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Ossie Davis

Actor and activist Raiford Chatman Davis won rave reviews with his 1946 acting debut in the title role of Jeb, opposite his future wife, Ruby Dee. Ossie Davis went on to appear with his wife Ruby Dee in nine films, and was a featured speaker at the funerals of both Martin Luther King and Malcolm X. He is best remembered as Ponder Blue in Evening Shade, Harry Roosevelt in The Client, Erasmus Jones in Promised Land and Melvin Porter in The L Word

English
Filmography

And When I Die, I Won't Stay Dead

2015
as Self (archive footage)

American Revolutionary: The Evolution of Grace Lee Boggs

2013
as Ossie Davis

By Any Means Necessary: The Making of Malcolm X

2005
as Ossie Davis

The Peace!

2005
as Ossie Davis

Proud

2004
as Lorenzo DuFau

Apollo at 70: A Hot Night in Harlem

2004
as Ossie Davis

Baadasssss!

2004
as Granddad

Deacons for Defense

2003
as Reverend 'Rev' Gregory

Nat Turner: A Troublesome Property

2003
as Himself

Unchained Memories: Readings from the Slave Narratives

2003

Beah: A Black Woman Speaks

2003
as Ossie Davis

Why Can't We Be a Family Again?

2002
as Narrator

The Tuskegee Airmen: They Fought Two Wars

2002
as Narrator

Bubba Ho-tep

2002
as Jack

Trans-Siberian Orchestra - The Ghosts of Christmas Eve

2001

Legend of the Candy Cane

2001
as Julius

Scandalize My Name: Stories from the Blacklist

2000
as Himself

Dinosaur

2000
as Yar (voice)

Walter Matthau: Diamond in the Rough

2000
as Ossie Davis

A Vow to Cherish

1999
as Alexander Billman

Paul Robeson: Here I Stand

1999
as Ossie Davis

Trans-Siberian Orchestra: The Ghosts of Christmas Eve

1999
as The Caretaker

The Secret Path

1999
as Too Tall

Doctor Dolittle

1998
as Archer Dolittle

12 Angry Men

1997
as Juror 2

Miss Evers' Boys

1997
as Mr. Evers

4 Little Girls

1997
as Himself - Actor and Playwright

Jackie Robinson: Breaking Barriers

1997
as Narrator

Get on the Bus

1996
as Jeremiah

I'm Not Rappaport

1996
as Midge Carter

The Android Affair

1995
as Dr. Winston

Ray Alexander: A Menu for Murder

1995
as Uncle Phil

The African Burial Ground: An American Discovery

1994
as Self - Narrator

Malcolm X: Make It Plain

1994
as Ossie Davis

The Client

1994
as Harry Roosevelt

Arthur Ashe: Citizen of the World

1994
as Ossie Davis

The Ernest Green Story

1993
as Grandfather

Grumpy Old Men

1993
as Chuck

Gladiator

1992
as Noah

Michael Landon: Memories with Laughter and Love

1991
as Ossie Davis

Preminger: Anatomy of a Filmmaker

1991
as Ossie Davis

Jungle Fever

1991
as Reverend Purify

Joe Versus the Volcano

1990
as Marshall

Making 'Do the Right Thing'

1989
as Himself

Do the Right Thing

1989
as Da Mayor

School Daze

1988
as Coach Odom

Angel 2: Avenging Angel

1985
as Capt. Harry Moradian

The House of God

1984
as Dr. Sanders

Harry & Son

1984
as Raymond

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

1981
as Chuffy Russell

Death of a Prophet

1981

Freedom Road

1979
as Narrator

Hot Stuff

1979
as Captain John Geiberger

Billy: Portrait of a Street Kid

1977
as Dr. Fredericks

Countdown at Kusini

1976
as Ernest Motapo

The Tenth Level

1976
as Ben Reed

Let's Do It Again

1975
as Elder Johnson

Black Shadows on the Silver Screen

1975
as Narrator

Malcolm X

1972
as Eulogy (voice)

The Sheriff

1971
as James Lucas

Sam Whiskey

1969
as Jed Hooker

Teacher, Teacher

1969
as Charles Carter

Slaves

1969
as Luke

Still A Brother: Inside the Negro Middle Class

1968
as Self - Host

The Scalphunters

1968
as Joseph Lee

A Man Called Adam

1966
as Nelson Davis

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

1965
as Jason King (archival footage)

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

1965
as Jason King (archive footage)

The Hill

1965
as Jacko King

Gone Are the Days!

1963
as Reverend Purlie Victorious Judson

The Cardinal

1963
as Father Gillis

Director

Movie Countdown at Kusini 1976
Movie Gordon's War 1973
Movie Black Girl 1972
Movie Cotton Comes to Harlem 1970
Movie Kongi's Harvest 1970

Writer

Movie For Us, the Living: The Story of Medgar Evers 1982
Movie Purlie 1981
Movie Countdown at Kusini 1976
Movie Cotton Comes to Harlem 1970
Movie Gone Are the Days! 1963