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Ossie Davis
| Biography |
distinguished and highly respected performer, Ossie Davis is an influential and versatile actor, director, producer, screenwriter, playwright, and historian. The son of a railroad engineer, he was born in Cogdell, GA, on December 18, 1917. After earning a degree at Washington, D.C.'s Howard University, he moved to New York to attempt a writing career and to study drama with Harlem's Rose McClendon Players. Despite his college diploma, Davis found work on the side in various menial jobs. He then spent a couple years in the military, where he penned and performed a few shows for the troops. After the war, he made his Broadway debut in 1946 appearing in Jeb Turner. It was a short-lived show, but it did serve to introduce him to his future wife, Ruby Dee, with whom he later hosted a radio and television show. By the 1950s, Davis had become a well-respected supporting actor.
He began a sporadic film career with No Way Out (which also starred Dee) in 1950. That same year, he also appeared in a couple of television dramas. As the decade progressed, Davis' career began flagging, but during the 1960s, as American television became more open to African-American actors, Davis began getting more roles in that venue. He appeared in a number of shows, including the acclaimed 1967 detective drama The Outsider. During that decade, Davis also appeared in a number of films, working with directors like Otto Preminger on The Cardinal (1963) and Sidney Lumet on The Hill (1965). In addition to his film and television work, Davis became a major force in the theater: in 1961, he wrote the hit Broadway musical Purlie Victorious, for which he won great acclaim. Two years later, he adapted the play into Gone Are the Days, and also starred in the film. Davis added directing to his resumé in 1970 with Cotton Comes to Harlem, an adaptation of Chester Hime's novel. In addition to directing, he wrote the screenplay and the songs for the film. During the early '70s, Davis also founded the innovative Third World Cinema production company to help African-American and Puerto Rican filmmakers.
As an actor, Davis made frequent appearances on television in miniseries like Roots (1977) and on shows like Evening Shade. He also continued to do steady film work, enjoying a successful collaboration with director Spike Lee, for whom he first appeared in 1988's School Daze. Other Lee collaborations include Do the Right Thing (1989), Jungle Fever (1991), Malcolm X (1992), and Get on the Bus (1996). In addition to his work with Lee, Davis has appeared in a number of films, including I'm Not Rappaport (1996), Miss Evers' Boys (1997), and Dr. Doolittle (1998).
Throughout his professional life, Davis has been active in promoting civil rights and humanitarian causes. It was he who delivered the eulogy for assassinated civil rights activist Malcolm X. As a result of his years of selfless service, Davis and his wife have been inducted into the NAACP Image Award Hall of Fame, the Theater Hall of Fame, and in the mid-'90s, received the National Medal of Arts Award from President Bill Clinton. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
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