Henry Oswald Simmons, Jr. (b. July 1, 1970 in Stamford, Connecticut) is an African-American actor.

Simmons is one of three children; he has a sister who is his twin. Simmons earned a basketball scholarship at Franklin Pierce College in New Hampshire, where he earned a business degree. While there, he experimented in theater. After graduating from college, he briefly worked at a Fortune 500 company in Stamford. Unhappy with his job, Simmons began to study acting and after a few bit roles, he landed a recurring role on the soap opera, Another World. Simmons is best known for playing Detective Baldwin Jones on the ABC drama, NYPD Blue. He also played Queen Latifah's boyfriend in the 2004 action/comedy film Taxi. He has recently appeared in episodes of the new CBS legal drama Shark starring James Woods.

Simmons was engaged to local news anchor/television personality Lauren Sanchez; they broke off the engagement in 2003.

Partly due to his appearance on 'Shark' Simmons has become a blank">fan-favorite to play the role of Marvel comic book hero Luke Cage aka Power Man, despite _Tyrese Gibson's attachment to the role.

Henry is one of three children born to a retired IRS agent and a former school teacher. One of his sisters is his twin. Simmons earned a basketball scholarship at Franklin Pierce College in New Hampshire. He graduated with a business degree and quickly went to work for a Stamford financial firm. He quickly realized that was not his calling. He started studying acting at night. He soon was sneaking away from work to go to auditions. He made his TV debut in a "Saturday Night Live" skit, replacing NBA star Derrick Coleman after he broke an ankle. He then got bit parts on several TV series. This led to a continuous role on the soap opera "Another World" and then to "NYPD Blue". While waiting for his breakthrough, he worked as a hotel bellman.