Erik Ki La Salle (born July 23, 1962), professionally known as Eriq La Salle, is an American actor, director, writer and producer. La Salle is known for his performance as Dr. Peter Benton in the NBC medical drama ER (1994–2002; 2009) which earned him three NAACP Image Awards and nominations for a Golden Globe Award and three Primetime Emmy Awards.
Early life La Salle, one of four children, was born and raised in Hartford, Connecticut, by his mother, Ada Haynes. He is an alumnus of Weaver High School and the Artists Collective, Inc. in Hartford. He attended the Juilliard School's Drama Division for two years as a member of Group 13 (1980–1984), then attended New York University's Tisch School of the Arts, where he earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from the Graduate Acting Program in 1984.
Career At the time of his graduation from NYU, La Salle was cast in Joseph Papp's Shakespeare in the Park production of Henry V. Soon after, he found continuous acting work on Broadway, off-Broadway, and on several daytime TV dramas including One Life to Live, where he played the reporter Mike Rivers.
In 1988, La Salle co-starred as Darryl Jenks in the Eddie Murphy movie Coming to America.
In 1994, the medical drama ER premiered on NBC with La Salle starring as Dr. Peter Benton. In the fourth season of the show, he attracted headlines for requesting the interracial relationship between his character and Alex Kingston's Dr. Elizabeth Corday be written out, following thornier relationships with two previous characters played by Black women, saying: "As an African-American man, it becomes a bit offensive if the negative things are all you're showing. Because in real life, we romance and get on each other's nerves and laugh and do all the things that any other race of people do. So if the only time you show a balanced relationship is in an interracial relationship, whether it's conscious or subconscious, it sends a message I'm not comfortable with." While being interviewed by Johnnie Cochran on Johnnie Cochran Tonight, La Salle commented, "We have to take care of the message that we're sending as African-Americans or any other group of minorities, that we have the exact same type of exchanges with our mates that we get to see our White counterparts have."
La Salle held the ER role until leaving during its eighth season. He returned to ER for three episodes during its 15th and final season, including an uncredited appearance as himself in the opening of the episode "Heal Thyself" to inform the audience of the death of the show's creator Michael Crichton; La Salle also directed the episode "The Family Man" during season 15.
In 1996, La Salle began his directorial career with the HBO made-for-TV movie Rebound: The Legend of Earl "The Goat" Manigault, starring Don Cheadle, James Earl Jones and Forest Whitaker. Shortly after that, La Salle directed the pilot for Soul Food: The Series on Showtime.
In 2002, he produced the feature film The Salton Sea. That same year, he produced, directed and starred in the movie Crazy as Hell. In 2003 he wrote, directed and starred in "Memphis", an episode of The Twilight Zone. On January 31, 2003, he made a cameo appearance in Biker Boyz as Slick Will, a mechanic. He played a Jamaican gangster in the independent film Johnny WasJohnny Was at MySpace.com opposite Vinnie Jones, Samantha Mumba, Lennox Lewis, and Roger Daltrey. La Salle lived in Belfast for four weeks while filming the movie, which he supported at the premiere of the film during the 2006 American Black Film Festival in Miami.
La Salle starred in the Hallmark Channel original movie, Relative Stranger, which premiered on March 14, 2009. Also in the movie were Cicely Tyson and La Salle's former ER castmates Michael Michele (Dr. Cleo Finch) and Michael Beach (Al Boulet).
In 2010, La Salle played the United Nations Secretary General in the series finale of 24, and guest-starred in an episode of Covert Affairs in August of the same year. In 2011, he played two recurring roles: first as a Caribbean community leader who rallied against the product Rasta Monsta in HBO's How to Make it in America, the second as the neuropsychiatrist E-Mo in CBS' A Gifted Man.
He directed the 2012 Hallmark Channel movie Playing Father, and has directed multiple episodes of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit,Eriq La Salle at IMDb CSI: NY, Ringer, and NBC's spinoff Law & Order: Organized Crime.
La Salle's first novel, Laws of Depravity, was published in 2012.
In 2015, La Salle returned to television with a role in Under the Domes third season, after directing one episode of the second season. He also directed an episode in the third season. He both acted in and directed episodes of CSI: Cyber. He appeared in other series, such as The Night Shift and Madam Secretary.
In 2016, La Salle directed the episode "Wingman" in the Fox series Lucifer and the episode "Black and Blue" of TNT's Murder in the First. He co-starred as Will Munson in the 2017 superhero film Logan. La Salle also directed and produced multiple episodes of Chicago P.D. throughout its many seasons.
Filmography
Film YearTitleDirectorProducerNotes 1996 Psalms from the Underground Short film2002 The Salton Sea Crazy as Hell
Acting roles YearTitleRoleNotes1985 Rappin' Ice Cut and Run Fargas 1986 Where Are the Children? Deputy Bernie Miles 1987 Five Corners Samuel Kemp 1988 Coming to America Darryl Jenks 1990 Jacob's Ladder Frank1994 Color of Night Anderson Drop Squad Bruford Jamison Jr2002 One Hour Photo Det. James Van Der Zee Crazy as Hell Barnett 2003 Biker Boyz Tariq 'Slick Will'Uncredited2005 The Seat Filler Alonso Grant Inside Out Doctor Peoples Conviction Peter Seidman 2006 Johnny Was Julius 2017 Logan Will Munson
Television series YearTitleDirectorExecutiveproducerActorNotes 2000 Soul Food Episode "The More Things Change" 2003 The Twilight Zone Episode "Memphis" 2007 Without a Trace Episode "Desert Springs" 2007–2008 Law & Order: Special Victims Unit 2 episodes1994-2009 ER 172 episodes2009 Old Skool TV special 2010 CSI: NY Episode "Pot of Gold" 2011–2012 Ringer 2 episodes 2011-2012 A Gifted Man 5 episodes2014 Crisis Episode "Best Laid Plans" Madam Secretary Episode "Blame Canada"2014–2015 The Night Shift 5 episodes Under the Dome 5 episodes 2015–2016 CSI: Cyber 3 episodes2015 The Messengers Episode "Eye in the Sky" Rosewood Episode "Vitamins and Vandals" Battle Creek Episode "Gingerbread Man"2016 Lucifer Episode "Wingman" Once Upon a Time Episode "Ruby Slippers" Murder in the First Episode "Black and Blue" 2016–2021 Chicago P.D. 21 episodes 2016–2017 Chicago Med 2 episodes2017 Chicago Justice Episode "Dead Meat" APB Episode "Fueling Fires" The Quad Episode "#TheCagedBirdSings" Training Day Episode "Elegy: Part 2" The Librarians Episode "And the Steal of Fortune" 2021–2025 Law & Order: Organized Crime 2 episodes 2022–2025 Law & Order 4 episodes 2024–2025 FBI 1 episode 2025 On Call
Television movies YearTitleDirectorProducer1996 Rebound: The Legend of Earl "The Goat" Manigault 1999 Mind Prey 2013 Playing Father
Acting roles YearTitleRole 1985 Out of the Darkness Bobby 1988 What Price Victory Trumayne James1989 Magic Moments Dancing Guy When We Were Young Virgil Hawkins 1990 Hammer, Slammer, & Slade Jack Spade 1991 Eyes of a Witness Mchumbo 1993 Empty Cradle Detective Knoll 1996 Rebound: The Legend of Earl "The Goat" Manigault Diego 1999 Mind Prey Lucas Davenport2009 Relative Stranger Walter Clemons MegaFault Charley 'Boomer' Baxter
Bibliography Comic books 25 to Life (3 issues, 12-Gauge Comics) (2010)
Novels Laws of Depravity (2012) Laws of Wrath (2014) Laws of Annihilation (2023) Laws of Solomon (2026)
Awards and nominations Year Association Category Work Result 1995Primetime Emmy Awards Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama SeriesER Screen Actors Guild AwardsOutstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series1996Magnolia Stage AwardBest Supporting Actor NAACP Image AwardsOutstanding Actor in a Drama Series Screen Actors Guild AwardsOutstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series 1997Golden Globe AwardsBest Supporting Actor in a Series, Miniseries or Television Film NAACP Image AwardsOutstanding Actor in a Drama Series Online Film & Television AssociationBest Supporting Actor in a Drama Series Primetime Emmy AwardsOutstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series Screen Actors Guild AwardsOutstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series Viewers for Quality TelevisionBest Supporting Actor in a Quality Drama Series 1998NAACP Image AwardsOutstanding Actor in a Drama Series Online Film & Television AssociationBest Supporting Actor in a Drama Series Primetime Emmy AwardsOutstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series Screen Actors Guild AwardsOutstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series 1999NAACP Image AwardsOutstanding Actor in a Drama Series Online Film & Television AssociationBest Supporting Actor in a Drama Series Screen Actors Guild AwardsOutstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series 2000NAACP Image AwardsOutstanding Actor in a Drama Series Screen Actors Guild AwardsOutstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series 2001NAACP Image AwardsOutstanding Actor in a Drama Series Screen Actors Guild AwardsOutstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series 2002NAACP Image AwardsOutstanding Actor in a Drama Series 2003Black Reel AwardsOutstanding Independent ActorCrazy as Hell Black Reel AwardsOutstanding Independent Film 2009NAACP Image AwardsOutstanding Directing in a Drama SeriesLaw & Order: Special Victims UnitEpisode: "PTSD" 2010Outstanding Actor in a Television Movie, Mini-Series or Dramatic SpecialRelative Stranger
References
External links