D'Urville Martin

Acting

D'Urville Martin

Born 1939-02-11 · New York City, New York

D'Urville Martin (February 11, 1939 – May 28, 1984) was an American actor and director in both film and television. He appeared with regularity in numerous 1970s movies in the blaxploitation genre of films. Born in New York City, D'urville began his career in the mid 1960s, soon becoming a prominent recurring figure in the genre. Martin acted in several movies of the time, including Black Like Me and Guess Who's Coming to Dinner. Among his partners was the famous blaxploitation actor Fred “The Hammer” Williamson, playing his partner Toby in the Black Charley. Martin also directed films in his career, including Dolemite, starring Rudy Ray Moore. His career ended in 1984 with a heart attack at age 45 likely caused by his hard-partying lifestyle.

Acting credits

Rosemary's Baby poster
7.8

A young couple, Rosemary and Guy, moves into an infamous New York apartment building, known by frightening legends and mysterious events, with the purpose of starting a family.

Rosemary's Baby

1968

Guess Who's Coming to Dinner poster
7.6

A couple's attitudes are challenged when their daughter brings home a fiancé who is black.

Guess Who's Coming to Dinner

1967

Black Caesar poster
5.9

Raised in Harlem, Tommy Gibbs becomes a successful mob boss but he clashes with the rival Mafia and his old enemy, dirty cop McKinney.

Black Caesar

1973

Boss Nigger poster
6.7

Two black bounty hunters ride into a small town out West in pursuit of an outlaw. They discover that the town has no sheriff, and soon take over that position, much against the will of the mostly white townsfolk.

Boss Nigger

1975

Dolemite poster
5.8

Dolemite is a pimp who was set up by Willie Greene and the cops, who have planted drugs, stolen furs, and guns in his trunk and got him sentenced to 20 years in jail. One day, Queen B and a warden planned to get him out of Jail and get Willie Green and Mitchell busted for what they did to him.

Dolemite

1975

Sheba, Baby poster
5.7

Sheba, a Chicago private detective returns back home to Louisville, Kentucky, to help her father fight mobsters.

Sheba, Baby

1975

Watermelon Man poster
6.3

A racist insurance agent lives in a typical suburban neighborhood, but his bigoted world of taunting and harassing black people on and off the job is turned upside down when his skin inexplicably turns dark overnight.

Watermelon Man

1970

The Legend of Nigger Charley poster
6.2

A trio of runaway slaves evade authorities in the Old West.

The Legend of Nigger Charley

1972

Hell Up In Harlem poster
5.5

A Harlem gangster must rescue his ex-wife, who's been kidnapped by the Mafia.

Hell Up In Harlem

1973

Five on the Black Hand Side poster
7.2

Leonard Jackson plays a barber who is also the domineering head of a middle-class African American family. Jackson is forced to rethink his values when his previously docile wife (Clarice Taylor) joins their three children in rebelling against her husband's retrogressive behavior.

Five on the Black Hand Side

1973

The Big Score poster
6.0

A narcotics detective, played by Fred Williamson, lets nothing stand in the way of his bringing down a major drug dealer. After a bust gone awry, he's accused of stealing a lost briefcase filled with money and both the mob and the police are looking for him. A ruthless hit man, played by Bruce Glover, will stop at nothing to get what his boss wants; the money!

The Big Score

1983

Blind Rage poster
5.3

Five friends get together and decide to plan an operation to rob a bank. The main difference between this and other bank-robbing gangs, however, is that all five men are blind.

Blind Rage

1976

Hammer poster
5.4

Hotheaded laborer B.J. Hammer can't go long without ending up in a fight, and, after he comes out on top in a particularly impressive workplace scuffle, word of his brawling skills makes its way to Davis, a top boxing manager. Hammer is hired by Davis and begins a lucrative career in the ring, only to find out that his new employer wants him to throw a fight and take part in other illicit activities. Hammer reacts to this news violently, and the feud is on.

Hammer

1972

The Bear poster
7.1

Biopic about the great college football coach Paul "Bear" Bryant of the University of Alabama

The Bear

1984

Black Like Me poster
6.2

Black Like Me is the true account of journalist and author John Griffin's experiences when he passed as a black man.

Black Like Me

1964

The Final Comedown poster
6.5

Prejudice transforms a young black man into an armed militant leader, who believes the only answer to racism is violent revolution.

The Final Comedown

1972

Black Hollywood poster
NR

Shot entirely on location in Hollywood in 1984, this feature documentary explores the role of black actors, black directors and the black audience in American movies.

Black Hollywood

1984

Death Journey poster
5.2

Fearful that their star witness might be murdered, two attorneys hire a protector to bring him from Los Angeles to New York. Jesse Crowder (Fred Williamson) is a no-nonsense tough guy. He buddies up with the witness, an accountant, and they hit the road. Outwitting their foes means taking all manner of conveyance, including automobile, train, and airplane.

Death Journey

1976

The Soul of Nigger Charley poster
5.2

After the end of the Civil War, Charley fights against a group of Southern soldiers seeking to reignite the Confederacy.

The Soul of Nigger Charley

1973

Book of Numbers poster
7.0

Two waiters in Depression-era Arkansas get involved in the numbers racket.

Book of Numbers

1973

No artwork available
6.5

A young farmer becomes a singer against the wishes of his uncle.

A Time to Sing

1968

Behind the camera