Harold Perrineau was the first actor to play Tyrone. He appeared in the Coconut Grove Playhouse Production of FAME in 1988 in Florida.

TV.COM

Harold Perrineau Jr. was born in Brooklyn, New York on the 17th February 1968.
Got his acting debut in "Fame", and continued doing theater for most of his early career.
In 1988 he began his movie to films and television.
Has been in titles such as Shakedown , Smoke , and The Edge .
Is probably best known for his roles in the last two parts of The Matrix trilogy and the television series "Oz".
Is currently playing the role of Michael Dawson on the ABC show, "Lost" along with Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje, who he also worked with on "Oz".

Trivia

Won an NAACP Image Award for his role in the play Topdog/Underdog .
Recieved an Image Award nomination for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture for his role in The Best Man .
Has dark brown eyes and dark hair.
Has had roles in both Broadway and off-Broadway productions including hits such as Dream Girls , Godspell and Fame .
Received a dance scholarship to the prestigious Alvin Ailey American Dance Center in New York.
Was nominated for the Independent Spirit Award for Best Supporting Male for his role in Smoke .
Studied theater and music at the Shenandoah Conservatory.
Harold and his wife Brittany have a daughter, Aurora Robinson Perrineau.
Perrineau is his mother's maiden name, and his father is Harold Williams Sr. His parents never married, so he used both names growing up, eventually settling on Williams. However when he joined the Screen Actors Guild, because there was already a Harold Williams he changed his stage name to Harold Perrineau Jr. so that he had Perrineau from his mother, and Jr. from his father.
Harold's wife Brittany is a model and an actress.
Married his wife Brittany in August 2002.
Harold is 5'10½" (179cm)
Birth name was Harold Williams.
Did the voice of his Matrix character Link, in both games Enter The Matrix and The Matrix Online .
One of his earliest TV jobs was that of a dancer in the early 80's TV show "Fame".
In the 1996 version of Romeo and Juliet, Harold plays the role of Romeo's best friend Mercutio.
In the hit HBO TV series "Oz" Harold plays Augustus Hill who is in jail for Possession of Illegal Substances and Murder in the 2nd degree.

Harold Perrineau Jr. (on his co-star Matthew Fox, and his likeness to his Lost character Jack Sheperd) : He's handsome, he's tall, he's running around saving people's lives. But Matt Fox, himself, is just a really interesting guy. He's got a lot of stuff in his background, and you can see it behind his eyes, that has nothing to do with any of that stuff. When you talk to him, you're like, ‘Oh, I didn't expect that at all.' So I'd say he's least like his character.
Harold Perrineau Jr. (on his co-star Jorge Garcia) : Jorge's a really funny guy. Like Hurley, at those right moments he will say something that will crack you up."
Harold Perrineau Jr. (on his co-star Terry O'Quinn) : Terry O'Quinn is like Locke, because he is a mysterious, fascinating guy. He lives up on the north shore in this house in the woods. You'll see him, and he's always walking around like Locke does.
Harold Perrineau (on shooting the finale of Lost's first season) : I don't swim, or at least I didn't swim when we shot last year's finale. So just being out on that raft was a little scary for me. Also, at the time we hadn't received the final pages of the script, so we didn't know how the second half of the episode ended. When I found out the night before that the raft was going to be destroyed and our characters would wind up floating in the water, I also got a call from the show's production office asking, ‘Harold, is it true you can't swim?' I was like, ‘Yes, it is'. Of course, we were going to be shooting in the ocean as opposed to a water tank in some nice safe soundstage. On the day we filmed the scene with the raft going up in flames I told myself, ‘OK, be brave now, and just jump into the water.' Happily, everything turned out fine and I didn't drown.
Harold Perrineau Jr. (on his Lost character, Michael Dawson) : I was somewhat confused about him at first. Because the show's writers and producers don't give us much information ahead of time, I had no idea where the character was headed. I mean, I didn't know, for example, how Michael spoke, the sort of attention span he had, or even how passionate as well as compassionate he was.
Harold Perrineau Jr. (on his plans for the lost hiatus in the summer) : A couple of things came up, but nothing that I really liked. With more people watching and with more acclaim for the show, I'm hoping this year a few things come up that are down my alley. I totally would love to do other things, because as much as I love the show, it's just part of my career. I don't want to give up my career [as if] this is the end. The hope is to actually do other stuff that I really connect with that's really good and really cool.
Harold Perrineau Jr. (on how his hairstyle has lost him auditions) : They actually have, a couple yeah. Not so much a role, but a couple auditions. This year I got to audition for Martin Luther King. I did my best, but they couldn't see past it.
Harrold Perrineau Jr. (on his role in "Oz") : It's a good job. Can't complain about that. And it's such good writing. (Creator-writer) Tom Fontana is so smart. He's just got a really interesting point of view about stuff. It's odd -- he says when he writes (my part) he hears my voice. When I read it, I hear his.

 

Harold's Movies:
28 Weeks Later... (2007)
Gardens of the Night (2007)
Your Name Here (2007)
The Matrix Revolutions
The Matrix Reloaded
On_Line
Prison Song
Someone Like You (the scene he featured in got cut, but made it to the DVD release as an extra)
Overnight Sensation
Woman on Top
The Best Man
Macbeth in Manhattan
A Day in Black and White
Lulu on the Bridge
Come to
The Edge
Romeo + Juliet
Blood and Wine
Flirt
Smoke
King of New York
Shakedown

 

Article: Harold Perrineau Jr. (in Past Buzz)