OSSIE DAVIS BIOGRAPHY & FILMOGRAPHY:
Ossie Davis was born December 18th, 1917 with the birth name Raiford Chatman Davis in Cogdell, Clinch County, Georgia. His father was Kince Charles Davis, a railway construction engineer and his mother was Laura Cooper.
Upon completion of High School he attended Howard University in Washington D.C, but decided to drop out in 1939 in pursuit of a career as a writer and in acting. He moved to New York to try and get involved in acting and later on he did decide to complete a college degree in General Studies by attending Columbia University. He joined the military during Word War II and after he returned back to New York City to pursue his goal of becoming an actor.
His acting career began working with the Rose McClendon Players in Harlem follwed by his Broadway debut in "Jeb" (1946). It was on this stage production that he also met his future wife, Ruby Dee whom in 1948 he wed.
In 1950, Davis made his film debut in, "No Way Out". Davis like many other African American actors did not want to be type cast into roles just based on his race, he wanted to portray more distinguished like characters.
Davis and Ruby appeared on screen a number of times. One more well known was in, "Purlie Victorious" (1961).
Not only was Davis involved in acting, he was also a director, playwright, poet and social activist. Some of the films he directed were, "Gordon's War" (1973), "Black Girl" (1972) and "Cotton Comes to Harlem" (1970). Ossie was also a playwright for "Paul Robeson: All American".
Davis was also praised by Hollywood for his amazing and successful relationship to his wife Ruby Dee. He was also a very passionate man about civil rights and humanitarian causes. Davis and his wife Ruby were very involved in organizing the 1963 Civil Rights March on Washington with Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. for Jobs and Freedom.
As his career progressed he continued to work on various films as well as some commercial work. He worked with the director Spike Lee on, "Do the Right Thing" (1989), "Jungle Fever" (1991) and "Get on the Bus" (1996) among others.
Davis's final role had been the portrayal of a father in , "The L Word" (2004-2005) in which the film ends with him pasing away from prostate cancer on screen, sadly on February 4th, 2005 Davis was found in his Miami hotel room dead. He passed away from natural causes.
Throughout his lifetime he was honored in many ways. Davis and his wife Ruby were honored with an award for the National Medal of Arts along with receiving the Kennedy Center Honors in 2004. In 2007 he and his wife were also tied winners in the Grammy Award for Best Spoken Word Album.
Filmography
2005 A Trumpet at the Walls of Jericho
2004-2005 The L Word
2004 She Hate Me
2004 Proud
2003 Deacons for Defense
2003 Unchained Memories
2003 Nat Turner: A Troublesome Property
2003 Beah: A Black Woman Speaks
2003 BAADASSSSS!
2002 Why Can't We Be a Family Again?
2002 Bubba Ho-tep
2001 Voice of the Voiceless
2001 Legend of the Candy Cane
2001 The Feast of All Saints
2000 The Gospel According to Mr. Allen
2000 Finding Buck McHenry
2000 Dinosaur
2000 Here's to Life!
1999 The Unfinished Journey
1999 The Black And The White
1999 A Vow to Cherish
1999 The Ghosts of Christmas Eve
1999 The Secret Path
1999 The Soul Collector
1998 Alyson's Closet
1998 Dr. Dolittle
1997 4 Little Girls
1997 Miss Evers' Boys
1997 12 Angry Men
1996-2002 Touched By An Angel
1996-1998 Promised Land
1996 Get on the Bus
1996 Home of the Brave
1996 I'm Not Rappaport
1995-1996 The Client
1995 The Android Affair
1994 The Client
1994 The Stand
1994-1995 Ray Alexander
1993 Cop and a 1/2
1993 Grumpy Old Men
1993 The Ernest Green Story
1992 Gladiator
1992 Alex Haley's Queen
1992 Malcolm X
1991 Preminger: Anatomy of a Filmmaker
1991 Jungle Fever
1990 Joe Versus the Volcano
1990 We'll Take Manhattan
1990-1994 Evening Shade
1989 Do the Right Thing
1989-1990 B.L. Stryker
1988 School Daze
1985 Avenging Angel
1984 The House of God
1984 Harry & Son
1981 Death of a Prophet
1980 All God's Children
1980-1981 Ossie and Ruby!
1981 Don't Look Back: The Story of Leroy 'Satchel' Paige
1979 Hot Stuff
1979 Roots: The Next Generations
1979 Freedom Road
1978 King
1977 Billy: Portrait of a Street Kid
1976 Countdown at Kusini
1975 Let's Do It Again
1975 The Tenth Level
1973 Wattstax
1972 The Silent Revolution
1969 Sam Whiskey
1969 Slaves
1969 Night Gallery
1968 The Scalphunters
1966 A Man Called Adam
1965 The Hill
1964 Shock Treatment
1963 Gone Are the Days!
1953 The Joe Louis Story
1963 The Cardinal
1963 Car 54 Where Are You?
1962 Seven Times Monday
1955 The Emperor Jones
1950 No Way Out
1950 Fourteen Hours
