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Acting

Ossie Davis

Career: Active from 1960 to 2026, with a break from 2006 to 2023, busiest in 1999 with 5 main titles.

Leading roles: 39
top three billing

Average score: 63/100

Highest rated: Do the Right Thing
87/100

What stands out

Compared with the average well-known movie, over 68 of their titles. Select a trait to filter titles.

Ossie Davis Catalog average

Rarely in their work

Uncanny
1.5, average 2.5
Scare
1.8, average 2.6
Cringe Humor
1.4, average 2.2
Tech & Humanity
0.8, average 1.6

Main genres

Select a genre to see those titles.

Recurring tags

Social Commentary 10
Social Justice 5
Character-Driven 5
Thought-Provoking 4
Character Study 4
American History 3
Social Realism 3
Historical Drama 2
Political Intrigue 2
Educational 2
Feel-Good 2
Historical Setting 2

Works often with

People in at least two of their main titles.

Movies and TV shows

109

Type

Role

Score

Decade

Genre

Group by

2020s

2 titles

Writer

Purlie Victorious: A Non-Confederate Romp Through the Cotton Patch

Original Story, Writer

2000s

15 titles · average score 63

Deacons for Defense

74

as Reverend 'Rev' Gregory

Proud

44

as Lorenzo DuFau

She Hate Me

40

as Judge Buchanan

Baadasssss!

82

as Granddad

The L Word

67

TV show · as Melvin Porter

The Tuskegee Airmen: They Fought Two Wars

as Narrator

Bubba Ho-tep

68

as John F. "Jack" Kennedy

Feast of All Saints

65

as Jean-Jacques

Neighborhoods: The Hidden Cities of San Francisco - The Fillmore

as Narrator

Dinosaur

60

as Yar (voice)

Finding Buck McHenry

65

as Buck McHenry

Here's to Life!

as Duncan Cox

1990s

36 titles · average score 64

The Secret Path

75

as Too Tall

Trans-Siberian Orchestra: The Ghosts of Christmas Eve

80

as Caretaker

A Vow to Cherish

65

as Alexander Billman

Doctor Dolittle

52

as Archer Dolittle

12 Angry Men

77

as Juror 2

I'm Not Rappaport

50

as Midge Carter

The Client

46

TV show · as Judge Harry Roosevelt

Grumpy Old Men

65

as Chuck

The Ernest Green Story

71

as Grandfather

Gladiator

59

as Noah

Jungle Fever

73

as Reverend Purify

Joe Versus the Volcano

56

as Marshall

1980s

12 titles · average score 50

Do the Right Thing

87

as Da Mayor

B.L. Stryker

41

TV show · as Oz Jackson

School Daze

58

as Coach Odom

Sesame Street: Sleepytime Songs & Stories

as Anansi the Spider (Sleepytime Songs and Stories) (voice)

Avenging Angel

37

as Capt. Harry Moradian

Harry & Son

33

as Raymond

The House of God

44

as Dr. Sanders

Marcus Garvey: Toward Black Nationhood

as Narrator

For Us, the Living: The Story of Medgar Evers

Writer

Purlie

Musical

Don't Look Back: The Story of Leroy "Satchel" Paige

as Chuffy Russell

All God's Children

as Blaine Whitfield

1970s

16 titles · average score 64

Hot Stuff

68

as Captain John Geiberger

King

73

TV show · as Rev. Martin Luther King Sr.

Billy: Portrait of a Street Kid

as Dr. Fredericks

The Tenth Level

59

as Reed

Countdown at Kusini

as Ernest Motapo

Let's Do It Again

67

as Elder Johnson

Gordon's War

60

Director

Black Girl

68

Director

Malcolm X

80

as Eulogy (voice)

The Sheriff

63

as James Lucas

Cotton Comes to Harlem

64

Screenplay, Director

Kongi's Harvest

as Narrator

1960s

23 titles · average score 66

Night Gallery

73

as Osmond Portifoy

Slaves

55

as Luke

Teacher, Teacher

as Charles Carter

Sam Whiskey

48

as Jed Hooker

Hawaii Five-O

48

TV show · as Ramon Borelle

The Scalphunters

66

as Joseph Lee

Still A Brother: Inside the Negro Middle Class

as Narrator

A Man Called Adam

50

as Nelson Davis

The Hill

79

as Jacko King

12 O'Clock High

76

TV show · as Major Glenn Luke

Gone Are the Days!

71

as Reverend Purlie Victorious Judson

The Fugitive

84

TV show · as Lt. Johnny Gaines

1950s

4 titles · average score 76

Bonanza

73

TV show · as Sam Davis

Fourteen Hours

67

as Cab Driver (uncredited)

Hallmark Hall of Fame

84

TV show · as Charles Carter

No Way Out

80

as John Brooks (uncredited)

1940s

1 title · average score 78

Kraft Television Theatre

78

TV show · as The Emperor Jones