Ossie Davis

Acting

Ossie Davis

Born 1917-12-18 · Cogdell, Georgia, USA

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.

Acting credits

Dinosaur poster
6.6

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

Dinosaur

2000

Doctor Dolittle poster
5.7

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 child, the ability to communicate with animals is suddenly reawakened with a vengeance! Now every creature within squawking distance wants the good doctor's advice, unleashing an outrageous chain of events that turns his world upside down!

Doctor Dolittle

1998

Malcolm X poster
7.6

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 became a Black Muslim and then a leader in the Nation of Islam. His assassination in 1965 left a legacy of self-determination and racial pride.

Malcolm X

1992

Grumpy Old Men poster
6.7

For decades, next-door neighbors and former friends John and Max have feuded, trading insults and wicked pranks. When an attractive widow moves in nearby, their bad blood erupts into a high-stakes rivalry full of naughty jokes and adolescent hijinks.

Grumpy Old Men

1993

The Client poster
6.7

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 Mafia hit-man. Before Jerome shoots himself, he tells Mark where the body of a Senator is buried. Clifford shoots himself and Mark is found at the scene, and both the FBI and the Mafia quickly realize that Mark probably knows more than he says.

The Client

1994

Do the Right Thing poster
7.8

Sal is the Italian owner of a pizzeria in Brooklyn. A neighborhood local, Buggin' Out, becomes upset when he sees that the pizzeria's Wall of Fame exhibits only Italian actors. Buggin' Out believes a pizzeria in a black neighborhood should showcase black actors, but Sal disagrees. The wall becomes a symbol of racism and hate to Buggin' Out and to other people in the neighborhood, and tensions rise.

Do the Right Thing

1989

12 Angry Men poster
7.7

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 of their preconceptions and prejudices.

12 Angry Men

1997

Gladiator poster
7.6

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's noticed and quickly falls into the world of illegal underground boxing — where punches can kill.

Gladiator

1992

Jungle Fever poster
6.4

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 would make an already taboo relationship even worse.

Jungle Fever

1991

Bubba Ho-tep poster
6.5

The "true" story of what really became of Elvis Presley. We find Elvis as an elderly resident in an East Texas rest home, who switched identities with an Elvis impersonator years before his "death," then missed his chance to switch back. He must team up with JFK and fight an ancient Egyptian mummy for the souls of their fellow residents.

Bubba Ho-tep

2002

She Hate Me poster
5.1

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

She Hate Me

2004

Joe Versus the Volcano poster
5.8

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 then hired to jump into a volcano by a mysterious visitor.

Joe Versus the Volcano

1990

Louis Armstrong's Black & Blues poster
6.7

Never-before-heard personal recordings and archival footage tell the story of Louis Armstrong's life from his perspective. From musical phenom to civil rights activist to world-renowned artist, this illuminating film shows sides of Armstrong few have seen.

Louis Armstrong's Black & Blues

2022

Cop & ½ poster
4.6

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, a hardboiled cop is forced to take his new partner seriously as they race the clock to bring the bad guys to justice.

Cop & ½

1993

Night Gallery poster
6.7

This anthology telefilm aired on NBC on November 8, 1969, and tells three strange tales: "The Cemetery," directed by Boris Sagal; "Eyes," directed by Steven Spielberg; and "The Escape Route," directed by Barry Shear. This film also served as a backdoor pilot for the TV series of the same name, which premiered on December 16, 1970.

Night Gallery

1969

The Secret Path poster
7.6

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, like her mother Marie, been forced into a life of prostitution. Periodically escaping her miserable existence, Jo Ann finds comfort, security, and genuine love with a poor but proud African American couple: Honey and Too Tall.

The Secret Path

1999

Fourteen Hours poster
7.3

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 a building with the intention of committing suicide. A policeman makes every effort to argue him out of it.

Fourteen Hours

1951

The Cardinal poster
6.5

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

The Cardinal

1963

The Scalphunters poster
6.4

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 renegades that killed them.

The Scalphunters

1968

The Hill poster
7.5

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 objective. It's The Hill, a manmade instrument of torture, a tower of sand seared by a white-hot sun. And the troops' tormentors are not the enemy, but their own comrades-at-arms.

The Hill

1965

School Daze poster
5.7

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

School Daze

1988

Baadasssss! poster
6.5

Director Mario Van Peebles chronicles the complicated production of his father Melvin's classic 1971 film, "Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song." Playing his father in the film, Van Peebles offers an unapologetic account of Melvin's brash and sometimes deceptive conduct on the set of the film, including questionable antics like writing bad checks, tricking a local fire department and allowing his son, Mario, to shoot racy sex scenes at the age of 11.

Baadasssss!

2004

Get on the Bus poster
6.4

Fifteen Black men gather in South Central LA to take a cross-country bus trip to attend the Million Man March in Washington, DC in October 1995. Among the attendees are an eclectic set of characters, including a laid-off aircraft worker, a man whose at-risk son is handcuffed to him, a Black Republican, a former gangsta, a Hollywood actor, a cop of mixed racial background, and a white bus driver. All make the trek discussing issues surrounding the March, including manhood, religion, politics, sexuality, and race.

Get on the Bus

1996

Avenging Angel poster
5.2

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 life has been murdered, she quickly finds herself pitted against an underworld of mob figures who might be more than she's bargained for...

Avenging Angel

1985

Behind the camera

Cotton Comes to Harlem poster
6.2

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 land in Africa. When New York City police officers Gravedigger Jones and Coffin Ed Johnson look into O'Malley's scam, they learn that the cash is being smuggled inside a bale of cotton. However, the police, O'Malley, and lots of others find themselves scrambling when the money goes missing.

Cotton Comes to Harlem

1970

Cotton Comes to Harlem poster
6.2

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 land in Africa. When New York City police officers Gravedigger Jones and Coffin Ed Johnson look into O'Malley's scam, they learn that the cash is being smuggled inside a bale of cotton. However, the police, O'Malley, and lots of others find themselves scrambling when the money goes missing.

Cotton Comes to Harlem

1970

Black Girl poster
6.8

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

Black Girl

1972

Gone Are the Days! poster
7.5

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 convincing the plantation owner that she is really his cousin in order to secure the family inheritance. To aid in the comic complications that follow are his family members Missy and Gitlow, and the plantation owners endearing (but ineffectual) son Charlie.

Gone Are the Days!

1963

For Us, the Living: The Story of Medgar Evers poster
7.0

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 NAACP. Fighting segregation and racist politics, Evers becomes a leader in the black community.

For Us, the Living: The Story of Medgar Evers

1983

Kongi's Harvest poster
7.5

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

Kongi's Harvest

1970

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

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.

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

2024

Countdown at Kusini poster
7.0

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

Countdown at Kusini

1976

Countdown at Kusini poster
7.0

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

Countdown at Kusini

1976

Gordon's War poster
6.8

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. Infuriated, he gathers three of his ex-GI buddies and they lay out plans to fight the drug dealers.

Gordon's War

1973

No artwork available
NR

Set to a jazz accompaniment, the dramatic performance centered on Black love and survival weaves together Bible verses, free-verse and prose Davis wrote for the program, “The Ghetto.” In "The Ghetto," a husband and wife have a gripping conversation about the psychological and physical scars left by systemic oppression. They question if love can thrive in the face of a city's poverty, rats, and official indifference, and if staying tough is enough to survive.

Love in Exile

2026