LAST PAGE: Ernie Hudson, 80
A life in acting: sought-after actor and cancer survivor to headline Lifespan event on March 26
By Mike Costanza
Ernie Hudson came from a hardscrabble life in Benton Harbor, Michigan, to become a highly sought-after stage, television and movie actor. His credits include playing the boxer Jack Johnson in a stage production of “The Great White Hope,” multiple appearances in popular TV shows and feature films and co-starring in the first two “Ghostbusters” movies. He currently stars as the patriarch of the Netflix crime series “The Family Business” and plays a pastor in CBS’s police drama “Boston Blue.”
Hudson has also raised two children alone and beat cancer twice. On March 26, the 80-year-old will share his story as the special guest speaker of Lifespan of Greater Rochester’s annual “Celebration of Aging.”
Hudson spoke to 55-PLUS about his life, the challenges he’s encountered and how he’s dealt with them. His statements were edited for brevity.
Q. You lost your mother while you were a young child, never knew your father and were raised by your late grandmother. She seems to have had a strong influence on you. Can you tell the readers about that?
A. My grandmother was very, you know, very religious and she kept me in church. I was one of those kids who kind of enjoyed it, and so she wanted me to always imagine that I would someday become a minister. That never happened, but I think she would enjoy this character that I play on “Boston Blue.” She also sat me down, and I remember very clearly her explaining that even though we didn’t know who my biological father was, God is my father. He’s aware of us personally and he will guide us, and we can ask for anything and he can, he will provide it.
Q. You began acting in 1967, a time when racial prejudice prevented many Black actors from getting parts. How did you deal with that?
A. They don’t want anyone Black here, so now I have to act accordingly. You may think you don’t want me but let me show you in my audition what I bring to this. It takes confidence, but also, I think the strong belief that God will provide this way. There’ve been times when I’ve been in tears because I didn’t get a role, but then something else would, would, you know, unfold.
Q. You’ve undergone treatments for prostate and rectal cancer, and you’re in remission from both forms of the disease. How did you get through those times?
A. There’s some things that are out of our control, but, you know, the universe will always find a way, but it takes trusting, to not panic. Trusting in God. I think sometimes when we panic, we do ourselves more harm.
Q. As an older actor, have you had difficulty getting parts because of ageism?
A. A lot of the people who are in the business, they’ve been the leading ladies, or they’ve been the leading men, or the roles have been open. I haven’t. I’m still waiting to be the sexily romantic lead. I’m the grandfather on “Boston Blue.” I don’t feel like a grandfather, even though I have great-grandchildren. The age thing doesn’t, in my profession, doesn’t quite come into play now. If they were wanting to cast me as a, you know, 40-year-old or pretend that I’m 45, then I’d probably have a problem.
Q. Your motto is, “Get out of the box of limitation.” What does that mean?
A. When we limit ourselves to an idea or “I’m old now” or “I’m Black” or I’m whatever those things are, then we narrow the box of possibilities. If I see myself as limited, I don’t even try or I’m defeated before I begin. Whatever that story is that you are telling yourself, to get to where you want to be you might have to alter that. You might have to begin to see things a little bit differently.
For more information about Lifespan’s Celebration of Aging, go to: https://www.lifespan-roch.org/celebration-of-aging-2.