"Are you in good hands?"
Dennis Dexter Haysbert (born June 2, 1954 in San Mateo, California) is a prolific American film and television actor.
Internationally, he is best known for portraying baseball player Pedro Cerrano in the Major League film trilogy, Secret Service Agent Tim Collin in the political thriller film Absolute Power (1997), Sergeant Major Jonas Blane on the drama series The Unit, and U.S. Senator (later President) David Palmer on the Conspiracy Thriller classic 24.
In the U.S., he is also known for his appearances in commercials for Allstate Insurance.
Works he's appeared in:
- Lou Grant as Victor
- Laverne & Shirley as Shore Patrolman
- The Incredible Hulk (1977) as Guard
- Galactica 1980 as Imperious Leader
- Quincy, M.E. as Driver/Fred
- Buck Rogers in the 25th Century as Various
- The A-Team as Psych Ward Staff
- Dallas as Dr. Forbes
- Magnum, P.I. as Lt. Jameson, USN
- The Fall Guy as Jeremy Wolf
- 227 as Sgt. Banks
- Just the Ten of Us as Coach Duane Johnson
- Scarecrow and Mrs. King as Scarecrow Kimambo
- The Young and the Restless as Ron Clark
- Knots Landing as Cop
- The Facts of Life as Sgt. Evans
- Growing Pains as Various
- Crime Story as Franklin James
- Out of This World (1987) as ???
- Heartbeat as Raymond Calder
- Major League film series as Pedro Careno
- Night Court as Jason Morgan
- Navy Seals (1990) as CPO Billy Graham
- Mr. Baseball as Max "Hammer" Dubois
- Return to Lonesome Dove as Jack Jackson
- Heat as Donald Breedan
- Waiting to Exhale as Kenneth Dawkins
- Duckman as Tribal Leader and Cornfield's singing voice
- Absolute Power (1997) as Tim Collin
- Batman: The Animated Series as Barkley James
- Godzilla: The Series as Gen. Ekwensi
- The Thirteenth Floor as Det. Larry McBain
- Superman: The Animated Series as Various
- Love & Basketball as Zeke McCall
- Now and Again as Dr. Theodore Morris
- Love Field as Paul Cater
- The Outer Limits (1995) as Joshua Fints
- 24 as David Palmer
- Static Shock as Chief Barnsdale
- Far from Heaven as Raymond Deagan
- Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas as Kale
- Justice League as Kilowog
- Splinter Cell: Pandora Tomorrow as Irving Lambert
- Call of Duty: Finest Hour as Narrator
- Jarhead as Major Lincoln
- The Unit as Jonas Blaine
- Breach as Dean Plesac
- Kung Fu Panda 2 as Master Storming Ox
- Wreck-It Ralph as General Hologram
- Trophy Wife as Russ Bradley Morrison
- Welcome to the Jungle as Mr. Crawford
- Mr. Peabody & Sherman as Judge
- The Boondocks as Rev. Sturdy Harris
- How Murray Saved Christmas as Baby New Year and Narrator
- Sin City: A Dame to Kill For as Manute
- Blue Bloods as Deputy Chief Don Kent
- Ted 2 as Fertility Doctor
- Backstrom as Sgt. John Almond
- Brooklyn Nine-Nine as Bob Annderson
- Dead Rising: Endgame as Gen. Lyons
- Incorporated as Julian Morse
- Fist Fight as Superintended Johnson
- Shots Fired as Mr. Terry
- The Dark Tower (2017) as Steven Deschain
- Reverie as Charlie Ventana
- Playing with Fire (2019) as Commander Richards
- Lucifer (2016): as God
- Masters of the Universe: Revelation as King Grayskull
- Home Movie: The Princess Bride as Prince Humperdinck
- Chip 'n Dale: Rescue Rangers (2022) as Zipper
Tropes associated with him and his works:
- As Himself: He has been the longtime spokesperson for Allstate Insurance commercials and has also appeared a few times on PBS's National Memorial Day Concert for lectures.
- Badass in a Nice Suit: It's a lot easier to count his characters who are not badasses and don't wear suits.
- Large and in Charge: He stands 6'4 1/2, making his frequent authority figure roles very believable.
- Those Two Actors: Starred with Charlie Sheen in three films; the first two Major League films and Navy Seals (1990).
- Typecasting: Frequently finds himself playing Cultured Badass Government or military officials, and usually as their leader.
