Top 250 MoviesMost Popular MoviesTop 250 TV ShowsMost Popular TV ShowsMost Popular Video GamesMost Popular Music VideosMost Popular Podcasts
    Release CalendarBrowse Movies by GenreTop Box OfficeShowtimes & TicketsMovie NewsIndia Movie Spotlight
    What's on TV & StreamingBrowse TV Shows by GenreTV NewsIndia TV Spotlight
    What to WatchLatest TrailersIMDb OriginalsIMDb PicksIMDb Podcasts
    OscarsBest Picture WinnersBest Picture WinnersEmmysSTARmeter AwardsSan Diego Comic-ConNew York Comic-ConSundance Film FestivalToronto Int'l Film FestivalAwards CentralFestival CentralAll Events
    Born TodayMost Popular CelebsMost Popular CelebsCelebrity News
    Help CenterContributor ZonePolls
For Industry Professionals
  • All
  • Titles
  • TV Episodes
  • Celebs
  • Companies
  • Keywords
  • Advanced Search
Watchlist
Sign In
Sign In
New Customer? Create account
  • Fully supported
  • English (United States)
    Partially supported
  • Français (Canada)
  • Français (France)
  • Deutsch (Deutschland)
  • हिंदी (भारत)
  • Italiano (Italia)
  • Português (Brasil)
  • Español (España)
  • Español (México)
  • Biography
  • Awards
  • Trivia
IMDbPro

Nelsan Ellis(1977-2017)

  • Actor
  • Producer
  • Writer
IMDbProStarmeter
See rank
Nelsan Ellis at an event for The Soloist (2009)
Trailer for Little Boxes
Play trailer1:52
Little Boxes (2016)
15 Videos
99+ Photos
Nelsan Ellis was an award-winning American film and television actor and playwright, perhaps best known as Lafayette Reynolds on HBO's True Blood (2008).

Nelsan was born on November 30, 1977, in Harvey, Illinois, the son of Jackie Ellis and Tommie Lee Thompson. Following his parents' divorce, Ellis and his mother moved to Alabama. He moved back to Illinois as a teenager, and graduated from Thornridge High School in Dolton, Illinois, in 1997. Ellis attended Juilliard and, while there, wrote a semi-autobiographical play titled Ugly that was performed at the school and later won the Lincoln Center's Martin E. Segal Award. Ellis won a 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. Ellis won the "Brink of Fame: Actor" award at the 2009 NewNowNext Awards.

Tragically, Ellis died at the age of 39 on July 8, 2017, in Los Angeles, California, after complications from heart failure. His family released a statement on July 10, saying that Nelsan had been trying to quit alcohol in the days before his death, and suggesting that he suffered from alcohol withdrawal syndrome, leading to his heart failure.
BornNovember 30, 1977
DiedJuly 8, 2017(39)
BornNovember 30, 1977
DiedJuly 8, 2017(39)
IMDbProStarmeter
See rank
  • Awards

Photos128

Jonny Lee Miller and Nelsan Ellis in Elementary (2012)
Nelsan Ellis in Elementary (2012)
Nelsan Ellis in Elementary (2012)
Nelsan Ellis in Elementary (2012)
Nelsan Ellis in Elementary (2012)
Nelsan Ellis in Elementary (2012)
Nelsan Ellis in Elementary (2012)
Lucy Liu and Nelsan Ellis in Elementary (2012)
Nelsan Ellis in True Blood (2008)
Adina Porter and Nelsan Ellis in True Blood (2008)
Kevin Alejandro and Nelsan Ellis in True Blood (2008)
Nelsan Ellis and Deborah Ann Woll in True Blood (2008)

Known for

Forest Whitaker in The Butler (2013)
The Butler
7.2
  • Martin Luther King Jr.
  • 2013
Anna Paquin, Ryan Kwanten, Stephen Moyer, Sam Trammell, Nelsan Ellis, and Rutina Wesley in True Blood (2008)
True Blood
7.9
TV Series
  • Lafayette Reynolds
The Stanford Prison Experiment (2015)
The Stanford Prison Experiment
6.8
  • Jesse Fletcher
  • 2015
Diane Lane, James Cromwell, John Malkovich, and Scott Glenn in Secretariat (2010)
Secretariat
7.2
  • Eddie Sweat
  • 2010

Credits

Edit
IMDbPro

Actor

  • True to the Game (2017)
    True to the Game
  • Jonny Lee Miller and Lucy Liu in Elementary (2012)
    Elementary
  • Chanté Adams in Roxanne Roxanne (2017)
    Roxanne Roxanne
  • Send Me: An Original Web Series (2015)
    Send Me: An Original Web Series
  • Melanie Lynskey, Nelsan Ellis, and Armani Jackson in Little Boxes (2016)
    Little Boxes
  • The Stanford Prison Experiment (2015)
    The Stanford Prison Experiment
  • Anna Paquin, Ryan Kwanten, Stephen Moyer, Sam Trammell, Nelsan Ellis, and Rutina Wesley in True Blood (2008)
    True Blood
  • Chadwick Boseman in Get on Up (2014)
    Get on Up
  • #Nausea... for Millennials
  • Gods Behaving Badly (2013)
    Gods Behaving Badly
  • Forest Whitaker in The Butler (2013)
    The Butler
  • Naked Eye (2012)
    Naked Eye
  • Liev Schreiber, Kiefer Sutherland, Kate Hudson, and Riz Ahmed in The Reluctant Fundamentalist (2012)
    The Reluctant Fundamentalist
  • Viola Davis, Bryce Dallas Howard, Octavia Spencer, and Emma Stone in The Help (2011)
    The Help
  • Diane Lane, James Cromwell, John Malkovich, and Scott Glenn in Secretariat (2010)
    Secretariat

Producer

  • Hands to the Sky, Catch Them & They're Yours (2014)
    Hands to the Sky, Catch Them & They're Yours
  • Train(ed) (2013)
    Train(ed)
  • Damn Wonderful
  • The End of Thorns
  • Page 36 (2010)
    Page 36
  • Flower Shop (2006)
    Flower Shop
  • Trespass (2005)
    Trespass

Writer

  • Page 36 (2010)
    Page 36
  • Trespass (2005)
    Trespass

Videos15

True Blood Season 4: Jesus
Clip 1:03
True Blood Season 4: Jesus
True Blood Season 4: Eric
Clip 0:59
True Blood Season 4: Eric
Secretariat
Clip 1:01
Secretariat
Secretariat
Clip 1:11
Secretariat
Secretariat
Clip 1:17
Secretariat
Secretariat
Clip 0:49
Secretariat
International Trailer
Trailer 2:40
International Trailer
Trailer
Trailer 1:52
Trailer
Trailer #2
Trailer 2:49
Trailer #2
Trailer #1
Trailer 2:44
Trailer #1
Secretariat - Trailer # 1
Trailer 2:32
Secretariat - Trailer # 1
The Soloist: Trailer
Trailer 2:32
The Soloist: Trailer

Personal details

Edit
    • November 30, 1977
    • Harvey, Illinois, USA
    • July 8, 2017
    • New York City, New York, USA(heart failure)
  • (2005, October - November) Appeared in the Charles Fuller play A Soldier's Story at the Second Stage Theatre, off-Broadway, New York, New York.
  • Publicity listings
    • 4 Articles

Did you know

Edit
  • Trivia
    Wrote the play "Ugly" about the devastating effects of domestic abuse after his sister Alice was shot by her husband in 2002. He staged the play while a student at Julliard, and received the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts' Martin E. Segal Award for his efforts.
  • Quotes
    [his thoughts on gay marriage] I support it. I think anybody should--I mean--I have my religious views, but I don't choose to oppress them on anybody. I think in this country, anybody can do whatever they want to do as long as it's not hurting anybody else or violating the laws of society. If you want to get married to a man then get married to a man. If two women want to get married they should get married. It's not hurting me. The beautiful thing about this country is that I can be a Christian and feel free to do so. Or somebody cannot be a Christian and do whatever that entails. Or somebody can be a Christian and still be gay and I support it. Let gay people get married.

Related news

Contribute to this page

Suggest an edit or add missing content
  • Learn more about contributing
Edit page

More to explore

Recently viewed

Please enable browser cookies to use this feature. Learn more.
Get the IMDb App
  • Get the IMDb App
  • Help
  • Site Index
  • IMDbPro
  • Box Office Mojo
  • IMDb Developer
  • Press Room
  • Advertising
  • Jobs
  • Conditions of Use
  • Privacy Policy
  • Your Ads Privacy Choices
IMDb, an Amazon company

© 1990-2023 by IMDb.com, Inc.