Ossie Davis

WriterActorCrewDirector Dec 18 (died age 87) Cogdell, Georgia, USA 1947–2024 (77 year career)

6.5 avg rating

Biography

Raiford Chatman "Ossie" Davis (December 18, 1917 – February 4, 2005) was an American actor, director, writer, and activist. He may be best known for his roles in Spike Lee-directed films such as School Daze (1988) and Do the Right Thing (1989). Other films Davis acted in include The Hill (1965), A Man Called Adam (1966), Let's Do It Again (1975), Joe Versus the Volcano (1990), Grumpy Old Men (1993), The Client (1994), Dr. Dolittle (1998), Dinosaur (2000), and Bubba Ho-Tep (2002). He was married …

Known For

Film

Do the Right Thing

Da Mayor

Film

Malcolm X

Eulogy Performer (voice)

Film

Dinosaur

Yar (voice)

Film

The Client

Harry Roosevelt

Film

12 Angry Men

Juror 2

Film

Doctor Dolittle

Archer Dolittle

Film

Gladiator

Noah

Film

Grumpy Old Men

Chuck

Filmography

Acting (138)

Movies (100)

Louis Armstrong's Black & Blues

2022

as Self (archive footage)

6.7

The History Makers: Success

2005

as Self

The Peace!

2005

as Self

5.0

Unstoppable

2005

as Self

Deacons for Defense

2005

as Reverend 'Rev' Gregory

6.2

By Any Means Necessary: The Making of 'Malcolm X'

as Self

She Hate Me

as Judge Buchanan

Proud

as Lorenzo DuFau

Baadasssss!

as Granddad

Beah: A Black Woman Speaks

2004

as Self

The Tuskegee Airmen: They Fought Two Wars

2003

as Narrator

Unchained Memories: Readings from the Slave Narratives

2003

4.8

The Evolution of an American Filmmaker

2003

as Self

7.3

Nat Turner: A Troublesome Property

2003

as Himself

6.1

Bubba Ho-tep

2002

as John F. "Jack" Kennedy

6.5

Theater Talk: 'A Raisin in the Sun'

2002

as Self

Neighborhoods: The Hidden Cities of San Francisco - The Fillmore

2001

as Narrator

Feast of All Saints

2001

as Jean-Jacques

4.4

The Legend of the Candy Cane

2001

as Julius (voice)

Dinosaur

2000

as Yar (voice)

6.6

Finding Buck McHenry

2000

as Buck McHenry

Here's to Life!

2000

as Duncan Cox

The Unfinished Journey

as Narrator (voice)

A Vow to Cherish

as Alexander Billman

The Secret Path

as Too Tall

The Soul Collector

as Mordecai

Trans-Siberian Orchestra: The Ghosts of Christmas Eve

1999

as Caretaker

9.0

Paul Robeson: Here I Stand

1999

as Self

Doctor Dolittle

1998

as Archer Dolittle

5.7

Scandalize My Name: Stories from the Blacklist

1998

as Self

7.7

Small Steps, Big Strides: The Black Experience in Hollywood

1998

as Self

12 Angry Men

1997

as Juror 2

7.7

4 Little Girls

1997

as Self - Actor and Playwright

7.2

Miss Evers' Boys

1997

as Mr. Evers

6.3

Walter Matthau: Diamond in the Rough

1997

as Self

6.5

Jackie Robinson: Breaking Barriers

as Narrator

Get on the Bus

as Jeremiah

I'm Not Rappaport

as Midge Carter

Ray Alexander: A Menu for Murder

1995

as Uncle Phil

The Android Affair

as Dr. Winston

The Client

as Harry Roosevelt

Malcolm X: Make It Plain

1994

as Self

10.0

Ray Alexander: A Taste For Justice

1994

as Uncle Phil

Arthur Ashe: Citizen of the World

1994

as Narrator

Grumpy Old Men

1993

as Chuck

6.7

Cop & ½

1993

as Detective in Squad Room

4.5

Goin' Back to T-Town

1993

as Narrator

The Ernest Green Story

1993

as Grandfather

6.9

Malcolm X

1992

as Eulogy Performer (voice)

Gladiator

as Noah

The Real Malcolm X

Lincoln

as Frederick Douglas (voice)

6.8

Jungle Fever

1991

as Reverend Purify

6.4

Preminger: Anatomy of a Filmmaker

1991

as Self

7.7

Joe Versus the Volcano

as Marshall

The Red Shoes

Do the Right Thing

as Da Mayor

Making 'Do the Right Thing'

as Self

School Daze

as Coach Odom

Sesame Street: Sleepytime Songs & Stories

1986

as Anansi the Spider (Sleepytime Songs and Stories) (voice)

Avenging Angel

1985

as Capt. Harry Moradian

5.2

Tyler Texas Black Film Collection

as Himself

Harry & Son

as Raymond

The House of God

as Dr. Sanders

Marcus Garvey: Toward Black Nationhood

1984

as Narrator

Don't Look Back: The Story of Leroy "Satchel" Paige

as Chuffy Russell

Death of a Prophet

All God's Children

as Blaine Whitfield

Hot Stuff

as Captain John Geiberger

7.0

Freedom Man

1979

as Benjamin Banneker

Freedom Road

1979

as Narrator

4.8

Billy: Portrait of a Street Kid

1977

as Dr. Fredericks

The Tenth Level

1976

as Reed

5.1

Countdown at Kusini

1976

as Ernest Motapo

Black Shadows on a Silver Screen

1975

as Narrator

Let's Do It Again

as Elder Johnson

Wattstax

as Self (uncredited)

Malcolm X

as Eulogy (voice)

The Sheriff

as James Lucas

Kongi's Harvest

as Narrator

Night Gallery

as Osmond Portifoy

Sam Whiskey

as Jed Hooker

Teacher, Teacher

as Charles Carter

Slaves

as Luke

The Fall

The Scalphunters

as Joseph Lee

Still A Brother: Inside the Negro Middle Class

1968

as Narrator

Black Liberation

1967

as Narrator

The Outsider

as Lt. Wagner

A Man Called Adam

as Nelson Davis

The Hill

as Jacko King

The Sun... the Sand... the Hill

1965

as Jason King (archival footage)

Shock Treatment

as Capshaw

Gone Are the Days!

as Reverend Purlie Victorious Judson

The Cardinal

as Father Gillis

Hands of Inge

as Narrator (voice)

John Brown's Raid

1960

as Dangerfield Newby

Fourteen Hours

1951

as Cab Driver (uncredited)

7.2

No Way Out

1950

as John Brooks (uncredited)

6.9

Haiti: Killing the Dream

Television (38)

Folk Britannia

2006

as Self (archival footage)

The L Word

2004

as Melvin Porter

7.6

TV Revolution

2004

Christianity: The First Two Thousand Years

as Narrator

Third Watch

as Mr. Parker

Christianity: The First 1000 Years

1998

as Himself - Narrator

Thomas Jefferson

as Narrator (voice)

Promised Land

The West

as Self

The West

as Self / John R. Gills (voice)

JAG

as Terrence Minnerly

The Client

as Judge Harry Roosevelt

6.8

The Stand

1994

as Judge Richard Farris

6.8

The Stand

1994

as Judge Richard Farris (credit only)

Touched by an Angel

as Erasmus Jones

Baseball

as (voice)

Alex Haley's Queen

as Parson Dick

Evening Shade

as Ponder Blue

B.L. Stryker

as Oz Jackson

American Experience

as Self - Harlem Resident

American Masters

as Self

Reading Rainbow

as Self - Narrator (voice)

8.4

Roots: The Next Generations

1979

as Dad Jones

7.5

Roots: The Next Generations

1979

as 'Dad' Jones

7.5

The Kennedy Center Honors

1978

as Self

7.4

King

1978

as Rev. Martin Luther King Sr.

Night Gallery

as Osmund Portifoy

Hawaii Five-O

as Ramon Borelle

The Name of the Game

as Kubani

Run for Your Life

as Frankie Morton

12 O'Clock High

as Major Glenn Luke

The Fugitive

as Lt. Johnny Gaines

The Great Adventure

as John Ross

The Defenders

as Nixie

Bonanza

as Sam Davis

Tony Awards

as Self - Presenter

Hallmark Hall of Fame

1951

as Charles Carter

8.6

Kraft Television Theatre

1947

as The Emperor Jones

7.5

Crew (13)

Movies (12)

Purlie Victorious: A Non-Confederate Romp Through the Cotton Patch

2024

Writer

Scandalize My Name: Stories from the Blacklist

1998

Thanks

7.7

For Us, the Living: The Story of Medgar Evers

1983

Writer

Purlie

1981

Musical

5.3

Countdown at Kusini

1976

Director

Countdown at Kusini

1976

Screenplay

Gordon's War

Director

Black Girl

Director

Cotton Comes to Harlem

1970

Director

6.1

Cotton Comes to Harlem

Screenplay

Kongi's Harvest

Director

Gone Are the Days!

Writer

Television (1)

East Side/West Side

1963

Writer

7.8