Kenneth Todd Freeman (born July 9, 1965) is an American actor. He has been nominated for two Tony Awards over the course of his career and has won one Drama Desk Award. He has played supporting roles in films such as Grosse Pointe Blank (1997) and The Cider House Rules (1999), played a prominent recurring role on Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1998–1999), and was a series regular on A Series of Unfortunate Events (2017–2019).

K. Todd Freeman
Born
Kenneth Todd Freeman

(1965-07-09) July 9, 1965 (age 59)
Houston, Texas, U.S.
EducationUniversity of North Carolina School of the Arts (BFA)

Life and career

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Born in Houston, Texas, Freeman went to the local High School for the Performing and Visual Arts before later graduating from the University of North Carolina School of the Arts in 1987.[1]

Freeman has been an ensemble member of the Steppenwolf Theatre Company in Chicago, Illinois since 1993.[2] In the same year, he was nominated for the Tony Award for Best Actor in a Play for his lead performance in the Apartheid drama The Song of Jacob Zulu.[3] More recently, Freeman has played the role of Doctor Dillamond from Wicked in the first North American tour, Chicago and Broadway productions. In 2015, he was nominated for his second Tony Award, this time for Best Featured Actor in a Play as Sissy Na Na in Airline Highway.[4] He won the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Featured Actor in a Play for the same role.[5]

He has also had supporting roles in various films such as Eraser (1996), Grosse Pointe Blank (1997), The Cider House Rules (1999), and The Dark Knight (2008). On television, he earned a recurring role on Buffy the Vampire Slayer as Mr. Trick.[6]

He performed in the Steppenwolf Theatre Company's production of Downstate, which concluded its run on November 18, 2018.

He portrayed Mr. Poe in the 2017 Netflix comedy drama series A Series of Unfortunate Events.[7]

Filmography

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Theatre

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Year Title Role Notes
1992 Angels in America Belize Los Angeles
1993 The Song of Jacob Zulu Jacob Zulu Broadway
2001 One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest Dr. Spivey Broadway
2011 The Intelligent Homosexual's Guide to Capitalism and Socialism with a Key to the Scriptures Paul Off-Broadway
2013 Fetch Clay, Make Man Stepin Fetchit Off-Broadway
2014 Wicked Dr. Dillamond Broadway
2015 Airline Highway Sissy Na Na Broadway
2018 Downstate Dee Chicago
2019 London
2020 The Minutes Mr. Blake Broadway
2022 Broadway
2023 Downstate Dee Off-Broadway
2024 Corruption Chris Bryant / Simon Kelner Off-Broadway

Film

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Year Title Role Notes
1990 Street Hunter Pretzel
1991 Ricochet Talk Show Guest
Grand Canyon 'Wipe'
1994 Full Cycle Clerk
1995 Jeffrey Barney's Waitor
1996 Eraser FBI Agent Dutton
House Arrest Officer Davis
1997 Grosse Pointe Blank NSA Agent Kenneth McCullers
The End of Violence Six O One
1998 There's No Fish Food in Heaven Stan / Suzie
1999 The Cider House Rules Muddy
2008 The Dark Knight Polk
The Lucky Ones Detective # 2
2014 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Dr. Baxter Stockman
2015 Anesthesia Joe
2017 Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales Captain Morgan
2018 Weightless Dr. Mcleod
2021 Naked Singularity Jimmy
The Same Storm Leon Robinson

Television

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Year Title Role Notes
1991 A Different World Novian Winters Episode: "Monet Is the Root of All Evil"
The Killing Mind Fred Robinson TV movie
1992 Brooklyn Bridge Scoot Episode: "On the Road"
1993 Tracey Ullman Takes on New York Byron TV movie
Ghostwriter Malenga Episode: "Lost in Brooklyn: Part 1"
1995 Strange Luck Driving Instructor Episode: "Over Exposure"
1995–97 NYPD Blue Arthur Cartwell 3 episodes
1996 Sisters Chardonay/Larry 2 episodes
1996–97 Dangerous Minds Jerome Griffin 17 episodes
1998 Touched by an Angel Vincent 'Vinegar' Finegar Episode: "Doodlebugs"
1998–99 Buffy the Vampire Slayer Mr. Trick 5 episodes
2000 City of Angels Episode: "Cry Me a Liver"
2011 A Gifted Man Officer Dale Woodrow Episode: "In Case of Exposure"
2014 Believe Gary Wise Episode: "Together"
Elementary Raphael Episode: "Terra Pericolosa"
2015 Law & Order: Special Victims Unit Mr. Reynolds Episode: "Community Policing"
2016 Blindspot Marcus Episode: "One Begets Technique"
The OA Masters Episode: "Homecoming"
2017–19 A Series of Unfortunate Events Mr. Poe 22 episodes
2019 The Blacklist Hobbs Episode: "The Osterman Umbrella Company"
God Friended Me Bishop Thompson 2 episodes
2020 High Maintenance Bill Episode: "Backflash"
2021 FBI: Most Wanted Linwood Williams Episode: "Run-Hide-Fight"
2022 The Last Days of Ptolemy Grey Darwin Andrews Episode: "Coydog"
The Rehearsal Fake Kor Episode: "Orange Juice, No Pulp"
2023 The Horror of Dolores Roach Jeremiah 8 episodes

Awards and nominations

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Theatre

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Year Award Category Work Result
1993 Tony Award[8] Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Play The Song of Jacob Zulu Nominated
2013 Obie Award[9] Performance Fetch Clay, Make Man Won
2015 Tony Award[10] Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Play Airline Highway Nominated
Drama Desk Award[11] Outstanding Featured Actor in a Play Won
2019 Evening Standard Theatre Award[12][13] Best Actor Downstate Nominated
2023 Drama Desk Award Outstanding Featured Performance in a Play Nominated

References

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  1. ^ "Schools of the Stars: Where the 2015 Tony Nominees Went to College: The Actors and Actresses - Playbill".
  2. ^ "Steppenwolf Theatre profile". Archived from the original on 2016-07-11. Retrieved 2013-03-04.
  3. ^ "K. Todd Freeman Departs Steppenwolf's Visiting Edna | Playbill". Playbill. Retrieved 2017-02-07.
  4. ^ "Tony Nominee K. Todd Freeman Reveals the Inspirations Behind Airline Highway's Sissy Na Na". BroadwayBox.com. Retrieved 2017-02-07.
  5. ^ Weiss, Hedy (April 23, 2015). "Drama Desk Awards nominations include many productions with Chicago links". Chicago Suntimes. Retrieved April 27, 2018.
  6. ^ Nunn, Jerry (January 28, 2015). "NUNN ON ONE: THEATER K. Todd Freeman flies freely in 'Airline Highway'". Windy City Media Group. Retrieved April 27, 2018.
  7. ^ "Lemony Snicket's "A Series of Unfortunate Events": A Cautionary Tale for Those Who Believe in Comforting Lies". The New Yorker. 2017-01-27. Retrieved 2017-02-07.
  8. ^ "The Tony Award Nominations". www.tonyawards.com. Retrieved 2021-01-18.
  9. ^ "Here are Your 2014 Obie Awards Winners". Obie Awards. 2014-05-21. Retrieved 2021-01-18.
  10. ^ "The Tony Award Nominations". www.tonyawards.com. Retrieved 2021-01-18.
  11. ^ Cox, Gordon (2015-06-01). "'Hamilton,' 'Curious Incident' Top the 2015 Drama Desk Awards (FULL LIST)". Variety. Retrieved 2021-01-18.
  12. ^ "The 2019 Evening Standard Theatre Awards shortlist in full". www.standard.co.uk. 2019-11-04. Retrieved 2021-01-18.
  13. ^ Paskett, Zoe (2019-11-25). "The 2019 Evening Standard Theatre Awards winners in full". www.standard.co.uk. Retrieved 2021-01-18.
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