No image
Love in Exile
2026 · Movie
Ossie Davis
1917-12-18
•
Cogdell, Georgia, USA
Writers: , , , American Playhouse,
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
Louis Armstrong's Black & Blues
2022 · Movie
as Self (archive footage)
No image
Folk Britannia
2006 · TV Show
as Self (archival footage)
No image
The Peace!
2005 · Movie
as Self
By Any Means Necessary: The Making of 'Malcolm X'
2005 · Movie
as Self
No image
Unstoppable
2005 · Movie
as Self
Deacons for Defense
2005 · Movie
as Reverend 'Rev' Gregory
The History Makers: Success
2005 · Movie
as Self
Baadasssss!
2004 · Movie
as Granddad
Beah: A Black Woman Speaks
2004 · Movie
as Self
Proud
2004 · Movie
as Lorenzo DuFau
She Hate Me
2004 · Movie
as Judge Buchanan
The L Word
2004 · TV Show
as Melvin Porter
No image
TV Revolution
2004 · TV Show
The Evolution of an American Filmmaker
2003 · Movie
as Self
No image
The Tuskegee Airmen: They Fought Two Wars
2003 · Movie
as Narrator
Nat Turner: A Troublesome Property
2003 · Movie
as Himself
Unchained Memories: Readings from the Slave Narratives
2003 · Movie
Bubba Ho-tep
2002 · Movie
as John F. "Jack" Kennedy
Theater Talk: 'A Raisin in the Sun'
2002 · Movie
as Self
Christianity: The First Two Thousand Years
2002 · TV Show
as Narrator
Neighborhoods: The Hidden Cities of San Francisco - The Fillmore
2001 · Movie
as Narrator
Feast of All Saints
2001 · Movie
as Jean-Jacques
The Legend of the Candy Cane
2001 · Movie
as Julius (voice)
Dinosaur
2000 · Movie
as Yar (voice)
Finding Buck McHenry
2000 · Movie
as Buck McHenry
Here's to Life!
2000 · Movie
as Duncan Cox
The Secret Path
1999 · Movie
as Too Tall
The Soul Collector
1999 · Movie
as Mordecai
Trans-Siberian Orchestra: The Ghosts of Christmas Eve
1999 · Movie
as Caretaker
A Vow to Cherish
1999 · Movie
as Alexander Billman
The Unfinished Journey
1999 · Movie
as Narrator (voice)
Paul Robeson: Here I Stand
1999 · Movie
as Self
Third Watch
1999 · TV Show
as Mr. Parker
Doctor Dolittle
1998 · Movie
as Archer Dolittle
12 Angry Men
1998 · Movie
as Juror 2
Scandalize My Name: Stories from the Blacklist
1998 · Movie
as Self
Small Steps, Big Strides: The Black Experience in Hollywood
1998 · Movie
as Self
No image
Christianity: The First 1000 Years
1998 · TV Show
as Himself - Narrator
Miss Evers' Boys
1997 · Movie
as Mr. Evers
4 Little Girls
1997 · Movie
as Self - Actor and Playwright
No image
Jackie Robinson: Breaking Barriers
1997 · Movie
as Narrator
Walter Matthau: Diamond in the Rough
1997 · Movie
as Self
Thomas Jefferson
1997 · TV Show
as Narrator (voice)
I'm Not Rappaport
1996 · Movie
as Midge Carter
Get on the Bus
1996 · Movie
as Jeremiah / 'Pop'
Promised Land
1996 · TV Show
as Erasmus Jones
The West
1996 · TV Show
as Self, Self / John R. Gills (voice)
The Android Affair
1995 · Movie
as Dr. Winston
Ray Alexander: A Menu for Murder
1995 · Movie
as Uncle Phil
JAG
1995 · TV Show
as Terrence Minnerly
The Client
1995 · TV Show
as Judge Harry Roosevelt
No image
Arthur Ashe: Citizen of the World
1994 · Movie
as Narrator
The Client
1994 · Movie
as Harry Roosevelt
Malcolm X: Make It Plain
1994 · Movie
as Self
Ray Alexander: A Taste For Justice
1994 · Movie
as Uncle Phil
Touched by an Angel
1994 · TV Show
as Gabriel, Erasmus Jones
The Stand
1994 · TV Show
as Judge Richard Farris, Judge Richard Farris (credit only)
Baseball
1994 · TV Show
as Various (voice), (voice)
Goin' Back to T-Town
1993 · Movie
as Narrator
Grumpy Old Men
1993 · Movie
as Chuck
The Ernest Green Story
1993 · Movie
as Grandfather
Cop & ½
1993 · Movie
as Detective in Squad Room
Alex Haley's Queen
1993 · TV Show
as Parson Dick
Malcolm X
1992 · Movie
as Eulogy Performer (voice)
Gladiator
1992 · Movie
as Noah
No image
Lincoln
1992 · Movie
as Frederick Douglas (voice)
Haiti: Killing the Dream
1992 · Movie
The Real Malcolm X
1992 · Movie
Jungle Fever
1991 · Movie
as Reverend Purify
Preminger: Anatomy of a Filmmaker
1991 · Movie
as Self
Joe Versus the Volcano
1990 · Movie
as Marshall
The Red Shoes
1990 · Movie
Evening Shade
1990 · TV Show
as Ponder Blue
Do the Right Thing
1989 · Movie
as Da Mayor
No image
Making 'Do the Right Thing'
1989 · Movie
as Self
B.L. Stryker
1989 · TV Show
as Oz Jackson
School Daze
1988 · Movie
as Coach Odom
American Experience
1988 · TV Show
as Self - Harlem Resident
Sesame Street: Sleepytime Songs & Stories
1986 · Movie
as Anansi the Spider (Sleepytime Songs and Stories) (voice)
American Masters
1986 · TV Show
as Self
Avenging Angel
1985 · Movie
as Capt. Harry Moradian
Tyler Texas Black Film Collection
1985 · Movie
as Himself
Harry & Son
1984 · Movie
as Raymond
The House of God
1984 · Movie
as Dr. Sanders
No image
Marcus Garvey: Toward Black Nationhood
1984 · Movie
as Narrator
Reading Rainbow
1983 · TV Show
as Self - Narrator (voice)
Death of a Prophet
1981 · Movie
Don't Look Back: The Story of Leroy "Satchel" Paige
1981 · Movie
as Chuffy Russell
All God's Children
1980 · Movie
as Blaine Whitfield
Hot Stuff
1979 · Movie
as Captain John Geiberger
Freedom Road
1979 · Movie
as Narrator
No image
Freedom Man
1979 · Movie
as Benjamin Banneker
Roots: The Next Generations
1979 · TV Show
as 'Dad' Jones
The Kennedy Center Honors
1978 · TV Show
as Self
King
1978 · TV Show
as Rev. Martin Luther King Sr.
Billy: Portrait of a Street Kid
1977 · Movie
as Dr. Fredericks
The Tenth Level
1976 · Movie
as Reed
Countdown at Kusini
1976 · Movie
as Ernest Motapo
Let's Do It Again
1975 · Movie
as Elder Johnson
Black Shadows on a Silver Screen
1975 · Movie
as Narrator
Wattstax
1973 · Movie
as Self (uncredited)
Malcolm X
1972 · Movie
as Eulogy (voice)
The Sheriff
1971 · Movie
as James Lucas
Kongi's Harvest
1970 · Movie
as Narrator
Sam Whiskey
1969 · Movie
as Jed Hooker
Teacher, Teacher
1969 · Movie
as Charles Carter
Slaves
1969 · Movie
as Luke
The Fall
1969 · Movie
Night Gallery
1969 · Movie
as Osmond Portifoy
The Scalphunters
1968 · Movie
as Joseph Lee
Still A Brother: Inside the Negro Middle Class
1968 · Movie
as Narrator
Hawaii Five-O
1968 · TV Show
as Ramon Borelle
The Name of the Game
1968 · TV Show
as Kubani
The Outsider
1967 · Movie
as Lt. Wagner
Black Liberation
1967 · Movie
as Narrator
No image
Now is the Time
1967 · Movie
as Self
A Man Called Adam
1966 · Movie
as Nelson Davis
The Hill
1965 · Movie
as Jacko King
No image
The Sun... the Sand... the Hill
1965 · Movie
as Jason King (archive footage), Jason King (archival footage)
Run for Your Life
1965 · TV Show
as Frankie Morton, Dave Corbett, Sgt. Dave Corbett
Shock Treatment
1964 · Movie
as Capshaw
12 O'Clock High
1964 · TV Show
as Major Glenn Luke
Gone Are the Days!
1963 · Movie
as Reverend Purlie Victorious Judson
The Cardinal
1963 · Movie
as Father Gillis
The Great Adventure
1963 · TV Show
as John Ross
The Fugitive
1963 · TV Show
as Lt. Johnny Gaines
Hands of Inge
1962 · Movie
as Narrator (voice)
The Defenders
1961 · TV Show
as Nixie, Officer Bond, District Attorney, Assistant District Attorney, District Attorney Daniel Jackson
John Brown's Raid
1960 · Movie
as Dangerfield Newby
Bonanza
1959 · TV Show
as Sam Davis
Tony Awards
1956 · TV Show
as Self - Presenter
Fourteen Hours
1951 · Movie
as Cab Driver (uncredited)
Hallmark Hall of Fame
1951 · TV Show
as Charles Carter
No Way Out
1950 · Movie
as John Brooks (uncredited)
Kraft Television Theatre
1947 · TV Show
as The Emperor Jones
Crew Credits
No image
Love in Exile
2026 · Movie
Writer
Purlie Victorious: A Non-Confederate Romp Through the Cotton Patch
2024 · Movie
Writer
Scandalize My Name: Stories from the Blacklist
1998 · Movie
Thanks
For Us, the Living: The Story of Medgar Evers
1983 · Movie
Writer
American Playhouse
1982 · TV Show
Writer
Purlie
1981 · Movie
Musical
Countdown at Kusini
1976 · Movie
Director, Screenplay
Gordon's War
1973 · Movie
Director
Black Girl
1972 · Movie
Director
Cotton Comes to Harlem
1970 · Movie
Director, Screenplay
Kongi's Harvest
1970 · Movie
Director
Gone Are the Days!
1963 · Movie
Writer
East Side/West Side
1963 · TV Show
Writer
