Ossie Davis
Acting
1917-12-18 · Cogdell, Georgia, USA
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 to Ruby Dee, with whom he frequently performed, from 1948 until his death.
Filmography
Love in Exile
2026 · Movie
Purlie Victorious: A Non-Confederate Romp Through the Cotton Patch
2024 · Movie
Louis Armstrong's Black & Blues
2022 · Movie
Folk Britannia
2006 · Series
The Peace!
2005 · Movie
Deacons for Defense
2005 · Movie
The History Makers: Success
2005 · Movie
Unstoppable
2005 · Movie
By Any Means Necessary: The Making of 'Malcolm X'
2005 · Movie
She Hate Me
2004 · Movie
Proud
2004 · Movie
Baadasssss!
2004 · Movie
TV Revolution
2004 · Series
Beah: A Black Woman Speaks
2004 · Movie
The L Word
2004 · Series
The Evolution of an American Filmmaker
2003 · Movie
The Tuskegee Airmen: They Fought Two Wars
2003 · Movie
Nat Turner: A Troublesome Property
2003 · Movie
Unchained Memories: Readings from the Slave Narratives
2003 · Movie
Theater Talk: 'A Raisin in the Sun'
2002 · Movie
Bubba Ho-tep
2002 · Movie
Christianity: The First Two Thousand Years
2002 · Series
Feast of All Saints
2001 · Movie
Neighborhoods: The Hidden Cities of San Francisco - The Fillmore
2001 · Movie
The Legend of the Candy Cane
2001 · Movie
Here's to Life!
2000 · Movie
Dinosaur
2000 · Movie
Finding Buck McHenry
2000 · Movie
The Unfinished Journey
1999 · Movie
Trans-Siberian Orchestra: The Ghosts of Christmas Eve
1999 · Movie
The Soul Collector
1999 · Movie
Third Watch
1999 · Series
The Secret Path
1999 · Movie
Paul Robeson: Here I Stand
1999 · Movie
A Vow to Cherish
1999 · Movie
Christianity: The First 1000 Years
1998 · Series
Doctor Dolittle
1998 · Movie
Small Steps, Big Strides: The Black Experience in Hollywood
1998 · Movie
Scandalize My Name: Stories from the Blacklist
1998 · Movie
12 Angry Men
1997 · Movie
4 Little Girls
1997 · Movie
Jackie Robinson: Breaking Barriers
1997 · Movie
Miss Evers' Boys
1997 · Movie
Thomas Jefferson
1997 · Series
Walter Matthau: Diamond in the Rough
1997 · Movie
I'm Not Rappaport
1996 · Movie
Get on the Bus
1996 · Movie
Promised Land
1996 · Series
The West
1996 · Series
JAG
1995 · Series
The Client
1995 · Series
The Android Affair
1995 · Movie
Ray Alexander: A Menu for Murder
1995 · Movie
Touched by an Angel
1994 · Series
Baseball
1994 · Series
The Client
1994 · Movie
Ray Alexander: A Taste For Justice
1994 · Movie
The Stand
1994 · Series
Malcolm X: Make It Plain
1994 · Movie
Arthur Ashe: Citizen of the World
1994 · Movie
Grumpy Old Men
1993 · Movie
Cop & ½
1993 · Movie
Goin' Back to T-Town
1993 · Movie
Alex Haley's Queen
1993 · Series
The Ernest Green Story
1993 · Movie
Lincoln
1992 · Movie
Malcolm X
1992 · Movie
The Real Malcolm X
1992 · Movie
Haiti: Killing the Dream
1992 · Movie
Gladiator
1992 · Movie
Preminger: Anatomy of a Filmmaker
1991 · Movie
Jungle Fever
1991 · Movie
Evening Shade
1990 · Series
Joe Versus the Volcano
1990 · Movie
The Red Shoes
1990 · Movie
Making 'Do the Right Thing'
1989 · Movie
Do the Right Thing
1989 · Movie
B.L. Stryker
1989 · Series
American Experience
1988 · Series
School Daze
1988 · Movie
American Masters
1986 · Series
Sesame Street: Sleepytime Songs & Stories
1986 · Movie
Avenging Angel
1985 · Movie
Tyler Texas Black Film Collection
1985 · Movie
Harry & Son
1984 · Movie
Marcus Garvey: Toward Black Nationhood
1984 · Movie
The House of God
1984 · Movie
Reading Rainbow
1983 · Series
For Us, the Living: The Story of Medgar Evers
1983 · Movie
American Playhouse
1982 · Series
Purlie
1981 · Movie
Don't Look Back: The Story of Leroy "Satchel" Paige
1981 · Movie
Death of a Prophet
1981 · Movie
All God's Children
1980 · Movie
Freedom Road
1979 · Movie
Hot Stuff
1979 · Movie
Roots: The Next Generations
1979 · Series
Freedom Man
1979 · Movie
The Kennedy Center Honors
1978 · Series
King
1978 · Series
Billy: Portrait of a Street Kid
1977 · Movie
The Tenth Level
1976 · Movie
Countdown at Kusini
1976 · Movie
Let's Do It Again
1975 · Movie
Black Shadows on a Silver Screen
1975 · Movie
Gordon's War
1973 · Movie
Wattstax
1973 · Movie
Black Girl
1972 · Movie
Malcolm X
1972 · Movie
The Sheriff
1971 · Movie
Cotton Comes to Harlem
1970 · Movie
Kongi's Harvest
1970 · Movie
Night Gallery
1969 · Movie
Slaves
1969 · Movie
Sam Whiskey
1969 · Movie
Teacher, Teacher
1969 · Movie
The Fall
1969 · Movie
Hawaii Five-O
1968 · Series
The Name of the Game
1968 · Series
The Scalphunters
1968 · Movie
Still A Brother: Inside the Negro Middle Class
1968 · Movie
The Outsider
1967 · Movie
Black Liberation
1967 · Movie
Now is the Time
1967 · Movie
A Man Called Adam
1966 · Movie
Run for Your Life
1965 · Series
The Sun... the Sand... the Hill
1965 · Movie
The Hill
1965 · Movie
12 O'Clock High
1964 · Series
Shock Treatment
1964 · Movie
The Cardinal
1963 · Movie
The Great Adventure
1963 · Series
East Side/West Side
1963 · Series
The Fugitive
1963 · Series
Gone Are the Days!
1963 · Movie
Hands of Inge
1962 · Movie
The Defenders
1961 · Series
John Brown's Raid
1960 · Movie
Bonanza
1959 · Series
Tony Awards
1956 · Series
Hallmark Hall of Fame
1951 · Series
Fourteen Hours
1951 · Movie
No Way Out
1950 · Movie
Kraft Television Theatre
1947 · Series