Francois Battiste

Battiste graduated from Illinois State University with a bachelor’s degree in theatre. While a student at ISU, Battiste performed two summers in the Illinois Shakespeare Festival (ISF). Battiste was named as one of 40 actors to the ISF Actor Honor Roll, established in 2017 during the Festival’s 40th Anniversary Season. During his graduate studies at Juilliard, Battiste was awarded the Houseman Award—the first African American male in the school’s history to earn the prestigious honor.

Battiste’s career spans across all facets of performance including commercials, radio, and television voice overs, audio books, television, film, as well as the theatre stage. He has performed at The Goodman Theatre, the Chicago Shakespeare Theater, Victory Gardens, and Lookingglass Theatre. Some of his more recognizable screen credits include Ten Days in the Valley, New Amsterdam, Godfather of Harlem, Law & Order: Organized Crime, The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial, and the currently airing series, Paradise.

Battiste has performed both on and off Broadway. He received the OBIE Award for his performance in the Pulitzer Prize finalist play, The Good Negro, at The Public Theater and acted opposite Al Pacino, Jesse L. Martin, and Jesse Tyler Ferguson in The Merchant of Venice, directed by Dan Sullivan and The Winter’s Tale, directed by Michael Grief for Shakespeare in the Park at the Delacorte in New York City. He played Malcom X in the Oliver-nominated play, One Night in Miami, at the DonMar Warehouse in London and performed opposite Blair Underwood in the new play, Paradise Blue, by Dominique Morriseau at the Signature Theatre in New York.