Dutton was born January 30, 1951, on the East side of Baltimore, Maryland. His father was a truck driver. In his youth, Dutton dropped out of school before finishing middle school. He had a short-lived stint as an amateur boxer with the nickname "Roc." When he was 17, he got into a fight which resulted in the death of a man Dutton claimed had attacked him. Dutton was convicted of manslaughter, and spent seven years in prison.\n', '

Several months into his second prison term, Dutton was sentenced to six days of solitary confinement, which allowed prisoners to take one book. By accident, he grabbed an anthology of black playwrights. He enjoyed the plays so much that, upon his release from confinement, he petitioned the warden to start a drama group for the Christmas talent show. The warden agreed on the condition that Dutton go back to school and get his GED. Dutton accomplished that and went on to eventually complete a two-year college program at Hagerstown Junior College (now Hagerstown Community College) in Hagerstown, Maryland, graduating with an Associate of Arts degree in 1976. Upon his release, he enrolled as a drama major at Towson State University (now known as Towson University) in the Baltimore suburb of Towson, Maryland, where he graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1978. After his time at Towson, Dutton earned a master\'s degree in acting from the Yale School of Drama in 1983.\n', '

In 1984, Dutton made his Broadway debut in August Wilson\'s Ma Rainey\'s Black Bottom, winning a Theatre World Award and a Tony Award nomination for Best Actor. In 1988, Dutton played a killer in the television miniseries The Murder of Mary Phagan opposite Jack Lemmon and Kevin Spacey. 1990 brought him a second Best Actor Tony nomination for his role in another Wilson play, The Piano Lesson. From 1991-1994, he starred in the Fox television series Roc. Dutton co-starred in Alien 3, the debut film of director David Fincher, then co-starred in 1993\'s Rudy. Other films he has appeared in include Get on the Bus; A Time to Kill; Cookie\'s Fortune; Crocodile Dundee II; Cry, the Beloved Country; Surviving the Game, Menace II Society; and Secret Window.\n', '

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