Rickey Lee Lawson, best known for his role as Norman Bellarie, a central antagonist in Tyler Perry’s Netflix series Beauty in Black, has credited his resilience to his African heritage, revealing that he is 30 per cent Nigerian and 20 per cent Ghanaian.
Speaking to Bold Journey in 2024, Lawson said: “My resilience comes from my legacy, comes from my African heritage. I found out I’m 30% Nigerian and 20% Ghanaian, so I realised when I was standing in that dungeon in Ghana that I was standing on my own DNA, and that empowered me to know that nothing can stop me.”
Born Richard Lawson, the American actor has enjoyed a decades-long career in film and television. He is widely recognised for his role as Ryan in the 1982 horror classic Poltergeist and as Dr Ben Taylor in the 1983 NBC miniseries V.
Lawson was drafted into the United States Army, where he trained as a medic and served 21 months in Vietnam during the Vietnam War. He was wounded in action before returning home to pursue an acting career.
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His first feature film appearance, though uncredited, was in the 1971 film Dirty Harry. In 1973, he played Willis in Scream Blacula Scream. Other notable film credits include The Main Event (1979) and Streets of Fire (1984), in which he portrayed Officer Ed Price.
On television, Lawson’s early leading role came in the 1977 Australian drama Hotel Story, which was cancelled before its first episode aired.
He later starred in the 1980s series Chicago Story and played Nick Kimball on the prime-time soap opera Dynasty from 1986 to 1987. He also appeared as Detective Nathaniel Hawthorne in The Days and Nights of Molly Dodd (1989–1991) and as Lucas Barnes in All My Children (1992–1994).
Throughout his career, Lawson has made numerous guest appearances on television shows, including Kojak, Get Christie Love!, Sister, Sister, Soul Food, The Bernie Mac Show, The Division, and Strong Medicine.
