---
name: "Nelsan Ellis"
canonical: "https://film.one/person/nelsan-ellis"
roles: ["Actor"]
born: "30 November 1977"
died: "8 July 2017"
reviewed_on_fi1m: 2
average_fi1m_score: 68
updated: "2026-09-17T01:01:52.660674+00:00"
licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL."
---

# Nelsan Ellis

Actor. Born 30 November 1977 in Harvey, Illinois, USA. Died 8 July 2017.

## Details

- **Work:** Actor
- **Born:** 30 November 1977, Harvey, Illinois, USA
- **Died:** 8 July 2017
- **Active:** 2008–2011
- **Also known as:** Nelson Ellis

## Biography

Nelsan Ellis was an American actor and playwright. He trained at the Juilliard School after earlier studies at Illinois State University.

Ellis was best known for playing Lafayette Reynolds in the HBO series *True Blood* (2008–2014). He received a Satellite Award for the role. His film credits include *The Express* (2008), *The Soloist* (2009), *Secretariat* (2010), *The Help* (2011), *The Butler* (2013) as Martin Luther King Jr., *Get On Up* (2014) as Bobby Byrd, and *The Stanford Prison Experiment* (2015). He also appeared in *Elementary* (2012) as Shinwell Johnson. Ellis died on 8 July 2017.

*Sources: en.wikipedia.org, imdb.com, latimes.com.*

## On Fi1m (2)

- *The Help* (2011), Fi1m 66, as Henry The Waiter — [page](https://film.one/film/the-help.md)
- *True Blood* (2008), Fi1m 71, as Lafayette Reynolds — [page](https://film.one/tv/true-blood.md)

## Also known for

- *The Butler* (2013), Martin Luther King Jr.
- *Elementary* (2012), Shinwell Johnson
- *The Stanford Prison Experiment* (2015), Jesse Fletcher
- *The Soloist* (2009), David Carter
- *Secretariat* (2010), Eddie Sweat
- *Get On Up* (2014), Bobby Byrd
- *The Express* (2008), Will Davis, Jr.
- *Without a Trace* (2002), Luol Nimieri

---
© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/person/nelsan-ellis