Howard Ellsworth Rollins, Jr. (October 17, 1950 – December 8, 1996) was an American television, film, and stage actor. The youngest of four children, Rollins was born in Baltimore, Maryland where he studied theater at Towson State College nearby. In 1970, he dropped out of college to play the role of "Slick" in the PBS soap opera Our Street. In 1974, moved to New York where he would go on to appear on Broadway and in television films including Roots: The Next Generations. In 1982, Rollins was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his performance in the Dino De Laurentiis/Miloš Forman motion picture, Ragtime (1981). The following year, he was nominated for an Daytime Emmy for his role on Another World. In 1984, Rollins starred in director Norman Jewison`s film, A Soldier`s Story which led to his role as Virgil Tibbs on the In the Heat of the Night television series based on Jewison`s acclaimed film In the Heat of the Night. In 1988, Rollins was arrested and plead guilty to cocaine possession in Louisiana. In 1993, he served a month in jail for reckless driving and driving under the influence. Because of continued legal problems, Rollins was ultimately dropped from In the Heat of the Night and was replaced by Carl Weathers. After attending drug rehab, he returned to In the Heat of the Night as a guest star. In the last years of his life, appeared on the TV shows New York Undercover and Remember WENN, his final acting role. in the PBS film Harambee!, and in the theatrical film Drunks.

Rollins died on December 8, 1996 from complications from lymphoma. He had been diagnosed with the disease approximately six weeks earlier. On October 25, 2006, a wax statue of Rollins was unveiled at the Senator Theatre in Baltimore. The statue is now at Baltimore`s Great Blacks in Wax Museum.