Erik Todd Dellums is an American actor and narrator. He is known for playing the drug kingpin Luther Mahoney for two seasons on Homicide: Life on the Street. He also voiced the roles as the radio DJ Three Dog in the 2008 video game Fallout 3; Prince Arcann, Thexan, and Oggo in Knights of the Fallen Empire, the 2015 expansion to Star Wars: The Old Republic; and Aaravos in the animated Netflix series The Dragon Prince.

Erik Dellums
Born
Erik Todd Dellums

EducationBrown University (BS)
Occupation(s)Actor, narrator
FatherRon Dellums
Relatives

Early life and education

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Erik Dellums was born in the San Francisco Bay Area in California and later moved to Washington, D.C.[1][better source needed] He is the son of Leola Roscoe, a lawyer, and Ron Dellums, the former U.S. representative from California and mayor of Oakland.[2] His sister Piper Dellums is an author.[3]

He earned a Bachelor of Science degree in political science from Brown University in 1986.[1][better source needed]

Career

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Dellums had minor appearances in several Spike Lee films early in his career, such as She's Gotta Have It (1986) and Do the Right Thing (1989). He was portrayed (as a child) by Travis Kyle Davis in a Disney Channel Original Movie entitled The Color of Friendship (2000), which was based on what happened when his family hosted a foreign exchange student from South Africa during the Apartheid era; Dellums had a cameo role as himself. He provided the voice of the character Koh the Face Stealer in the animated Nickelodeon series Avatar: The Last Airbender, as well as the narration for Key Constitutional Concepts, a documentary produced in 2006 by the Annenberg Foundation.

Dellums has had parts in television police dramas such as New York Undercover, Homicide: Life on the Street (in which he played drug kingpin Luther Mahoney), and The Wire (in which he played a medical examiner). He also played a doctor one episode of Homeland. Dellums provided voice acting for the 2008 video game Fallout 3 as Three Dog. He provided the voice of Nazir, a character in the video game The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim. Dellums narrates the Travel Channel series Mysterious Journeys, as well as the documentary television series How the Universe Works and NASA's Unexplained Files on the Science Channel. Dellums narrates the Science series The Planets – hosted by former astronaut Mike Massimino – which premiered in 2017 and was retitled The Planets and Beyond for its second season in 2018.

Dellums also reprised the role of Three Dog in the YouTube lore series by ShoddyCast, and he also performs the voice for Prince/Emperor Arcann in the game Star Wars: The Old Republic expansion Knights of the Fallen Empire and its sequel expansions Knights of the Eternal Throne and Onslaught. He's also the voice provider of the character Aaravos in the Netflix series The Dragon Prince.

Dellums political and social writings on his personal blog gained notice in 2011, and his criticisms of the presidency of Barack Obama earned him guest appearances on Fox News.[4]

Filmography

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Film

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Year Title Role Notes
1986 She's Gotta Have It Dog #3
1986 Good to Go Bam-Bam
1988 School Daze Gammite Slim Daddy
1989 Do the Right Thing Customer in Pizzeria Uncredited
1991 The Doors Hairdresser at the Sullivan Show
1997 Joe Joe Angel & the Dead Guy The Man
1998 Dr. Dolittle Jeremy
2000 BlackMale Victor
2003 Brother Outsider Voice of Bayard Rustin
2005 Bellclair Times Devin
2005 Camp D.O.A. Watcher
2008 Patsy Harry
2022 Almost Human: Rise of the Apes Narrator

Television

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Year Title Role Notes
1996–1998 Homicide: Life on the Street Luther Mahoney 6 episodes
1998 New York Undercover Mohammad Episode: "Change, Change, Change"
1998 Walker, Texas Ranger David 'Lucifer' Thompson Episode: "The Children of Halloween"
1999 JAG Charlie Lynch Episode: "Goodbyes"
2000 NYPD Blue Inez / Harold Carmichael Episode: "A Hole in Juan"
2000 The Color of Friendship Oliver Television film
2001 Boycott Bayard Rustin
2002–2004 The Wire Dr. Randall Frazier 6 episodes
2005 Jonny Zero Antoine Negasi Episode: "Diamonds & Guns"
2005 Avatar: The Last Airbender Koh 2 episodes
2012 Narrow Escapes of WWII Narrator 4 episodes
2012–2021 How the Universe Works 14 episodes
2013 Golden Boy Pablo Vega Episode: "Next Question"
2013 Homeland Doctor Graham Episode: "Tower of David"
2014–2017 NASA's Unexplained Files Narrator 39 episodes
2015 Amnesia Sargent Johnson Episode: "Awakening"
2017 Great American Eclipse Narrator Television film
2017–2018 The Planet 9 episodes
2017–2018 The Planets and Beyond 17 episodes
2018– The Dragon Prince Aaravos 15 episodes

Video games

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Year Title Role
2008 Fallout 3 Three Dog
2009 League of Legends Nasus
2011 The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Nazir
2015 Star Wars: The Old Republic: Knights of the Fallen Empire Various voices
2015 Star Wars: The Old Republic: Knights of the Eternal Throne
2017 The Elder Scrolls: Legends Tyr
2017 Star Wars: The Old Republic: Onslaught Various voices
2022 Star Wars: The Old Republic: Legacy of the Sith

References

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  1. ^ a b Hiaasen, Rob. "Drug lord role: a tough act to follow Actor: Perhaps dogged by a lasting image as Luther Mahoney, Erik Dellums waits for another good part" (audio +text). The Baltimore Sun. Archived from the original on November 24, 2024. Retrieved September 11, 2022.
  2. ^ "Erik Todd Dellums Biography (1964-)". Film Reference. Retrieved October 30, 2022.
  3. ^ Phillips, Morgan (July 30, 2018). "Ron Dellums, Antiwar Activist-Turned-Armed Services Chairman, Dead at 82". Roll Call. Retrieved October 30, 2022.
  4. ^ Williams, Vanessa (October 14, 2011). "Actor Erik Todd Dellums stirs the black political pot with musings on President Obama". The Washington Post.
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