Ossie Davis

Ossie Davis

1917-12-17 Cogdell, Georgia, USA 111 Credits

Biography

Raiford Chatman "Ossie" Davis (December 18, 1917 – February 4, 2005) was an American actor, director, writer, and activist. Description above from the Wikipedia article Ossie Davis, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia

Known For

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Complete Filmography

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

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

2024

Writer

Writing

The comedic play tells the story of a Black preacher’s scheme to reclaim his inheritance and win back his church from a plantation owner.

Louis Armstrong's Black & Blues

Louis Armstrong's Black & Blues

2022

as Self (archive footage)

6.6
Acting

An intimate and revealing look at the world-changing musician, presented through a lens of archival footage and never-before-heard home recordings and...

The Peace!

2005

as Self

5.0
Acting

Amid an escalating war in Iraq, rising terror levels and the threat of nuclear attack, a growing body of intellectuals, religious leaders and communit...

Deacons for Defense

Deacons for Defense

2005

as Reverend 'Rev' Gregory

6.2
Acting

Inspired by a true story, this drama is set in 1965, not long after passage of the Civil Rights Act. Despite the Act, the African-American citizens of...

The History Makers: Success

The History Makers: Success

2005

as Self

Acting

Ossie Davis, Terry McMillan, Horace Julian Bond, Isaac Hayes, Dionne Warwick and many others share their inspiring stories of success in the first ins...

Unstoppable

2005

as Self

Acting

An interview/overview on the influential careers of Gordon Parks, Ossie Davis, and Melvin Van Peebles.

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

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

2005

as Self

5.0
Acting

A short documentary about the making of Spike Lee's biopic, "Malcolm X."

She Hate Me

She Hate Me

2004

as Judge Buchanan

5.2
Acting

Fired from his job, a former executive turns to impregnating wealthy lesbians for profit.

Proud

2004

as Lorenzo DuFau

4.4
Acting

The true story of the only African-American crew to take a Navy warship into combat in World War II.

Baadasssss!

Baadasssss!

2004

as Granddad

6.5
Acting

Director Mario Van Peebles chronicles the complicated production of his father Melvin's classic 1971 film, "Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song." Playin...

Beah: A Black Woman Speaks

Beah: A Black Woman Speaks

2004

as Self

Acting

Beah: A Black Woman Speaks is a 2003 documentary about the life of Academy Award nominated actress Beah Richards. Directed by Lisa Gay Hamilton, it wo...

The Evolution of an American Filmmaker

The Evolution of an American Filmmaker

2003

as Self

7.3
Acting

Spike Lee's filmmaking career is examined in this partial making-of for the film 25th Hour (2002). Interviews with cast members from this film and his...

The Tuskegee Airmen: They Fought Two Wars

2003

as Narrator

Acting

A documentary filmed at Moton Field in Tuskegee Alabama, home to the airmen of the 99th Fighter Squadron. They were the first African American fighter...

Nat Turner: A Troublesome Property

Nat Turner: A Troublesome Property

2003

as Himself

6.1
Acting

In 1831, Nat Turner led a slave rebellion in the United States that resulted in the murder of local slave owners and their families, the eventual exec...

Unchained Memories: Readings from the Slave Narratives

Unchained Memories: Readings from the Slave Narratives

2003

4.8
Acting

When the Civil War ended in 1865, more than four million slaves were set free. Over 70 years later, the memories of some 2,000 slave-era survivors wer...

Theater Talk: 'A Raisin in the Sun'

Theater Talk: 'A Raisin in the Sun'

2002

as Self

Acting

Panel discussion about the original Broadway production of Lorraine Hansbury's "A Raisin in the Sun."

Bubba Ho-tep

Bubba Ho-tep

2002

as John F. "Jack" Kennedy

6.5
Acting

Bubba Ho-tep tells the "true" story of what really did become of Elvis Presley. We find Elvis as an elderly resident in an East Texas rest home, who s...

Feast of All Saints

Feast of All Saints

2001

as Jean-Jacques

4.7
Acting

Set in nineteenth-century New Orleans, the story depicts the gens de couleur libre, or the Free People of Colour, a dazzling yet damned class caught b...

Neighborhoods: The Hidden Cities of San Francisco - The Fillmore

Neighborhoods: The Hidden Cities of San Francisco - The Fillmore

2001

as Narrator

Acting

From the Peabody and Emmy Award-winning PBS series NEIGHBORHOODS: THE HIDDEN CITIES OF SAN FRANCISCO comes the remarkable story of San Francisco's Fil...

The Legend of the Candy Cane

The Legend of the Candy Cane

2001

as Julius (voice)

Acting

The night a mysterious stranger rode into the lonely prairie town of West Sage, no one realized their lives would never be the same.

Here's to Life!

Here's to Life!

2000

as Duncan Cox

Acting

Owen is the head administrator of an old age home in Washington. One day, a resident discovers he is cheating on his taxes, and orders that Owen takes...

Dinosaur

Dinosaur

2000

as Yar (voice)

6.5
Acting

An orphaned dinosaur raised by lemurs joins an arduous trek to a sancturary after a meteorite shower destroys his family home.

Finding Buck McHenry

Finding Buck McHenry

2000

as Buck McHenry

Acting

Jason Ross is an 11-year-old boy whose love for baseball exceeds his talent for the game. When cut from his little league team, Jason's undefeatable s...

The Unfinished Journey

1999

as Narrator (voice)

6.0
Acting

A short about American life and history produced for the millennium New Year's Eve celebration.

Trans-Siberian Orchestra: The Ghosts of Christmas Eve

Trans-Siberian Orchestra: The Ghosts of Christmas Eve

1999

as Caretaker

9.0
Acting

Enchanting holiday tale of a young runaway who has broken into an old movie palace, looking for shelter on a snow-filled Christmas Eve. Closed for dec...

The Soul Collector

The Soul Collector

1999

as Mordecai

7.2
Acting

Zachariah, makes a few mistakes and it is decided that he is to live as a human being for thirty days. Mordecai is his supervisor. Rebecca's husband d...

The Secret Path

The Secret Path

1999

as Too Tall

7.6
Acting

14-year-old Jo Ann Foley lives in squalor in a rural Southern community during World War II. Abused by her bootlegging grandfather Hank, Jo Ann has, l...

Paul Robeson: Here I Stand

Paul Robeson: Here I Stand

1999

as Self

Acting

Paul Robeson: Here I Stand presents the life and achievements of an extraordinary man. Athlete, singer, and scholar, Robeson was also a charismatic ch...

A Vow to Cherish

A Vow to Cherish

1999

as Alexander Billman

6.2
Acting

John and Ellen have a picture-perfect life: while John runs a successful business, Ellen works as a schoolteacher, and they've raised two beautiful ch...

Doctor Dolittle

Doctor Dolittle

1998

as Archer Dolittle

5.7
Acting

A successful physician and devoted family man, John Dolittle seems to have the world by the tail, until a long suppressed talent he possessed as a chi...

Small Steps, Big Strides: The Black Experience in Hollywood

Small Steps, Big Strides: The Black Experience in Hollywood

1998

as Self

Acting

Louis Gossett Jr. takes viewers through a special documentary celebration of the groundbreaking achievements of African-American performers and their ...

Scandalize My Name: Stories from the Blacklist

Scandalize My Name: Stories from the Blacklist

1998

as Self

7.7
Acting

A look at the confluence of the Red Scare, McCarthyism, and blacklists with the post-war activism by African Americans seeking more and better roles o...

Scandalize My Name: Stories from the Blacklist

Scandalize My Name: Stories from the Blacklist

1998

Thanks

7.7

A look at the confluence of the Red Scare, McCarthyism, and blacklists with the post-war activism by African Americans seeking more and better roles o...

12 Angry Men

12 Angry Men

1997

as Juror 2

7.7
Acting

During the trial of a man accused of his father's murder, a lone juror takes a stand against the guilty verdict handed down by the others as a result ...

4 Little Girls

4 Little Girls

1997

as Self - Actor and Playwright

7.3
Acting

On September 15, 1963, a bomb destroyed a black church in Birmingham, Alabama, killing four young girls who were there for Sunday school. It was a cri...

Jackie Robinson: Breaking Barriers

1997

as Narrator

10.0
Acting

Jackie Robinson: Breaking Barriers celebrates the ground-breaking career of the first-ever African-American to join the major leagues, talented athlet...

Miss Evers' Boys

Miss Evers' Boys

1997

as Mr. Evers

6.3
Acting

The true story of the US Government's 1932 Tuskeegee Syphilis Experiments, in which a group of black test subjects were allowed to die, despite a cure...

Walter Matthau: Diamond in the Rough

Walter Matthau: Diamond in the Rough

1997

as Self

6.5
Acting

A profile of the life of actor Walter Matthau.

I'm Not Rappaport

I'm Not Rappaport

1996

as Midge Carter

5.6
Acting

Old Nat Moyer is a talker, a philosopher, and a troublemaker with a fanciful imagination. His companion is Midge Carter, who is half-blind, but still ...

Get on the Bus

Get on the Bus

1996

as Jeremiah

6.4
Acting

Several Black men take a cross-country bus trip to attend the Million Man March in Washington, DC in 1995. On the bus are an eclectic set of character...

The Android Affair

The Android Affair

1995

as Dr. Winston

5.0
Acting

Karen Garrett, a promising young doctor, is assigned to perform a difficult operation on Teach, an advanced android who has never "blanked" (had his m...

Ray Alexander: A Menu for Murder

Ray Alexander: A Menu for Murder

1995

as Uncle Phil

Acting

Ray investigates the murder of a judge.

The Client

The Client

1994

as Harry Roosevelt

6.7
Acting

A street-wise kid, Mark Sway, sees the suicide of Jerome Clifford, a prominent Louisiana lawyer, whose current client is Barry 'The Blade' Muldano, a ...

Ray Alexander: A Taste For Justice

Ray Alexander: A Taste For Justice

1994

as Uncle Phil

Acting

Ray investigates the murder of a psychiatrist.

The Stand

The Stand

1994

as Judge Richard Farris

Acting

After a deadly plague kills most of the world's population, the remaining survivors split into two groups - one led by a benevolent elder and the othe...

Malcolm X: Make It Plain

Malcolm X: Make It Plain

1994

as Self

10.0
Acting

Narrated by actress Alfre Woodard, this trenchant, eye-opening doc traces the radical civil rights leader’s life from his tumultuous childhood, throug...

Arthur Ashe: Citizen of the World

1994

as Narrator

Acting

Join tennis greats John McEnroe and Billie Jean King and world leader Nelson Mandela as they pay homage to the life and work of Arthur Ashe, the sport...

Grumpy Old Men

Grumpy Old Men

1993

as Chuck

6.6
Acting

For decades, next-door neighbors and former friends John and Max have feuded, trading insults and wicked pranks. When an attractive widow moves in nea...

Cop & ½

Cop & ½

1993

as Detective in Squad Room

4.5
Acting

When a pint-sized 8-year-old kid witnesses a murder he offers to help the police, if they make him a cop, too. Saddled with this streetwise sidekick, ...

Goin' Back to T-Town

Goin' Back to T-Town

1993

as Narrator

Acting

Goin’ Back to T-Town tells the story of Greenwood, an extraordinary Black community in Tulsa, Oklahoma, that prospered during the 1920s and 30s despit...

The Ernest Green Story

The Ernest Green Story

1993

as Grandfather

6.9
Acting

Follows the story of Ernest Green, one of the Little Rock Nine who were the first blacks to integrate into an all white school.

Lincoln

1992

as Frederick Douglas (voice)

6.8
Acting

Famous actors read testimonies from people close to Lincoln about him and his actions during the Civil War.

Malcolm X

Malcolm X

1992

as Eulogy Performer (voice)

7.5
Acting

A tribute to the controversial black activist and leader of the struggle for black liberation. He hit bottom during his imprisonment in the '50s, he b...

Gladiator

Gladiator

1992

as Noah

7.6
Acting

Tommy Riley has moved with his dad to Chicago from a 'nice place'. He keeps to himself, goes to school. However, after a street fight he is noticed an...

Preminger: Anatomy of a Filmmaker

Preminger: Anatomy of a Filmmaker

1991

as Self

7.7
Acting

This documentary, hosted by actor Burgess Meredith, explores the life and career of movie director Otto Preminger, whose body of work includes such me...

Jungle Fever

Jungle Fever

1991

as Reverend Purify

6.4
Acting

A successful and married black man contemplates having an affair with a white girl from work. He's quite rightly worried that the racial difference wo...

Joe Versus the Volcano

Joe Versus the Volcano

1990

as Marshall

5.8
Acting

Hypochondriac Joe Banks finds out he has six months to live, quits his dead end job, musters the courage to ask his co-worker out on a date, and is th...

The Red Shoes

The Red Shoes

1990

Acting

In this animated contemporary interpretation of a Hans Christian Andersen morality tale, a pair of magic slippers help two young African-American girl...

Making 'Do the Right Thing'

1989

as Self

6.7
Acting

The Behind-the-Scenes documentary of the dramatic comedy Do the Right Thing.

Do the Right Thing

Do the Right Thing

1989

as Da Mayor

7.8
Acting

Salvatore "Sal" Fragione is the Italian owner of a pizzeria in Brooklyn. A neighborhood local, Buggin' Out, becomes upset when he sees that the pizzer...

School Daze

School Daze

1988

as Coach Odom

5.7
Acting

Fraternity and sorority members clash with other students at a historically black college during homecoming weekend.

Sesame Street: Sleepytime Songs & Stories

Sesame Street: Sleepytime Songs & Stories

1986

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

Acting

Bedtime Stories & Songs is a 1986 Sesame Street direct-to-video compilation, released on VHS as part of the My Sesame Street Home Video label. The vid...

Avenging Angel

Avenging Angel

1985

as Capt. Harry Moradian

5.0
Acting

Molly Stewart, now a law student at UCLA, is determined to leave her prostitute past behind. After learning that the detective who helped save her lif...

Tyler Texas Black Film Collection

1985

as Himself

7.0
Acting

"Tyler Texas Black Film Collection" (1985) is a promotional film hosted by Ossie Davis.

Harry & Son

Harry & Son

1984

as Raymond

5.8
Acting

Widower Harry Keach is a construction worker who was raised to appreciate the importance of working for a living. He takes a dim view of his sensitive...

Marcus Garvey: Toward Black Nationhood

1984

as Narrator

Acting

A documentary, combining archival material and live interviews with Marcus Garvey, Jr., and others, which introduces the life and work of the pioneer ...

The House of God

The House of God

1984

as Dr. Sanders

2.7
Acting

Comedy about a couple of interns in a hospital named 'The House of God'.

For Us, the Living: The Story of Medgar Evers

For Us, the Living: The Story of Medgar Evers

1983

Writer

Writing

This film is the true story of Medgar Evers, a successful insurance agent who moves to Jackson, Mississippi to direct the regional headquarters of the...

Purlie

Purlie

1981

Musical

5.3

Purlie is a musical based on Ossie Davis' 1961 play Purlie Victorious. In the early days of the civil rights movement, a Southern plantation owner ho...

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

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

1981

as Chuffy Russell

6.0
Acting

The story of Leroy "Satchel" Paige, the legendary pitcher, from his barnstorming days in the 1920s, hoping to break into organized "negro" baseball, t...

Death of a Prophet

Death of a Prophet

1981

4.1
Acting

After breaking ties with the Nation of Islam, Malcolm X became a man marked for death...and it was just a matter of time before his enemies closed in....

All God's Children

All God's Children

1980

as Blaine Whitfield

4.0
Acting

Big city judge Parke Denison is involved in a forced busing dispute at the climax of his long career. The friendship between two families -- one white...

Freedom Road

Freedom Road

1979

as Narrator

4.8
Acting

Ex-slave and former Union soldier Gideon Jackson represents other ex-slaves at the constitutional convention, and is soon elected to the U.S. Senate d...

Hot Stuff

Hot Stuff

1979

as Captain John Geiberger

7.0
Acting

When a police department's burglary task force is facing the possibility of being shut down because of their low conviction rate decides to try a new ...

Freedom Man

1979

as Benjamin Banneker

Acting

The story of Benjamin Banneker, the early American patriot whose achievements rival those of Benjamin Franklin!! Risking his life, working with the U...

Billy: Portrait of a Street Kid

Billy: Portrait of a Street Kid

1977

as Dr. Fredericks

Acting

A young ghetto kid despairs of ever getting out of that environment and making something of himself, until one day he gets a job as an assistant in a ...

The Tenth Level

The Tenth Level

1976

as Reed

5.1
Acting

Inspired by the Stanley Milgram obedience research, this TV movie chronicles a psychology professor's study to determine why people, such as the Nazis...

Countdown at Kusini

Countdown at Kusini

1976

as Ernest Motapo

Acting

An American musician working in Nigeria becomes involved with a patriot hunted by a mercenary in Africa.

Countdown at Kusini

Countdown at Kusini

1976

Director, Screenplay

Directing Writing

An American musician working in Nigeria becomes involved with a patriot hunted by a mercenary in Africa.

Let's Do It Again

Let's Do It Again

1975

as Elder Johnson

6.9
Acting

Clyde Williams and Billy Foster are a couple of blue-collar workers in Atlanta who have promised to raise funds for their fraternal order, the Brother...

Black Shadows on a Silver Screen

Black Shadows on a Silver Screen

1975

as Narrator

Acting

Ossie Davis narrates a history of "race films," films made before 1950 which catered to a primarily black audience.

Gordon's War

Gordon's War

1973

Director

5.7
Directing

A black soldier comes home to Harlem after a tour in Vietnam and discovers that his wife had become a heroin addict and died of an overdose. Infuriate...

Wattstax

Wattstax

1973

as Self (uncredited)

6.8
Acting

A documentary film about the Afro-American Woodstock concert held in Los Angeles seven years after the Watts riots. Director Mel Stuart mixes footage ...

Black Girl

Black Girl

1972

Director

6.1
Directing

An aspiring dancer and her two wicked sisters resent their mother's love for a foster daughter.

Malcolm X

Malcolm X

1972

as Eulogy (voice)

6.4
Acting

James Earl Jones narrates this fascinating and moving documentary about the life of the assassinated black leader through various sources.

The Sheriff

The Sheriff

1971

as James Lucas

6.0
Acting

A rape case opens racial divisions in a small town. A black sheriff and his white deputy investigate allegations that a wealthy white businessman rape...

Cotton Comes to Harlem

Cotton Comes to Harlem

1970

Director, Screenplay

6.2
Directing Writing

Harlem's African-American population is being ripped off by the Rev. Deke O'Malley, who dishonestly claims that small donations will secure parcels of...

Kongi's Harvest

Kongi's Harvest

1970

as Narrator

6.0
Acting

An African dictator (Wole Soyinka) needs to convince the former king (Rashidi Onikoyi) to legitimize his reign by offering him the ceremonial yam at t...

Kongi's Harvest

Kongi's Harvest

1970

Director

6.0
Directing

An African dictator (Wole Soyinka) needs to convince the former king (Rashidi Onikoyi) to legitimize his reign by offering him the ceremonial yam at t...

Night Gallery

Night Gallery

1969

as Osmond Portifoy

7.1
Acting

This anthology telefilm aired on NBC on November 8, 1969, and tells three strange tales: "The Cemetery," directed by Boris Sagal; "Eyes," directed by ...

Slaves

Slaves

1969

as Luke

5.7
Acting

A Kentucky slave (Davis) fights for his freedom from a cruel overseer whose mistress eventually joins him and the other slaves in their revolt.

Sam Whiskey

Sam Whiskey

1969

as Jed Hooker

5.6
Acting

A widow hires an ex-gambler to retrieve gold bars from a sunken river boat in Colorado and discreetly return them to the Federal Mint, from where they...

Teacher, Teacher

Teacher, Teacher

1969

as Charles Carter

Acting

Hamilton Cade is an alcoholic teacher striving to put his life back together. He accepts a job tutoring an "exceptional child" only to find that young...

The Fall

The Fall

1969

7.0
Acting

"The Fall" depicts certain scenes in New York City between October 1967 and March 1968, shot by the independent filmmaker, Peter Whitehead. It is a ve...

The Scalphunters

The Scalphunters

1968

as Joseph Lee

6.4
Acting

Forced to trade his valuable furs for a well-educated escaped slave, a rugged trapper vows to recover the pelts from the Indians and later the renegad...

Still A Brother: Inside the Negro Middle Class

Still A Brother: Inside the Negro Middle Class

1968

as Narrator

Acting

The Black middle class, torn between white goals and Black needs, are examined by producers William Greaves and William Branch in a 90-minute NET Jour...

The Outsider

The Outsider

1967

as Lt. Wagner

6.0
Acting

Darren McGavin is David Ross, a private investigator playing a game of follow the money. A simple case of embezzling turns bad quickly when bodies sta...

Black Liberation

Black Liberation

1967

as Narrator

Acting

Produced in collaboration with Malcolm X and narrated by Ossie Davis, this call to arms layers revolutionary text from multiple sources with gritty, s...

A Man Called Adam

A Man Called Adam

1966

as Nelson Davis

6.0
Acting

A famous jazz trumpeter finds himself unable to cope with the problems of everyday life.

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

1965

as Jason King (archival footage)

1.0
Acting

Promotional film depicting the production and Cannes premiere of the Sidney Lumet film "The Hill."

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

1965

as Jason King (archive footage)

1.0
Acting

Promotional film depicting the production and Cannes premiere of the Sidney Lumet film "The Hill."

The Hill

The Hill

1965

as Jacko King

7.5
Acting

North Africa, World War II. British soldiers on the brink of collapse push beyond endurance to struggle up a brutal incline. It's not a military objec...

Shock Treatment

Shock Treatment

1964

as Capshaw

6.7
Acting

A private investigator endures the rigors of an insane asylum in order to locate $1 million in stolen loot.

The Cardinal

The Cardinal

1963

as Father Gillis

6.5
Acting

A young Catholic priest from Boston confronts bigotry, Nazism, and his own personal conflicts as he rises to the office of cardinal.

Gone Are the Days!

Gone Are the Days!

1963

as Reverend Purlie Victorious Judson

6.7
Acting

A young, idealistic man returns home to the plantation where he grew up in servitude. With him, he brings his fiance, Lutiebelle, in hopes of convinci...

Gone Are the Days!

Gone Are the Days!

1963

Writer

6.7
Writing

A young, idealistic man returns home to the plantation where he grew up in servitude. With him, he brings his fiance, Lutiebelle, in hopes of convinci...

Hands of Inge

Hands of Inge

1962

as Narrator (voice)

Acting

The work of sculptor Inge Hardison is the subject of this beautiful short portrait of an artist. Hardison is perhaps best known for "Negro Giants in H...

John Brown's Raid

John Brown's Raid

1960

as Dangerfield Newby

Acting

White abolitionist John Brown and twenty of his men attempt to start an armed slave revolt in 1859 by seizing a U.S. arsenal at Harpers Ferry, Virgini...

Fourteen Hours

Fourteen Hours

1951

as Cab Driver (uncredited)

7.2
Acting

A young man, morally destroyed by his parents not loving him and by the fear of being not capable to make his girlfriend happy, rises on the ledge of ...

No Way Out

No Way Out

1950

as John Brooks (uncredited)

6.9
Acting

Two hoodlum brothers are brought into a hospital for gunshot wounds, and when one of them dies the other accuses their black doctor of murder.

Haití: Killing the Dream

N/A

Acting

A documentary focusing on the the events in Haiti following the coup of September 30, 1991. The program includes interviews with exiled President Jean...