic books do. It makes implausible situations feel believable, and it presents characters who you care so much about."
Lumbly also appeared in a remake of the 1972 classic Sounder as Father, the story of a 1930s sharecropper family trying to survive under difficult circumstances. "I have always loved the original film," Lumbly says. "And what makes this film interesting to me is that it is a re-adaptation of the book, which stays closer to the writer's original storyline. The father in this story loves his family dearly. He has to do something to help them survive that goes completely against his own principals. He accepts the consequences, but what it does to him is devastating."
The Houston Chronicle proclaimed, "Carl Lumbly plays 'Father', and his performance is a stunner: Dignity and anguish come together to touch your heart." According to director Kevin Hooks, who starred in the original Sounder, Lumbly is "one of the most underrated actors out there." Hooks also believes that Lumbly is "the epitome of sensitivity and compassion as an artist, and it spills over into the characters he's playing."
Lumbly was born in Minnesota, the son of Jamaican immigrants. His father was an avid reader, which inspired Lumbly's early appreciation for literature. After graduating from Macalester College with a degree in English, he landed a job writing for the Associated Press in Minneapolis. He also supplemented his income by doing freelance writing assignments for various periodicals and magazines.
While on assignment for a story, Lumbly attended a public audition and was handed an audition card. "I thought it would be a great perspective from which to write the story," he says. He wound up winning a part and stayed for two years doing improvisational comedy flavored with political satire. "It was a good fit for me," he says. "I liked the something from nothingness' of it. Sometimes it was actually clever and funny, sometimes not...but it always attempted to address something."
Lumbly moved to San Francisco intending to continue his work as a journalist for Associated Press. But days later he had another acting job, this time touring with a then-unknown Danny Glover in productions of playwright Athol Fugard's Sizwe Bansi is Dead and The Island. After moving to Los Angeles and New York, Lumbly landed his first significant on-screen role in a movie-of-the-week, Cagney and Lacey, which turned into a series where he wound up portraying Detective Mark Petrie for seven years.
Lumbly has earned several awards and nominations for his work. His versatility spans a range of characters, from his NAACP Image Award-nominated work in Buffalo Soldiers to M.A.N.T.I.S., in which he played a paraplegic scientist/crime fighter; the first black superhero on series television. He recently starred in the television movie Just a Dream, directed by Danny Glover. Lumbly's film credits include Men of Honor opposite Robert De Niro and Cuba Gooding Jr., Everybody's All-American with Jessica Lange and Dennis Quaid and The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai.
Lumbly has made numerous guest-starring appearances on television series including The West Wing, ER, The X-Files and L.A. Law.
Lumbly is married to actress Vonetta McGee and has a teenage son.
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