Ruby Dee (born Ruby Ann Wallace; October 27, 1922 – June 11, 2014) was an American actress, poet, playwright, screenwriter, journalist, and civil rights activist.[1] She originated the role of "Ruth Younger" in the stage and film versions of A Raisin in the Sun (1961). Her other notable film roles include The Jackie Robinson Story (1950) and Do the Right Thing (1989).
Dee was married to Ossie Davis, with whom she frequently performed until his death in 2005.[2]
For her performance as Mahalee Lucas in American Gangster (2007), Dee was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress and won the Screen Actors Guild Award for Female Actor in a Supporting Role. Dee was a Grammy, Emmy, Obie and Drama Desk winner. She was also a National Medal of Arts, Kennedy Center Honors and Screen Actors Guild Life Achievement Award recipient.
Contents
1 Early life
2 Career
3 Personal life and activism
4 Death
5 Work
5.1 Filmography
5.2 Television
5.3 Stage
5.4 Discography
6 Awards and nominations
7 Books
8 See also
9 References
10 External links
Early life
Dee was born on October 27, 1922, in Cleveland, Ohio,[3] the daughter of Gladys (née Hightower) and Marshall Edward Nathaniel Wallace, a cook, waiter and porter.[4] After her mother left the family, Dee's father remarried, to Emma Amelia Benson, a schoolteacher.[5][6][7][8]
Dee was raised in Harlem, New York.[9] Prior to attending Hunter College High School, she studied at Public Schools 119 and 136.[10] Then, she went on to graduate from Hunter College with a degree in Romance languages in 1945.[11] She was a member of Delta Sigma Theta.[12]
Career
Dee joined the American Negro Theater as an apprentice, working with Sidney Poitier, Harry Belafonte, and Hilda Simms.[11] She made several appearances on Broadway, such as her first role in ANT's 1946 production of Anna Lucasta.[13] Her first onscreen role was in That Man of Mine in 1946. She received national recognition for her role in the 1950 film The Jackie Robinson Story.[9] In 1965, Dee performed in lead roles at the American Shakespeare Festival as Kate in The Taming of the Shrew and Cordelia in King Lear, becoming the first black actress to portray a lead role in the festival. Her career in acting crossed all major forms of media over a span of eight decades, including the films A Raisin in the Sun, in which she recreated her stage role as a suffering housewife in the projects, and Edge of the City. She played both roles opposite Poitier.[11]
Photo of a scene from the play A Raisin in the Sun. From left: Dee, (Ruth Younger); Claudia McNeil, (Lena Younger); Glynn Turman, (Travis Younger); Sidney Poitier, (Walter Younger) and John Fiedler, (Karl Lindner).
During the 1960s, Dee appeared in Gone Are the Days! and The Incident. In 1969, Dee appeared in 20 episodes of Peyton Place.[9] She appeared as Cora Sanders, a Marxist college professor, in the Season 1/Episode 14 of Police Woman, entitled "Target Black" which aired on Friday night, January 3, 1975. The character of Cora Sanders was obviously, but loosely, influenced by the real-life Angela Y. Davis. She appeared in one episode of The Golden Girls' sixth season. She played Queen Haley in Roots: The Next Generations, a 1979 miniseries.[9]
Dee was nominated for eight Emmy Awards, winning once for her role in the 1990 TV film Decoration Day.[14] She was nominated for her television guest appearance in the China Beach episode, "Skylark". Her husband Ossie Davis (1917–2005) also appeared in the episode. She appeared in Spike Lee's 1989 film Do the Right Thing, and his 1991 film Jungle Fever.[9]
In 1995, she and Davis were awarded the National Medal of Arts.[15] They were also recipients of the Kennedy Center Honors in 2004. In 2003, she narrated a series of WPA & slave narratives in the HBO film Unchained Memories.[16] In 2007 the winner of the Grammy Award for Best Spoken Word Album was shared by Dee and Ossie Davis for With Ossie And Ruby: In This Life Together, and former President Jimmy Carter.[11][17]
Dee by Carl Van Vechten, September 25, 1962
Dee was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress in 2007 for her portrayal of Mama Lucas in American Gangster. She won the Screen Actors Guild award for the same performance. At 83 years of age, Dee is currently the second oldest nominee for Best Supporting Actress, behind Gloria Stuart who was 87 when nominated for her role in Titanic. This was Dee's only Oscar nomination.[18]
On February 12, 2009, Dee joined the Aaron Copland School of Music at Queens College orchestra and chorus, along with the Riverside Inspirational Choir and NYC Labor Choir, in honoring Abraham Lincoln's 200th birthday at the Riverside Church in New York City. Under the direction of Maurice Peress, they performed Earl Robinson's The Lonesome Train: A Music Legend for Actors, Folk Singers, Choirs, and Orchestra, in which Dee was the Narrator.[19]
Dee's last role in a theatrically released film was in the Eddie Murphy comedy A Thousand Words, in which she portrayed the mother of Murphy's protagonist. Perhaps, her penultimate film role is in 1982, which premiered at the 2013 Toronto International Film Festival[20] and was released on home video on March 1, 2016.[21] It is unknown whether her final role will ever be seen, as King Dog was in production at the time of her death,[22] and no release date has ever been announced.
Personal life and activism
Ruby Wallace married blues singer Frankie Dee Brown in 1941, and began using his middle name as her stage name. The couple divorced in 1945.[11] Three years later she married actor Ossie Davis, whom she met while costarring in Robert Ardrey's 1946 Broadway play Jeb.[23] Together, Dee and Davis wrote an autobiography in which they discussed their political activism and their decision to have an open marriage (later changing their views).[24][25] Together they had three children: son, blues musician Guy Davis, and two daughters, Nora Day and Hasna Muhammad. Dee was a breast cancer survivor of more than three decades.[26]
Dee speaking in 2006
In 1979, the Supersisters trading card set was produced and distributed; one of the cards featured Dee's name and picture.[27]
Dee and Davis were well-known civil rights activists in the Civil Rights Movement.[28] Dee was a member of the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE), the NAACP, the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, Delta Sigma Theta sorority, and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. She was also as an active member of the Harlem Writers Guild for over 40 years. In 1963, Dee emceed the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom.[29] Dee and Davis were both personal friends of both Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X, with Davis giving the eulogy at Malcolm X's funeral in 1965.[30] In 1970, she won the Frederick Douglass Award from the New York Urban League.[9]
Dee (right) with activist and opera star Stacey Robinson in 1998.
In 1999, Dee and Davis were arrested at 1 Police Plaza, the headquarters of the New York Police Department, protesting the police shooting of Amadou Diallo.[31]
In early 2003, The Nation published "Not in Our Name", an open proclamation vowing opposition to the impending US invasion of Iraq. Ruby Dee and Ossie Davis were among the signatories, along with Robert Altman, Noam Chomsky, Susan Sarandon, and Howard Zinn, among others.
In November 2005, Dee was awarded – along with her late husband – the Lifetime Achievement Freedom Award, presented by the National Civil Rights Museum located in Memphis. Dee, a long-time resident of New Rochelle, New York, was inducted into the New Rochelle Walk of Fame which honors the most notable residents from throughout the community's 325-year history. She was also inducted into the Westchester County Women's Hall of Fame on March 30, 2007, joining such other honorees as Hillary Clinton and Nita Lowey.[32] In 2009, she received an honorary Doctor of Fine Arts degree from Princeton University.[17][33]
Death
Dee died on June 11, 2014, at her home in New Rochelle, New York, from natural causes at the age of 91.[34] In a statement, Gil Robertson IV of the African American Film Critics Association said, "the members of the African American Film Critics Association are deeply saddened at the loss of actress and humanitarian Ruby Dee. Throughout her seven-decade career, Dee embraced different creative platforms with her various interpretations of black womanhood and also used her gifts to champion for Human Rights. Her strength, courage, and beauty will be greatly missed."[9]
"She very peacefully surrendered", said her daughter Nora Day. "We hugged her, we kissed her, we gave her our permission to go. She opened her eyes. She looked at us. She closed her eyes, and she set sail." Following her death, the marquee on the Apollo Theater read: "A TRUE APOLLO LEGEND RUBY DEE 1922–2014".[35]
Dee was cremated, and her ashes are held in the same urn as that of Davis, with the inscription "In this thing together".[11] A public memorial celebration honoring Dee was held on September 20, 2014, at the Riverside Church in Upper Manhattan.[36] Their shared urn was buried at Ferncliff Cemetery in Hartsdale, New York.
Work
Filmography
Ruby Dee and Joel Fluellen (center) in
The Jackie Robinson Story (1950)
Year Title Role Note
1946 That Man of Mine [9] Joan First film
1947 Easy to Get [37] Drugstore girl U.S. Army venereal disease training film
The Fight Never Ends [38] Jane
1948 What a Guy [38]
1950 The Jackie Robinson Story Rae Robinson
No Way Out Connie Brooks Uncredited
1951 The Tall Target Rachel
1954 Go, Man, Go! Irma Jackson
1956 Mrs. Ashlow Uncredited
1957 Edge of the City Lucy Tyler
1958 St. Louis Blues Elizabeth
Virgin Island Ruth
1959 Take a Giant Step Christine
1961 A Raisin in the Sun Ruth Younger
1963 The Balcony Thief
Gone Are the Days! Lutiebelle Gussie Mae Jenkins
1967 The Incident Joan Robinson
1968 Up Tight! Laurie
1970 King: A Filmed Record... Montgomery to Memphis Documentary
1972 Buck and the Preacher Ruth
Black Girl Netta's Mother
1973 Wattstax
1976 Countdown at Kusini [39] Leah Matanzima
1982 Cat People Female
1989 Do the Right Thing Mother Sister
1990 Love at Large Corrine Dart
1991 Jungle Fever Lucinda Purify
1993 Color Adjustment Narrator Documentary
Cop and a Half Rachel
1994 The Stand Mother Abagail Freemantle
1995 Just Cause Evangeline
1996 Mr. & Mrs. Loving [40] Sophia
1997 A Simple Wish Hortense
1998 A Time to Dance: The Life and Work of Norma Canner Narrator Documentary[39]
1999 Baby Geniuses[39] Margo
2003 Beah: A Black Woman Speaks Herself Documentary
2006 No. 2 Nanna Maria
The Way Back Home [39] Maude
2007 All About Us [39] Ms. Ella
American Gangster Mama Lucas
Steam Doris
2009 The Perfect Age of Rock 'n' Roll [39] Miss Candy
2010 Laura| [41]
2011 Video Girl Valerie [42]
Politics of Love [39] Grandma 'Estelle' Roseanne Gupta
Red & Blue Marbles [39] Professor June Wright
2012 Long Distance Revolutionary: A Journey With Mumia Abu-Jamal [43]
A Thousand Words Annie McCall [39]
2013 Betty & Coretta Narrator [44]
1982 Rose Brown
Short subjects:
Lorraine Hansberry: The Black Experience in the Creation of Drama (1975)[45]
The Torture of Mothers (1980)[38]
Tuesday Morning Ride (1995)[46]
The Unfinished Journey (1999) (narrator)[47]
The New Neighbors (2009) (narrator)[48]
Television
The Bitter Cup (1961)[40]
Seven Times Monday (1962)[40]
The Fugitive (1963)[40]
The Great Adventure (1963) [40]
Of Courtship and Marriage (1964)[40]
Guiding Light (cast member in 1967)[40]
Peyton Place (cast member from 1968 to 1969)
Deadlock (1969)[40]
The Sheriff (1971)[40]
It's Good to Be Alive (1974)[40]
Police Woman Season 1 / Episode 14 "Target Black" (1975)
Roots: The Next Generations (1979) (miniseries)[40]
I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings (1979)[40]
All God's Children (1980)[40]
With Ossie and Ruby! (1980–1982)[40]
Long Day's Journey into Night (1982)
Go Tell It on the Mountain (1984)
The Atlanta Child Murders (1985) (miniseries)
Windmills of the Gods (1988)[40]
Gore Vidal's Lincoln (1988)[40]
The Court-Martial of Jackie Robinson (1990)[40]
Decoration Day (1990)[40]
Golden Girls (1990)[40]
Jazztime Tale (1991) (voice)[38]
Middle Ages (1992–1993)
The Ernest Green Story (1993)
The Stand (1994) (miniseries)
Whitewash (1994) (voice)[40]
Mr. and Mrs. Loving (1996)[40]
Captive Heart: The James Mink Story (1996)
The Wall (1998)[40]
Little Bill (1999 – 2004) (voice)
Passing Glory (1999)
Having Our Say: The Delany Sisters' First 100 Years (1999)
A Storm in Summer (2000)[40]
Finding Buck McHenry (2000)[40]
The Feast of All Saints (2001) (miniseries)
Taking Back Our Town (2001)[40]
Their Eyes Were Watching God (2005)
Meet Mary Pleasant (2008)
America (2009)
Stage
On Strivers Row (1940)[49]
Natural Man (1941)[49]
Starlight (1942)[49]
Three's a Family (1943)[49]
South Pacific (1943)[49]
Walk Hard (1944)[49]
Jeb (1946)[49]
Anna Lucasta (1946) (replacement for Hilda Simms)[49]
Arsenic and Old Lace (1946)[49]
John Loves Mary (1946)
A Long Way From Home (1948)[49]
The Smile of the World (1949)[49]
The World of Sholom Aleichem (1953)[49]
A Raisin in the Sun (1959)
Purlie Victorious (1961)[49]
King Lear (1965)[49]
The Taming of the Shrew (1965)[49]
The Birds (1966)[49]
Oresteia (1966)[49]
Boesman and Lena (1970)[49]
The Imaginary Invalid (1971)[49]
The Wedding Band (1972)[49]
Hamlet (1975)[49]
Bus Stop (1979)
Twin-Bit Gardens (1979)[49]
Zora is My Name! (1983)[49]
Checkmates (1988)[49]
The Glass Menagerie (1989)[49]
The Disappearance (1993)[49]
Flying West (1994)[49]
Two Hahs-Hahs and a Homeboy (1995)[49]
My One Good Nerve: A Visit with Ruby Dee (1996)[49]
A Last Dance for Sybil (2002)[49]
Saint Lucy's Eyes (2003)[49]
Discography
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The Original Read-In for Peace in Vietnam (Folkways Records, 1967)[50]
The Poetry of Langston Hughes (with Ossie Davis. Caedmon Records, no date, TC 1272)[51]
Let Us Now Praise Famous Men (with George Grizzard. Caedmon Records, 1970, TC 1324)
Tough Poems For Tough People (with Ossie Davis and Henry Braun. Caedmon Records, 1972, TC 1396)
To Make A Poet Black: The best poems of Countee Cullen (with Ossie Davis. Caedmon Records, 1971, TC 1400
To Be A Slave (with Ossie Davis. Caedmon Records, 1972, TC 2066)
The Lost Zoo, (Caedmon Records, 1978, TC 1539)
Why Mosquitoes Buzz In People's Ears and Other Tales with Ossie Davis. Caedmon Records, 1978, TC 1592)
What if I am a Woman?, Vol. 1: Black Women's Speeches (Folkways, 1977)[52]
What if I am a Woman?, Vol. 2: Black Women's Speeches (Folkways, 1977)[53]
Every Tone a Testimony (Smithsonian Folkways, 2001)[54]
American Short Stories, Vol 2: Various Artists(eav Lexington, no date, LE 7703)
American Short Stories, Vol 3: Various Artists (eav Lexington, no date, LE 7704)
I've got a name, Various Artists (Holt's Impact, 1968, CSM 662)
At your own risk, Various Artists (Holt's Impact, 1968, CSM 663)
Conflict, Various Artists (Holt's Impact, 1969, CSM 816)
Sight lines, Various Artists (Holt's Impact, 1970, SBN 03-071525-3)
Roses & Revolutions, Various Artist (D.S.T. Telecommunications, Inc., Production, 1975)
New Dimensions in Music (with John Cullum. CBS Records, 1976, P 13161)
Awards and nominations
Awards
1961: National Board of Review Award for Best Supporting Actress – A Raisin in the Sun[55]
1971: Drama Desk Award Outstanding Performance – Boesman and Lena[56]
1971: Obie Award for Best Performance by an Actress – Boesman and Lena[23][56]
1973: Drama Desk Award Outstanding Performance – Wedding Band[23]
1988: Induction into the American Theater Hall of Fame[57]
1991: Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Miniseries or a Movie – Decoration Day[11]
1991: Women in Film Crystal Award[58]
1995: National Medal of Arts[56]
2000: Screen Actors Guild Lifetime Achievement Award[59]
2003: Women of Vision Award - Women in Film & Video-DC [60]
2007: Grammy Award for Best Spoken Word Album – With Ossie And Ruby: In This Life Together (tied with Jimmy Carter)[11][61]
2008: African–American Film Critics Best Supporting Actress – American Gangster[62]
2008: Screen Actors Guild Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role – American Gangster[29][63]
2008: The Eleanor Roosevelt Val-Kill Medal Award[64]
2008: She was awarded the Spingarn Medal from the NAACP.[65]
Nominations
1964: Emmy Award for Outstanding Single Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role – The Doctors and the Nurses: Express Stop from Lenox Avenue[40]
1979: Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Limited Series or a Special – Roots: The Next Generations[56]
1988: Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Miniseries or a Special – Lincoln[56]
1990: Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series – China Beach: Skylark[56]
1993: Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series – Evening Shade: They Can't Take That Away from Me[56]
1995: Emmy Award for Outstanding Performer in an Animated Program – Whitewash[40]
2001: Emmy Award for Outstanding Performer in an Animated Program – Little Bill[66]
2002: Lucille Lortel Award for Outstanding Actress – Saint Lucy's Eyes[56]
2003: Emmy Award for Outstanding Performer in an Animated Program – Little Bill[67]
2008: Academy Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role – American Gangster[56]
2008: Image Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture – American Gangster[63]
2008: Screen Actors Guild Outstanding Cast in a Motion Picture – American Gangster[11]
2009: Screen Actors Guild Outstanding Performance by a Female Actress in a Television Movie or Miniseries – America[68]
2010: Image Award for Outstanding Actress in a Television Movie, Mini-Series or Dramatic Event – America[69]
Raiford Chatman "Ossie" Davis (December 18, 1917 – February 4, 2005) was an American actor, director, writer, and activist.[1][2][3]
He was married to Ruby Dee, with whom he frequently performed, until his death.[4]
He and his wife were named to the NAACP Image Awards Hall of Fame; were awarded the National Medal of Arts[5] and were recipients of the Kennedy Center Honors. He was inducted into the American Theater Hall of Fame in 1994.
Contents
1 Early life
2 Career
3 Honors
4 Activism
5 Personal life
6 Death
7 Filmography
7.1 Film
7.2 Television
7.3 Directing
8 Theatre
9 Discography
10 Bibliography
11 References
12 External links
Early life
Raiford Chatman Davis was born in Cogdell, Georgia, the son of Kince Charles Davis, a railway construction engineer, and his wife Laura (née Cooper; July 9, 1898 – June 6, 2004).[6][7] He inadvertently became known as "Ossie" when his birth certificate was being filed and his mother's pronunciation of his name as "R. C. Davis" was misheard by the courthouse clerk in Clinch County, Ga.[8] Davis experienced racism from an early age when the KKK threatened to shoot his father, whose job they felt was too advanced for a black man to have. His siblings included scientist William Conan Davis, social worker Essie Morgan Davis, pharmacist Kenneth Curtis Davis, and biology teacher James Davis.[9]
Following the wishes of his parents, he attended Howard University but dropped out in 1939 to fulfill his desire for an acting career in New York after a recommendation by Alain Locke; he later attended Columbia University School of General Studies. His acting career began in 1939 with the Rose McClendon Players in Harlem. During World War II, Davis served in the United States Army in the Medical Corps. He made his film debut in 1950 in the Sidney Poitier film No Way Out.
Career
photo by Carl Van Vechten, 1951
When Davis wanted to pursue a career in acting, he ran into the usual roadblocks that black people suffered at that time as they generally could only portray stereotypical characters such as Stepin Fetchit. Instead, he tried to follow the example of Sidney Poitier and play more distinguished characters. When he found it necessary to play a Pullman porter or a butler, he played those characters realistically, not as a caricature.
In addition to acting, Davis, along with Melvin Van Peebles and Gordon Parks, was one of the notable black directors of his generation: he directed movies such as Gordon's War, Black Girl and Cotton Comes to Harlem. Along with Bill Cosby and Poitier, Davis was one of a handful of black actors able to find commercial success while avoiding stereotypical roles prior to 1970, which also included a significant role in the 1965 movie The Hill alongside Sean Connery plus roles in The Cardinal and The Scalphunters. However, Davis never had the tremendous commercial or critical success that Cosby and Poitier enjoyed. As a playwright, Davis wrote Paul Robeson: All-American, which is frequently performed in theatre programs for young audiences.
In 1976, Davis appeared on Muhammad Ali's novelty album for children, The Adventures of Ali and His Gang vs. Mr. Tooth Decay.[10]
Ossie Davis at the 1963 Civil Rights March on Washington, D.C.
Davis found recognition late in his life by working in several of director Spike Lee's films, including Do The Right Thing, Jungle Fever, She Hate Me and Get on the Bus. He also found work as a commercial voice-over artist and served as the narrator of the early-1990s CBS sitcom Evening Shade, starring Burt Reynolds, where he also played one of the residents of a small southern town.
In 1999, Davis appeared as a theater caretaker in the Trans-Siberian Orchestra film The Ghosts of Christmas Eve, which was released on DVD two years later.
For many years, he hosted the annual National Memorial Day Concert from Washington, DC.
He voiced Anansi the spider on the PBS children's television series Sesame Street in its animation segments.
Davis's last role was a several episode guest role on the Showtime drama series The L Word, as a father struggling with the acceptance of his daughter Bette (Jennifer Beals) parenting a child with her lesbian partner. In his final episodes, his character was taken ill and died. His wife Ruby Dee was present during the filming of his own death scene. That episode, which aired shortly after Davis's own death, aired with a dedication to the actor.[11] After Davis's passing, actor Dennis Haysbert portrayed him in the 2015 film Experimenter.
Honors
In 1989, Ossie Davis and his wife, actress/activist Ruby Dee, were named to the NAACP Image Awards Hall of Fame. In 1995, they were awarded the National Medal of Arts, the nation's highest honor conferred to an individual artist on behalf of the country and presented in a White House ceremony by the President of the United States.[12] In 2004, they were recipients of the prestigious Kennedy Center Honors.[13] According to the Kennedy Center Honors:
"The Honors recipients recognized for their lifetime contributions to American culture through the performing arts— whether in dance, music, theater, opera, motion pictures, or television — are selected by the Center's Board of Trustees. The primary criterion in the selection process is excellence. The Honors are not designated by art form or category of artistic achievement; the selection process, over the years, has produced balance among the various arts and artistic disciplines."[14]
In 1994, Davis was inducted into the American Theater Hall of Fame.[15]
Activism
Davis with activist and opera star Stacey Robinson (left) in 1998.
Davis and Dee were well known as civil rights activists during the Civil Rights Movement and were close friends of Malcolm X, Jesse Jackson, Martin Luther King Jr. and other icons of the era. They were involved in organizing the 1963 civil rights March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, and served as its emcees. Davis, alongside Ahmed Osman, delivered the eulogy at the funeral of Malcolm X.[16] He re-read part of this eulogy at the end of Spike Lee's film Malcolm X. He also delivered a stirring tribute to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr, at a memorial in New York's Central Park the day after King was assassinated in Memphis, Tennessee.
Personal life
Davis and Dee
In 1948, Davis married actress Ruby Dee, whom he had met on the set of Robert Ardrey's 1946 play Jeb. In their joint autobiography With Ossie and Ruby, they described their decision to have an open marriage, later changing their minds.[17] In the mid-1960s they moved to the New York suburb of New Rochelle, where they remained ever after.[18] Their son Guy Davis is a blues musician and former actor, who appeared in the film Beat Street (1984) and the daytime soap opera One Life to Live. Their daughters are Nora Davis Day and Hasna Muhammad.
Death
Davis was found dead in a Miami hotel room on February 4, 2005. An official cause of death was not released, but he was known to have had heart problems.[19]
Filmography
Film
No Way Out (1950) as John Brooks (uncredited)
Fourteen Hours (1951) as Cab Driver (uncredited)
The Joe Louis Story (1953) as Bob (uncredited)
Gone Are the Days! (aka Purlie Victorious) (1963) as Reverend Purlie Victorious Judson
The Cardinal (1963) as Father Gillis
Shock Treatment (1964) as Capshaw
The Hill (1965) as Jacko King
A Man Called Adam (1966) as Nelson Davis
Silent Revolution (1967)
The Scalphunters (1968) as Joseph Lee
Sam Whiskey (1969) as Jed Hooker
Slaves (1969) as Luke
Wattstax (1973) as Himself (uncredited)
Let's Do It Again (1975) as Elder Johnson
Countdown at Kusini (1976) as Ernest Motapo
Hot Stuff (1979) as Captain John Geiberger
Benjamin Banneker: The Man Who Loved the Stars (1979)[20]
Harry & Son (1984) as Raymond
The House of God (1984) as Dr. Sanders
Avenging Angel (1985) as Captain Harry Moradian
School Daze (1988) as Coach Odom
Do the Right Thing (1989) as Da Mayor
Joe Versus the Volcano (1990) as Marshall
Preminger: Anatomy of a Filmmaker (1991, Documentary) as Himself
Jungle Fever (1991) as The Good Reverend Doctor Purify
Gladiator (1992) as Noah
Malcolm X (1992) as Eulogy Performer (voice)
Cop and a Half (1993) as Detective in Squad Room (uncredited)
Grumpy Old Men (1993) as Chuck
The Client (1994) as Harry Roosevelt
Get on the Bus (1996) as Jeremiah
I'm Not Rappaport (1996) as Midge Carter
4 Little Girls (1997, Documentary) as Himself - Actor and Playwright
Dr. Dolittle (1998) as Archer Dolittle
Alyson's Closet (1998, Short) as Postman Extraordinaire
The Unfinished Journey (1999, Documentary, Short) as Narration (voice)
The Gospel According to Mr. Allen (2000, Documentary) as Narrator
Dinosaur (2000) as Yar (voice)
Here's to Life! (2000) as Duncan Cox
Voice of the Voiceless (2001, Documentary) as Himself
Why Can't We Be a Family Again? (2002, Documentary, Short) as Narrator (voice)
Bubba Ho-Tep (2002) as Jack
Unchained Memories (2003, Documentary) as Reader #6
Nat Turner: A Troublesome Property (2003, Documentary) as Himself
Beah: A Black Woman Speaks (2003, Documentary) as Himself
BAADASSSSS! (2003) as Granddad
She Hate Me (2004) as Judge Buchanan
Proud (2004) as Lorenzo DuFau
A Trumpet at the Walls of Jericho (2005, Documentary)
Television
The Emperor Jones (1955, TV Movie) as Brutus Jones
Seven Times Monday (1962, TV Movie) as Will
Car 54 Where Are You? (1962-1963) as Officer Omar Anderson
The Fugitive (1966) as Lieutenant Johnny Gaines
12 O'Clock High (1967) as Major Glenn Luke
Bonanza: The Wish (1969) as Sam Davis
Night Gallery (1969) as Osmund Portifoy
Hawaii Five-O (1974) as Ramon Borelle
The Sheriff (1971, TV Movie) as Sheriff James Lucas
The Tenth Level (1976, TV Movie) as Reed
Billy: Portrait of a Street Kid (1977, TV Movie) as Dr. Fredericks
King (1978, TV Mini-Series) as Reverend Martin Luther King Sr.
Roots: The Next Generations (1979, TV Mini-Series) as Dad Jones
Freedom Road (1979, TV Movie) as Narrator
All God's Children (1980, TV Movie) as Blaine Whitfield
Ossie and Ruby! (1980) as Co-host (1980-1981)
Don't Look Back: The Story of Leroy "Satchel" Paige (1981, TV Movie) as Chuffy Russell
Death of a Prophet (1981, TV Movie) as Himself
Benjamin Banneker: The Man Who Loved the Stars (1989)[21]
B.L. Stryker (1989–1990) as 'Oz' Jackson
We'll Take Manhattan (1990, TV Movie) as Man in Subway
Evening Shade (1990–1994) as Ponder Blue
Alex Haley's Queen (1993, TV Mini-Series) as Parson Dick
The Ernest Green Story (1993, TV Movie) as Grandfather
The Stand (1994, TV Mini-Series) as Judge Richard Farris
Ray Alexander (1995, TV Movie) as Uncle Phil
The Android Affair (1995, TV Movie) as Dr. Winston
The Client (1995–1996) as Judge Harry Roosevelt
Home of the Brave (1996, TV Movie) as Erasmus Jones
Promised Land (1996–1998) as Erasmus Jones
Touched By An Angel (1996–2002) as Erasmus Jones / Gabriel / Gabe
Miss Evers' Boys (1997, TV Movie) as Mr. Evers
12 Angry Men (1997, TV Movie) as Juror #2
The Secret Path (1999, TV Movie) as 'Too Tall'
The Soul Collector (1999, TV Movie) as Mordecai
The Ghosts of Christmas Eve (1999, TV Movie) as The Caretaker
A Vow to Cherish (1999, TV Movie) as Alexander Billman
Between the Lions (1999–2005)
Finding Buck McHenry (2000, TV Movie) as Buck McHenry
Legend of the Candy Cane (2001, TV Movie) as Julius (voice)
The Feast of All Saints (2001, TV Movie) as Jean-Jacques
Persidio Med (2002) as Otis Clayton
Deacons for Defense (2003, TV Movie) as Reverend Gregory
JAG (2003) as Terrence Minnerly
The L Word (2004–2005) as Melvin Porter (final appearance)
Directing
Cotton Comes to Harlem (1970)
Black Girl (1972)
Gordon's War (1973)
Kongi's Harvest (1973)
Countdown at Kusini (1976)
Crown Dick (1987 TV movie)
Theatre
Joy Exceeding Glory (1939)
On Strivers Row (1940)
Booker T. Washington (1940)
Black Women in White (1941)
Jeb (1946)
Anna Lucasta (1946) (replacement for Earle Hyman)
The Leading Lady (1948)
The Washington Years (1948)
The Smile of the World (1949)
Stevedore (1949)
The Wisteria Trees (1950)
The Royal Family (1951)
The Green Pastures (1951)
Remains to Be Seen (1951)
Touchstone (1953)
The Wisteria Trees (1955)
No Time for Sergeants (1956) (replacement for Earle Hyman)
Jamaica (1957)
A Raisin in the Sun (1959) (replacement for Sidney Poitier)
Purlie Victorious (1961)
Ballad for Bimshire (1963)
A Treasury of Negro World Writing (1964)
The Talking Skull (1965)
The Zulu and the Zayda (1965)
Ain't Supposed to Die a Natural Death (1972)
Take It from the Top (1979)
Zora is My Name! (1983)
I'm Not Rappaport (1986) (replacement for Cleavon Little)
A Celebration of Paul Robeson (1988) (benefit concert)
Two Hah Hahs and a Homeboy (1995)
Discography
Autobiography of Frederick Douglass, Vol. 1: (Folkways Records, 1966)
Autobiography of Frederick Douglass, Vol. 2: (Folkways, 1966)
Frederick Douglass' The Meaning of July 4 for the Negro: (Folkways, 1975)
Frederick Douglass' Speeches inc. The Dred Scott Decision: (Folkways, 1976)