Delroy Lindo was born in 1952 in Lewisham, south east London, the son of Jamaican parents who had emigrated to Britain. Lindo grew up in nearby Eltham, and became interested in acting as a child when he appeared in a nativity play at school. His mother was a nurse and his father worked in various jobs. As a teenager, he and his mother moved to Toronto, Ontario, Canada. When he was sixteen, they moved to San Francisco. At the age of 24, Lindo started acting studies at the American Conservatory Theater, graduating in 1979.

Lindo’s film debut came in 1976 with the Canadian John Candy comedy Find the Lady, followed by two other roles in films, including an Army Sergeant in More American Graffiti (1979).

He stopped his film career for 10 years to concentrate on theatre acting. In 1982 he debuted on Broadway in “Master Harold”…and the Boys, directed by the play’s South African author Athol Fugard. By 1988 Lindo had earned a Tony nomination for his portrayal of Herald Loomis in August Wilson’s Joe Turner’s Come and Gone.

Lindo had a small role in the 1995 film Congo, playing the corrupt Captain Wanta. Lindo was not credited for the role. Lindo played an angel in the comedy film A Life Less Ordinary (1997).

In 1998 Lindo co-starred as African-American explorer Matthew Henson, in the TV film Glory & Honor, directed by Kevin Hooks. It portrayed his nearly 20-year partnership with Commander Robert Peary in Arctic exploration and their effort to find the Geographic North Pole in 1909. He received a Satellite Award for best actor. Lindo has continued to work in television and in 2006 was seen on the short-lived NBC drama Kidnapped.

In 2007, Lindo began an association with Berkeley Repertory Theatre in Berkeley, California, when he directed Tanya Barfield’s play The Blue Door. In the autumn of 2008, Lindo revisited August Wilson’s play, Joe Turner’s Come and Gone, directing a production at the Berkeley Rep. In 2010, he played the role of elderly seer Bynum in David Lan’s production of Joe Turner at the Young Vic Theatre in London.

In 2015, Lindo was expected to play Marcus Garvey in a biopic of the black nationalist historical figure that had been in pre-production for several years.