Actor / Director Profile

For seven seasons, acclaimed stage, screen and television actor James McDaniel portrayed Lt. Arthur Fancy on legendary television series NYPD Blue. McDaniel recently completed shooting Bunker Hill, with director Kevin Willmott (CSA: Confederate States of America). McDaniel stars alongside Saeed Jaffrey (Gandhi), and is also Executive Producer. Other recent films include War Eagle, The Living Hell and El Cortez.McDaniel received an Emmy and a Peabody Award for his performance in the Showtime movie Edge of America and an Emmy nomination for Public Television's Storytime. An accomplished stage actor, he won the prestigious Obie Award and was nominated for a Drama Desk Award for his portrayal of Wendall in the New York stage production of Before It Hits Home. He also received the Clarence Derwent Award for the Tony Award-winning Broadway play Six Degrees of Separation.His additional feature films include John Sayles' Sunshine State, Spike Lee's Malcolm X, Risky Business, El Cortez, Woody Allen's Alice, Rocket Gibraltar, Fighting Gravity (a.k.a. "Truth or Consequences") with Kiefer Sutherland, Crack in the Mirror and Bonzai. On television, McDaniel has appeared on Hill Street Blues, Law and Order, Taken, Las Vegas, L.A. Law; television movies such as Love Kills with Kristin Davis and The Road to Galveston opposite Cicely Tyson; and mini-series including Common Ground, The Old Man and the Sea, and Internal Affairs. He co-hosted the ABC special More Secrets Revealed.Born and raised in Washington, D.C., McDaniel attended the University of Pennsylvania, majoring in veterinary medicine. McDaniel lives in New York City with his wife Hannelore. They have two sons.