Ossie Davis

Ossie Davis
Davis at the New York City premiere of the Spike Lee film She Hate Me, 2004
Born	Raiford Chatman Davis (1917-12-18)December 18, 1917 Cogdell, Clinch County, Georgia, U.S.
Died	February 4, 2005(2005-02-04) (aged 87) Miami, Florida, U.S.
Occupation(s)	Actor, director, poet, playwright, author, activist
Years active	1939–2005
Spouse	Ruby Dee (1948–2005; his death)
Children	3, including Guy Davis

Ossie Davis (born Raiford Chatman Davis; December 18, 1917 – February 4, 2005) was an American film, television and Broadway actor, director, poet, playwright, author, and civil rights activist.

He was married to Ruby Dee, with whom he frequently performed, until his death in 2005.

He and his wife were named to the NAACP Image Awards Hall of Fame; were awarded the National Medal of Arts and were recipients of the Kennedy Center Honors. He was inducted into the American Theater Hall of Fame in 1994.

Early years

Raiford Chatman Davis was born in Cogdell, Clinch County, Georgia, a son of Kince Charles Davis, a railway construction engineer, and his wife Laura (née Cooper; July 9, 1898 – June 6, 2004). 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. 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.

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; he later attended Columbia University School of General Studies. His acting career, which spanned eight decades, 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. He voiced Anansi the spider on the PBS children's television series Sesame Street in its animation segments.

Career

photo by Carl Van Vechten, 1951

When Davis wanted to pursue a career in acting, he ran into the usual roadblocks that blacks 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 African-American 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 African American 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.

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. His distinguished bearing made him a perfect choice for the concert. Following his passing, the hosting duties passed on to the twosome of Gary Sinise and Joe Mantegna.

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.

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. And in 2004, they were recipients of the prestigious Kennedy Center Honors. 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."

In 1994, Davis was inducted into the American Theater Hall of Fame.

Activism

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. 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.

Davis, alongside Ahmed Osman, delivered the eulogy at the funeral of Malcolm X.

Personal life

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. In the mid-1960s they moved to the New York suburb of New Rochelle, where they remained ever after. 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, Florida, hotel room on February 4, 2005. An official cause of death was not released, but he was known to have heart problems.

Filmography

Film

• No Way Out (1950) (Uncredited)
• Fourteen Hours (1951)
• The Joe Louis Story (1953)
• Gone Are the Days! (aka Purlie Victorious) (1963)
• The Cardinal (1963)
• Shock Treatment (1964)
• The Hill (1965)
• A Man Called Adam (1966)
• Silent Revolution (1967)
• The Scalphunters (1968)
• Sam Whiskey (1969)
• Slaves (1969)
• Wattstax (1973)
• Let's Do It Again (1975)
• Countdown at Kusini (1976)
• Hot Stuff (1979)
• Benjamin Banneker: The Man Who Loved the Stars (1979)
• Death of a Prophet (1981)
• The House of God (1984)
• Harry & Son (1984)
• Avenging Angel (1985)
• School Daze (1988)
• Do the Right Thing (1989)
• Joe Versus the Volcano (1990)
• Preminger: Anatomy of a Filmmaker (1991)
• Jungle Fever (1991)
• Gladiator (1992)
• Malcolm X (1992)
• Cop and a Half (1993)
• Grumpy Old Men (1993)
• The Client (1994)
• Get on the Bus (1996)
• I'm Not Rappaport (1996)
• 4 Little Girls (1997)
• 12 Angry Men (1997)
• Alyson's Closet (1998)
• Dr. Dolittle (1998)
• The Unfinished Journey (1999)
• The Gospel According to Mr. Allen (2000)
• Dinosaur (2000) (voice)
• Here's to Life! (2000)
• Voice of the Voiceless (2001)
• Why Can't We Be a Family Again? (2002)
• Bubba Ho-Tep (2002)
• Unchained Memories (2003)
• Nat Turner: A Troublesome Property (2003)
• Beah: A Black Woman Speaks (2003)
• BAADASSSSS! (2003)
• She Hate Me (2004)
• Proud (2004)
• A Trumpet at the Walls of Jericho (2005)

Television

• The Emperor Jones (1955)
• Seven Times Monday (1962)
• Car 54 Where Are You? (1963)
• The Fugitive (1966)
• 12 O'Clock High (1967)
• Night Gallery (1969)
• Bonanza: The Wish (1969)
• Hawaii Five-O (1974)
• The Tenth Level (1975)
• Billy: Portrait of a Street Kid (1977)
• King (1978) (miniseries)
• Roots: The Next Generations (1979)
• Freedom Road (1979)
• All God's Children (1980)
• Ossie and Ruby! (1980–1981)
• Don't Look Back: The Story of Leroy "Satchel" Paige (1981)

• Benjamin Banneker: The Man Who Loved the Stars (1989)
• B.L. Stryker (1989–1990)
• We'll Take Manhattan (1990)
• Evening Shade (1990–1994)
• Alex Haley's Queen (1993)
• The Ernest Green Story (1993)
• The Stand (1994)
• Ray Alexander (1994–1995)
• The Android Affair (1995)
• The Client (1995–1996)
• Home of the Brave (1996)
• Promised Land (1996–1998)
• Touched By An Angel (1996–2002)

• Miss Evers' Boys (1997)
• 12 Angry Men (1997)
• A Vow to Cherish (1999)
• The Ghosts of Christmas Eve (1999)
• The Secret Path (1999)
• The Soul Collector (1999)
• Between the Lions (1999–2005)
• Finding Buck McHenry (2000)
• Legend of the Candy Cane (2001)
• The Feast of All Saints (2001)
• Persidio Med (2002)
• Deacons for Defense (2003)
• JAG (2003)
• The L Word (2004–2005)

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

3

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)

Bibliography

• Davis, Ossie (1961). Purlie Victorious. New York: Samuel French Inc Plays. ISBN 978-0-573-61435-4.
• Davis, Ossie (1977). Escape to Freedom: The Story of Young Frederick Douglass. New York: Samuel French. ISBN 978-0-573-65031-4.
• Davis, Ossie (1982). Langston. New York: Delacorte Press. ISBN 978-0-440-04634-9.
• Davis, Ossie; Dee, Ruby (1984). Why Mosquitos Buzz in People's Ears. Caedmon. ISBN 978-0-694-51187-7. {{cite book}}: |format= requires |url= (help)
• Davis, Ossie (1992). Just Like Martin. New York: Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing. ISBN 978-0-671-73202-8.
• Davis, Ossie; Dee, Ruby (1998). With Ossie and Ruby: In This Life Together. New York: William Morrow. ISBN 978-0-688-15396-0.
• Davis, Ossie (2006). Dee, Ruby (ed.). Life Lit by Some Large Vision: Selected Speeches and Writings. New York: Atria Books. ISBN 0-7432-8988-9.

External links

• The official site of Ossie Davis & Ruby Dee
• Life's Essentials with Ruby Dee
• Ossie Davis at the Internet Broadway Database
• Ossie Davis at the Internet Off-Broadway Database
• Ossie Davis at IMDb
• Ossie Davis at the TCM Movie Database
• Eulogy of Malcolm X
• Ossie Davis' oral history video excerpts at The National Visionary Leadership Project
• Ossie Davis at Smithsonian Folkways
• Ossie Davis at The Interviews: An Oral History of Television
• Appearances on C-SPAN