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Personal Info
Known For
Acting
Birthday
December 18, 1917
Died
February 4, 2005
Place of Birth
Cogdell, Georgia, USA
Also Known As
- Ozzie Davis
- Raiford Chatman "Ossie" Davis
- Raiford Chatman Davis
Ossie Davis
0.9 Popularity
Biography
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.
Known For
6.7
Self (archive footage)
Louis Armstrong's Black & Blues
2022
🎬
0.0
Self (archival footage)
Folk Britannia
2006
🎬
5.0
Self
The Peace!
2005
6.2
Reverend 'Rev' Gregory
Deacons for Defense
2005
0.0
Self
The History Makers: Success
2005
🎬
0.0
Self
Unstoppable
2005
5.0
Self
By Any Means Necessary: The Making of 'Malcolm X'
2005
5.1
Judge Buchanan
She Hate Me
2004
4.4
Lorenzo DuFau
Proud
2004
6.5
Granddad
Baadasssss!
2004
Credits
Louis Armstrong's Black & Blues
as Self (archive footage)
2022
6.7
🎬
Folk Britannia
as Self (archival footage)
2006
0.0
🎬
The Peace!
as Self
2005
5.0
Deacons for Defense
as Reverend 'Rev' Gregory
2005
6.2
The History Makers: Success
as Self
2005
0.0
🎬
Unstoppable
as Self
2005
0.0
By Any Means Necessary: The Making of 'Malcolm X'
as Self
2005
5.0
She Hate Me
as Judge Buchanan
2004
5.1
Proud
as Lorenzo DuFau
2004
4.4
Baadasssss!
as Granddad
2004
6.5
🎬
TV Revolution
2004
0.0
Beah: A Black Woman Speaks
as Self
2004
0.0
The L Word
as Melvin Porter
2004
7.6
The Evolution of an American Filmmaker
as Self
2003
7.3
🎬
The Tuskegee Airmen: They Fought Two Wars
as Narrator
2003
0.0
Nat Turner: A Troublesome Property
as Himself
2003
6.1
Unchained Memories: Readings from the Slave Narratives
2003
4.8
Theater Talk: 'A Raisin in the Sun'
as Self
2002
0.0
Bubba Ho-tep
as John F. "Jack" Kennedy
2002
6.5
Christianity: The First Two Thousand Years
as Narrator
2002
6.0
Feast of All Saints
as Jean-Jacques
2001
4.4
Neighborhoods: The Hidden Cities of San Francisco - The Fillmore
as Narrator
2001
0.0
The Legend of the Candy Cane
as Julius (voice)
2001
0.0
Here's to Life!
as Duncan Cox
2000
0.0
Dinosaur
as Yar (voice)
2000
6.5
Finding Buck McHenry
as Buck McHenry
2000
0.0
The Unfinished Journey
as Narrator (voice)
1999
6.0
Trans-Siberian Orchestra: The Ghosts of Christmas Eve
as Caretaker
1999
9.0
The Soul Collector
as Mordecai
1999
7.2
Third Watch
as Mr. Parker
1999
7.9
The Secret Path
as Too Tall
1999
7.5
Paul Robeson: Here I Stand
as Self
1999
0.0
A Vow to Cherish
as Alexander Billman
1999
6.2
🎬
Christianity: The First 1000 Years
as Himself - Narrator
1998
0.0
Doctor Dolittle
as Archer Dolittle
1998
5.7
Small Steps, Big Strides: The Black Experience in Hollywood
as Self
1998
0.0
Scandalize My Name: Stories from the Blacklist
as Self
1998
7.7
12 Angry Men
as Juror 2
1997
7.7
4 Little Girls
as Self - Actor and Playwright
1997
7.2
🎬
Jackie Robinson: Breaking Barriers
as Narrator
1997
10.0
Miss Evers' Boys
as Mr. Evers
1997
6.3
Thomas Jefferson
as Narrator (voice)
1997
8.0
Walter Matthau: Diamond in the Rough
as Self
1997
6.5
I'm Not Rappaport
as Midge Carter
1996
5.6
Get on the Bus
as Jeremiah
1996
6.3
Promised Land
1996
6.1
Promised Land
as Erasmus Jones
1996
6.1
The West
as Self
1996
8.4
The West
as Self / John R. Gills (voice)
1996
8.4
JAG
as Terrence Minnerly
1995
7.3
The Client
as Judge Harry Roosevelt
1995
6.8
The Android Affair
as Dr. Winston
1995
5.0
Ray Alexander: A Menu for Murder
as Uncle Phil
1995
0.0
Touched by an Angel
as Gabriel
1994
7.2
Touched by an Angel
as Erasmus Jones
1994
7.2
Baseball
as Various (voice)
1994
7.4
Baseball
as (voice)
1994
7.4
The Client
as Harry Roosevelt
1994
6.7
Ray Alexander: A Taste For Justice
as Uncle Phil
1994
0.0
The Stand
as Judge Richard Farris
1994
6.8
The Stand
as Judge Richard Farris (credit only)
1994
6.8
Malcolm X: Make It Plain
as Self
1994
10.0
🎬
Arthur Ashe: Citizen of the World
as Narrator
1994
0.0
Grumpy Old Men
as Chuck
1993
6.7
Cop & ½
as Detective in Squad Room
1993
4.5
Goin' Back to T-Town
as Narrator
1993
0.0
Alex Haley's Queen
as Parson Dick
1993
7.0
The Ernest Green Story
as Grandfather
1993
6.9
🎬
Lincoln
as Frederick Douglas (voice)
1992
6.8
Malcolm X
as Eulogy Performer (voice)
1992
7.5
The Real Malcolm X
1992
0.0
Gladiator
as Noah
1992
7.6
Preminger: Anatomy of a Filmmaker
as Self
1991
7.7
Jungle Fever
as Reverend Purify
1991
6.4
Evening Shade
as Ponder Blue
1990
5.6
Joe Versus the Volcano
as Marshall
1990
5.8
The Red Shoes
1990
0.0
🎬
Making 'Do the Right Thing'
as Self
1989
6.7
Do the Right Thing
as Da Mayor
1989
7.8
B.L. Stryker
as Oz Jackson
1989
6.0
American Experience
as Self - Harlem Resident
1988
6.9
School Daze
as Coach Odom
1988
5.7
American Masters
as Self
1986
7.5
Sesame Street: Sleepytime Songs & Stories
as Anansi the Spider (Sleepytime Songs and Stories) (voice)
1986
0.0
Avenging Angel
as Capt. Harry Moradian
1985
5.2
🎬
Tyler Texas Black Film Collection
as Himself
1985
7.0
Harry & Son
as Raymond
1984
5.8
🎬
Marcus Garvey: Toward Black Nationhood
as Narrator
1984
0.0
The House of God
as Dr. Sanders
1984
2.3
Reading Rainbow
as Self - Narrator (voice)
1983
8.3
Don't Look Back: The Story of Leroy "Satchel" Paige
as Chuffy Russell
1981
6.0
Death of a Prophet
1981
4.1
All God's Children
as Blaine Whitfield
1980
4.0
Freedom Road
as Narrator
1979
4.8
Hot Stuff
as Captain John Geiberger
1979
7.0
Roots: The Next Generations
as 'Dad' Jones
1979
7.5
🎬
Freedom Man
as Benjamin Banneker
1979
0.0
The Kennedy Center Honors
as Self
1978
7.4
King
as Rev. Martin Luther King Sr.
1978
6.4
Billy: Portrait of a Street Kid
as Dr. Fredericks
1977
0.0
The Tenth Level
as Reed
1976
5.1
Countdown at Kusini
as Ernest Motapo
1976
0.0
Let's Do It Again
as Elder Johnson
1975
6.9
Black Shadows on a Silver Screen
as Narrator
1975
0.0
Wattstax
as Self (uncredited)
1973
7.0
Malcolm X
as Eulogy (voice)
1972
6.6
The Sheriff
as James Lucas
1971
5.3
Kongi's Harvest
as Narrator
1970
6.0
Night Gallery
as Osmond Portifoy
1969
6.6
Slaves
as Luke
1969
5.7
Sam Whiskey
as Jed Hooker
1969
5.6
Teacher, Teacher
as Charles Carter
1969
0.0
The Fall
1969
7.0
Hawaii Five-O
as Ramon Borelle
1968
7.1
The Name of the Game
as Kubani
1968
6.8
The Scalphunters
as Joseph Lee
1968
6.4
Still A Brother: Inside the Negro Middle Class
as Narrator
1968
0.0
The Outsider
as Lt. Wagner
1967
6.0
Black Liberation
as Narrator
1967
0.0
A Man Called Adam
as Nelson Davis
1966
6.0
Run for Your Life
as Frankie Morton
1965
7.2
Run for Your Life
as Dave Corbett
1965
7.2
Run for Your Life
as Sgt. Dave Corbett
1965
7.2
🎬
The Sun... the Sand... the Hill
as Jason King (archival footage)
1965
1.0
🎬
The Sun... the Sand... the Hill
as Jason King (archive footage)
1965
1.0
The Hill
as Jacko King
1965
7.5
12 O'Clock High
as Major Glenn Luke
1964
7.2
Shock Treatment
as Capshaw
1964
6.7
The Cardinal
as Father Gillis
1963
6.6
The Great Adventure
as John Ross
1963
0.0
The Fugitive
as Lt. Johnny Gaines
1963
7.2
Gone Are the Days!
as Reverend Purlie Victorious Judson
1963
6.7
Hands of Inge
as Narrator (voice)
1962
0.0
The Defenders
as Nixie
1961
5.9
The Defenders
as Officer Bond
1961
5.9
The Defenders
as Assistant District Attorney
1961
5.9
The Defenders
as District Attorney
1961
5.9
The Defenders
as District Attorney Daniel Jackson
1961
5.9
John Brown's Raid
as Dangerfield Newby
1960
0.0
Bonanza
as Sam Davis
1959
7.5
Tony Awards
as Self - Presenter
1956
5.9
Hallmark Hall of Fame
as Charles Carter
1951
8.6
Fourteen Hours
as Cab Driver (uncredited)
1951
7.2
No Way Out
as John Brooks (uncredited)
1950
6.9
Kraft Television Theatre
as The Emperor Jones
1947
7.5
Haiti: Killing the Dream
N/A
0.0