Terrence Dashon Howard (born March 11, 1969) is an American actor and singer. Having his first major roles in the 1995 films
Dead Presidents and
Mr. Holland's Opus, Howard broke into the mainstream with a succession of television and cinema roles between 2004 and 2006. He was nominated for the
Academy Award for Best Actor for his role in
Hustle & Flow. Howard has had prominent roles in many other movies including
Winnie,
Ray,
Lackawanna Blues,
Crash,
Four Brothers,
Get Rich or Die Tryin',
Idlewild,
August Rush,
The Brave One and
Prisoners. Howard played James Rhodes in
Iron Man and reprised the role in the video game adaptation. However, he was replaced by
Don Cheadle for the future films. He currently stars as the lead character
Lucious Lyon in the television series
Empire. His debut album,
Shine Through It, was released in September 2008.