Obba Babatundé

Acting

Obba Babatundé

Born 1951-12-01 · Queens, New York City, New York, USA

Obba Babatundé (born December 1, 1951) is an American actor of stage and screen, known for his Emmy-nominated performance in the television movie Miss Evers' Boys, a NAACP Image Award-nominated performance in the TV movie Introducing Dorothy Dandridge, and a Tony Award-nominated role for his performance as C.C. White in the original cast of the 1981 Broadway musical Dreamgirls. Babatundé was a protege of Sammy Davis, Jr., who said of him, "This is the only cat who can do everything I can do." Babatundé does dance, sing, play instruments, execute impersonations, including his portrayal of Davis, aided by their similarity in energy, size and talent, tap dancing and performing on multiple instruments. In fall 2009, Babatundé played Davis in the title role of "Sammy: Once in a Lifetime," a world premiere musical at the Old Globe Theatre in San Diego. Early in 2000, Babatundé partnered with writer/producer Ruth Adkins Robinson for a series of TV projects including "TV in Black: The First 50 Years," "Oscar's Black Odyssey: From Hattie to Hallie" and "Dorthy Dandridge: An American Beauty". The pair have projects that will take them through 2011. His TV roles have often portrayed authority figures, such as a recurring guest-starring role as a high school principal on Dawson's Creek, an appearance as a judge in a two-part episode of Any Day Now, and as the father of the main characters on Half & Half. He also played Harvard college Dean Cain in the movie How High, as well as the role of Willie Long in the movie Life, and co-starred as an attorney in Philadelphia and as a senator in the 2004 reprise of The Manchurian Candidate. He also played the director in season 3 of Friends in an episode titled "The One with All the Jealousy". Other TV shows he has had recurring roles on include The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, Chicago Hope, Rocket Power, Static Shock, and Karen Sisco. He played a small but pivotal role as a doorman/bellhop in the film That Thing You Do! and also appeared in The Wild Thornberrys Movie as the voice of Boko. He played a famous producer known as Gordy Berry on two episodes of The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. In the 1998 miniseries, The Temptations, he played the founder of Motown Records Berry Gordy. Babatundé is adept at American sign language and had used this talent in many roles including on one NYPD Blue. His recorded work includes a performance with the New York pianist Onaje Allan Gumbs on the 2007 album Sack Full of Dreams. The actor/producer is also an avid horseman and is a highly regarded rider and trainer in the Rodeo Circuit, including the annual Bill Pickett Rodeol. ​From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Acting credits

The Notebook poster
7.9

An epic love story centered around an older man who reads aloud to a woman with Alzheimer's. From a faded notebook, the old man's words bring to life the story about a couple who is separated by World War II, and is then passionately reunited, seven years later, after they have taken different paths.

The Notebook

2004

John Q poster
7.2

John Quincy Archibald is a father and husband whose son is diagnosed with an enlarged heart and then finds out he cannot receive a transplant because HMO insurance will not cover it. Therefore, he decides to take a hospital full of patients hostage until the hospital puts his son's name on the donor's list.

John Q

2002

Philadelphia poster
7.7

Two competing lawyers join forces to sue a prestigious law firm for AIDS discrimination. As their unlikely friendship develops, their courage overcomes the prejudice and corruption of their powerful adversaries.

Philadelphia

1993

The Eye poster
5.9

Violinist Sydney Wells was accidentally blinded by her sister Helen when she was five years old. She submits to a cornea transplantation, and while recovering from the operation, she realizes that she is seeing dead people.

The Eye

2008

The Silence of the Lambs poster
8.3

Clarice Starling is a top student at the FBI's training academy. Jack Crawford wants Clarice to interview Dr. Hannibal Lecter, a brilliant psychiatrist who is also a violent psychopath, serving life behind bars for various acts of murder and cannibalism. Crawford believes that Lecter may have insight into a case and that Starling, as an attractive young woman, may be just the bait to draw him out.

The Silence of the Lambs

1991

The Net poster
6.1

Angela Bennett is a freelance computer systems analyst who tracks down software viruses. At night, she hooks up to the internet and chats to others 'surfing the net'. While de-bugging a new high-tech game for a cyber friend, she comes across a top secret program and becomes the target of a mysterious organization, who will stop at nothing to erase her identity and her existence in order to protect the project.

The Net

1995

The Manchurian Candidate poster
6.5

Years after his squad was ambushed during the Gulf War, Major Ben Marco finds himself having terrible nightmares. He begins to doubt that his fellow squad-mate Sergeant Raymond Shaw, now a vice-presidential candidate, is the hero he remembers him being. As Marco's doubts deepen, Shaw's political power grows, and, when Marco finds a mysterious implant embedded in his back, the memory of what really happened begins to return.

The Manchurian Candidate

2004

Life poster
6.7

Two men in 1930s Mississippi become friends after being sentenced to life in prison together for a crime they did not commit.

Life

1999

The Wild Thornberrys Movie poster
6.5

Eliza and Debbie are two sisters who don't always get along. But their relationship is put to the test when Debbie's life is in danger, and Eliza might have to give up her power to talk to animals....

The Wild Thornberrys Movie

2002

After the Sunset poster
6.2

An FBI agent is suspicious of two master thieves, quietly enjoying their retirement near what may - or may not - be the biggest score of their careers.

After the Sunset

2004

How High poster
6.4

Jamal and Silas, two ordinary guys who smoke something magical, pass their college entrance exams with flying colors and end up at Harvard. Ivy League ways are strange but Silas and Jamal take it in a stride -- until their supply of supernatural smoke runs dry. That's when they have to start living by their wits and rely on their natural resources to make the grade.

How High

2001

Multiplicity poster
5.8

Construction worker Doug Kinney finds that the pressures of his working life, combined with his duties to his wife Laura and daughter Jennifer leaves him with little time for himself. However, he is approached by geneticist Dr. Owen Leeds, who offers Doug a rather unusual solution to his problems: cloning.

Multiplicity

1996

Married to the Mob poster
6.0

Angela de Marco is fed up with her gangster husband's line of work and wants no part of the crime world. When her husband is killed for having an affair with the mistress of mob boss Tony "The Tiger" Russo, Angela and her son depart for New York City to make a fresh start. Unfortunately, Tony has set his sights upon Angela -- and so has an undercover FBI agent looking to use her to bust Tony.

Married to the Mob

1988

City of Lies poster
6.3

Los Angeles Police Department detective Russell Poole has spent years trying to solve his biggest case -- the murders of The Notorious B.I.G. and Tupac Shakur -- but after two decades, the investigation remains open. Jack Jackson, a reporter desperate to save his reputation and career, is determined to find out why. In search of the truth, the two team up and unravel a growing web of institutional corruption and lies.

City of Lies

2018

That Thing You Do! poster
6.9

A Pennsylvania band scores a hit in 1964 and rides the star-making machinery as long as it can, with lots of help from its manager. But behind the scenes, the group’s sudden fame tests their strength, their maturity and responsibility, and their ability to resist the temptations that money and notoriety always make possible.

That Thing You Do!

1996

All Star Superman poster
6.9

Lex Luthor enacts his plan to rid the world of Superman, once and for all. Succeeding with solar radiation poisoning, the Man of Steel is slowly dying. With what little times remains, the Last Son of Krypton must confront the revealing of his secret identity to Lois Lane and face Luthor in a final battle.

All Star Superman

2011

Black Dynamite poster
7.1

This is the story of 1970s African-American action legend Black Dynamite. The Man killed his brother, pumped heroin into local orphanages, and flooded the ghetto with adulterated malt liquor. Black Dynamite was the one hero willing to fight The Man all the way from the blood-soaked city streets to the hallowed halls of the Honky House.

Black Dynamite

2009

Dead Again poster
6.4

In 1949, composer Roman Strauss is executed for the murder of his wife. In 1990s Los Angeles, a detective comes across a mute amnesiac woman who is somehow linked to the Strauss murder.

Dead Again

1991

Necronomicon poster
6.0

H.P. Lovecraft anthology is divided into four segments: "The Library" which is the wraparound segment involving Lovecraft's research into the Book of The Dead and his unwitting release of a monster and his writing of the following horror segments "The Drowned", "The Cold", and "Whispers".

Necronomicon

1993

Undercover Blues poster
6.0

When fun-loving American agents Jeff and Jane Blue are called back from maternity leave for a special assignment in New Orleans, the spy parents decide to skip the sitter and give their bouncing baby girl the adventure of a lifetime.

Undercover Blues

1993

Scooby-Doo! Music of the Vampire poster
7.6

Scooby and the gang have their first musical mystery in “Scooby Doo: Music of the Vampire.” It begins when they take a sing-a-long road trip into bayou country to attend the “Vampire-Palooza Festival” – an outdoor fair dedicated to all things Draculian. At first it looks as if they’re in for some fun and lots of Southern snacks, but events soon turn scary when a real live vampire comes to life, bursts from his coffin and threatens all the townsfolk. On top of that, this baritone blood sucker seems intent on taking Daphne as his vampire bride! Could the vampire be a descendant of a famous vampire hunter who is trying to sell his book? Or perhaps he’s the local politician, who has been trying to make his name in the press by attacking the vampires as downright unwholesome. The answers are to be found in a final song-filled showdown in the swamp in which our heroes unmask one of their most macabre monsters yet.

Scooby-Doo! Music of the Vampire

2012

Introducing Dorothy Dandridge poster
6.4

An acclaimed stage performer, Dorothy still struggled with the challenge of her color, in a time that wouldn't let some stars in by the front door. Yet against the odds she beat out many more famous rivals for the role of "Carmen Jones", becoming the first black woman ever nominated for a Best Actress Academy Award. Marriages and affairs would break her heart, but her heart was strong. Seductive and easily seduced, she was born to be a star - with all the glory and all the pain of being loved, abused, cheated, glorified, undermined and undefeated. Here was a woman who wouldn't wait in the wings. Halle Berry stars as Dorothy Dandrige.

Introducing Dorothy Dandridge

1999

The Celestine Prophecy poster
5.2

A spiritual adventure film chronicling the discovery of ancient scrolls in the rainforests of Peru. The prophecy and its nine key insights predict a worldwide awakening, arising within all religious traditions, that moves humanity toward a deeper experience of spirituality.

The Celestine Prophecy

2006

Material Girls poster
5.3

Two wealthy sisters, both heiresses to their family's cosmetics fortune, are given a wake-up call when a scandal and ensuing investigation strip them of their wealth.

Material Girls

2006

Behind the camera

American Bad Boy poster
2.5

Samuel's dream of buying a recording studio, making a hit record, and becoming a famous hip-hop artist has hit a snag. The money he borrowed to make it all happen is long over due. With the money all gone and the record far from finished, he becomes desperate for a solution. So when "The Bruce" - unscrupulous business man and owner of a string of male strip clubs - gives him only six months to pay back sixty-thousand dollars or say good-bye to his dream, Samuel knows what he's got to do. To make it all work, he going to take it all off. With his looks and his talents, raising enough money to pay off the loan and complete the record ought to be a cinch, but there's still a hitch. For his plan to work he'll have to keep it a secret for a number of reasons.

American Bad Boy

2015

Mississippi Scholar poster
NR

A young man fights for the one thing that can get him out of life's vicious cycle: an education. James Wilson is a gifted scholar living in a dark world surrounded by human obstacles. Fighting within his inner circle threatens his chance. James' teacher pries to see what his future can hold, but tragedy strikes, and it is enough to make James doubt it all.

Mississippi Scholar

2024

Oscar's Black Odyssey: From Hattie to Halle poster
9.0

Between 1939 and 2002, Black actors and Actresses received a combined total of 30 Academy Award nominations - only a handful made the odyssey to the podium to possess the Golden Man. This special program is filled with rare footage, photographs and long lost trailers of performances in Oscar-recognized films from GONE WITH THE WIND to MONSTER'S BALL.

Oscar's Black Odyssey: From Hattie to Halle

2003