Ernie Hudson isn’t just beefy, he’s also brainy! As such, the Michigan native sampled the programs at the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities and Yale in New Haven, Connecticut after graduating from Wayne State University in Detroit. Since then, the ebony eyeful could be seen on film (The Hand That Rocks the Cradle, National Lampoon’s Joy of Sex); on video (Beverly Hills Chihuahua 2, Smokin’ Aces 2: Assassins’ Ball); and on TV (Bones, Broken Badges, Franklin & Bash, Grace and Frankie, L.A.’s Finest, Law & Order, Modern Family, The Family Business, The Secret Life of the American Teenager, St. Elsewhere). The arresting actor played Sergeant ‘Night Train’ Lane on The Last Precinct (1986); Senior Deputy John Henry Barnes on 10-8: Officers on Duty (2003-2004) and Detective Ridley on Desperate Housewives (2006-2007). The only thing we like better than a man in uniform is a man out of uniform! Through the years, Ernie appeared alongside Barbra Streisand in The Main Event (1979); John Travolta in Two of a Kind (1983); Brandon Lee in The Crow (1994); and Leonardo DiCaprio in The Basketball Diaries (1995). Yet he’s best known as Winston Zeddemore in the original Ghostbusters franchise (1984, 1989, 2021) and FBI Assistant Director Harry McDonald in Miss Congeniality (2000) and Miss Congeniality 2: Armed and Fabulous (2005). Of course, we prefer Mr. Hudson’s topless turns in Penitentiary II (1982) and Nappily Ever After (2018). Best of all, both flicks feature his bulging boxers. If Ernie removed the nappy, we’d live happily ever after!
