Elden Ryan Ratliff was born August 30, 1977, in Rockville, Maryland, to Sayde Henson, an educator and former photographer,[1] and George Ratliff, a former New York theater actor. He has two brothers, actors Garette Ratliff Henson (who appeared in The Mighty Ducks with Elden) and Erick Ratliff (who, like Elden, appeared in Elvis and Me). From his father's second marriage, he has a younger half-brother, Ellington Ratliff, who is a member of the band R5.
Henson's first professional work was as a print model when he was a toddler. During this time, he was signed to the children's division of Fords Models. By age six, he was acting in commercials. He received his SAG card in 1982.[4] Over the following decade, he acted in films including 1988's Elvis and Me and 1989's Turner & Hooch, and had a series of guest roles on television.
From 1992 to 1996, Henson played Fulton Reed in all three films in The Mighty Ducks trilogy: The Mighty Ducks (1992), D2: The Mighty Ducks (1994) and D3: The Mighty Ducks (1996). He told TV Guide that he owes "a lot of [his] career" to those films. "What's funny is I still, more than anything, get recognized for The Mighty Ducks. I love it. When I was younger, I would get embarrassed. I played sports growing up and I'd be playing baseball and the other team would be quacking at me and stuff. I love those movies. I feel like these things come once in a lifetime and to experience this stuff as a kid and as an adult, I just feel really lucky."[5]
Beginning in 2015, Henson portrayed Foggy Nelson in all three seasons of the Netflix television series Daredevil. Marvel announced Henson's casting in June 2014.[10] During the audition for the role of Foggy Nelson, which was held via video conference call, Henson held his phone the wrong way and appeared upside down to others in the meeting. This mishap convinced the show's executives he was the right man for the part.[11] Henson spoke of his excitement for Foggy's role in the series, saying "I was really excited as I was getting the scripts and reading that Foggy wasn't just a useless sidekick. He's not just comic relief. I mean, he is some of those things. He does have comic relief, but it was exciting to know that these other characters would have their own path and their own things that they're dealing with."[12][13] In addition to Daredevil, Henson has also portrayed Foggy in the crossover miniseries The Defenders[14] and a cameo appearance in the second seasons of Jessica Jones and Luke Cage.[15]