Release CalendarTop 250 MoviesMost Popular MoviesBrowse Movies by GenreTop Box OfficeShowtimes & TicketsMovie NewsIndia Movie Spotlight
    What's on TV & StreamingTop 250 TV ShowsMost Popular TV ShowsBrowse TV Shows by GenreTV News
    What to WatchLatest TrailersIMDb OriginalsIMDb PicksIMDb Podcasts
    OscarsABFFPride MonthOutfest OutfrontsSTARmeter AwardsAwards 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
IMDbProStarmeterSee 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)
IMDbProStarmeterSee rank
  • Awards
    • 3 wins & 7 nominations

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
Diane Lane, James Cromwell, John Malkovich, and Scott Glenn in Secretariat (2010)
Secretariat
7.2
  • Eddie Sweat
  • 2010
The Stanford Prison Experiment (2015)
The Stanford Prison Experiment
6.8
  • Jesse Fletcher
  • 2015

Credits

Edit
IMDbPro

Actor

  • True to the Game (2017)
    True to the Game
    • Tyrik
    • 2017
  • Jonny Lee Miller and Lucy Liu in Elementary (2012)
    Elementary
    • Shinwell Johnson
    • TV Series
    • 2016–2017
  • Chanté Adams in Roxanne Roxanne (2017)
    Roxanne Roxanne
    • Mr. Lester
    • 2017
  • Send Me: An Original Web Series (2015)
    Send Me: An Original Web Series
    • Benjamin
    • TV Series
    • 2016
  • Melanie Lynskey, Nelsan Ellis, and Armani Jackson in Little Boxes (2016)
    Little Boxes
    • Mack Burns
    • 2016
  • The Stanford Prison Experiment (2015)
    The Stanford Prison Experiment
    • Jesse Fletcher
    • 2015
  • Anna Paquin, Ryan Kwanten, Stephen Moyer, Sam Trammell, Nelsan Ellis, and Rutina Wesley in True Blood (2008)
    True Blood
    • Lafayette Reynolds
    • TV Series
    • 2008–2014
  • Chadwick Boseman in Get on Up (2014)
    Get on Up
    • Bobby Byrd
    • 2014
  • #Nausea... for Millennials
    • Gibson
    • Short
    • 2013
  • Gods Behaving Badly (2013)
    Gods Behaving Badly
    • Dionysus
    • 2013
  • Forest Whitaker in The Butler (2013)
    The Butler
    • Martin Luther King Jr.
    • 2013
  • Naked Eye (2012)
    Naked Eye
    • The Man
    • Short
    • 2012
  • Liev Schreiber, Kiefer Sutherland, Kate Hudson, and Riz Ahmed in The Reluctant Fundamentalist (2012)
    The Reluctant Fundamentalist
    • Wainwright
    • 2012
  • Viola Davis, Bryce Dallas Howard, Octavia Spencer, and Emma Stone in The Help (2011)
    The Help
    • Henry The Waiter
    • 2011
  • Diane Lane, James Cromwell, John Malkovich, and Scott Glenn in Secretariat (2010)
    Secretariat
    • Eddie Sweat
    • 2010

Producer

  • Hands to the Sky, Catch Them & They're Yours (2014)
    Hands to the Sky, Catch Them & They're Yours
    • executive producer
    • Short
    • 2014
  • Train(ed) (2013)
    Train(ed)
    • executive producer
    • Short
    • 2013
  • Damn Wonderful
    • executive producer
    • 2013
  • The End of Thorns
    • executive producer
    • Short
    • 2011
  • Page 36 (2010)
    Page 36
    • executive producer
    • Short
    • 2010
  • Flower Shop (2006)
    Flower Shop
    • executive producer
    • Short
    • 2006
  • Trespass (2005)
    Trespass
    • executive producer
    • producer
    • Short
    • 2005

Writer

  • Page 36 (2010)
    Page 36
    • story
    • Short
    • 2010
  • Trespass (2005)
    Trespass
    • Writer
    • Short
    • 2005

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
  • Alternative name
    • Nelson Ellis
  • Height
    • 5′ 9¼″ (1.76 m)
  • Born
    • November 30, 1977
    • Harvey, Illinois, USA
  • Died
    • July 8, 2017
    • New York City, New York, USA(heart failure)
  • Parents
      Jackie Ellis
  • Other works
    (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

Production art
List
The Best Things to Watch in June
See the list
Production art
Photos
See These Trending Actors in Early Roles
Can you place the face?

Add demo reel with IMDbPro

Demo reel thumbnail
Make your IMDb page stand out by adding a demo reel
Upload your demo reel

Add demo reel with IMDbPro

Make your IMDb page stand out by adding a demo reel
Upload your demo reel
Demo reel thumbnail

How much have you seen?

Keep track of how much of Nelsan Ellis’s work you have seen. Go to your list.
Production art
Photos
LGBTQIA+ Power Couples of Hollywood
See the photos

Recently viewed

Please enable browser cookies to use this feature. Learn more.
Get the IMDb App
Sign in for more accessSign in for more access
  • 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.