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December 18
From Cogdell, Georgia, Raiford Chatman Davis (his name at birth) was the oldest of five children born to Laura Cooper and Kince Davis. He picked up his nickname when friends and neighbors mistook his mother's articulation of his initials, "R. C,” as "Ossie." He attended Howard University with the tutelage of drama critic Alain Locke Davis as an influence to his theatrical talent. Davis began his career as a writer and an actor with the Rose McClendon Players in Harlem in 1939. In 1946, Davis made his Broadway debut in Jeb, winning rave reviews. He went on to perform in many Broadway productions, including Anna Lucasta, The Wisteria Trees, Green Pastures, Jamaica, Ballad for Bimshire, The Zulu and the Zayda, and the stage version of I'm Not Rappaport. Davis is also widely acclaimed for his role in A Raisin in the Sun (1959) and its 1961-film version, as well as for The Joe Louis Story (1953). In 1961, Davis wrote and starred in the critically acclaimed Purlie Victorious. He has written and directed many films, including Cotton Comes to Harlem (1970) and Countdown at Kusini (co-produced with his wife, Ruby Dee,1976), the first American feature film to be shot entirely in Africa by Black professionals. Other Davis credits include Do the Right Thing (1989), Jungle Fever (1991), and Malcolm X (1994). Davis also appeared in the film, Dr. Doolittle, with Eddie Murphy; Get on the Bus for Spike Lee; I'm Not Rappaport with Walter Matthau; Angry Men for Showtime Network; and on the CBS television series, Promised Land. Davis has received many honors and citations, including the Hall of Fame Award for Outstanding Artistic Achievement in 1989; the Theater Hall of Fame in 1994; the U. S. National Medal for the Arts in 1995; the New York Urban League Frederick Douglass Award; the NAACP Image Award and more. He is the author of three children's books, Escape to Freedom, which was honored by the American Library Association and the Jane Adams Children's Book Award; Langston; and Just Like Martin. Davis along with his fellow performer, stage and screen collaborator, and political activist wife, Ruby Dee has enjoyed a long and luminous career in entertainment. They have over 50 years of collaboration on a wide range of creative, charitable, political, and social projects. Married in 1948, they are the parents of three children, and have recently published their joint autobiography, With Ossie and Ruby: In This Life Together. He has carved out a phenomenal career from his start on the Community stage during the height of the Great Depression, through his stage and film work during the hurricane of the Civil Rights Movement; Ossie Davis has been a strong, forceful voice for human dignity and social justice. Ossie Davis was found dead on February 4, 2005 in his hotel room in Miami Beach, Fla. He was making a film called "Retirement." Reference: Africana The Encyclopedia of the African and African American Experience Editors: Kwame Anthony Appiah and Henry Louis Gates Jr. Copyright 1999 ISBN 0-465-0071-1 Image, Washington Post
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The African American Registry®, The African American Registry® Copyright 2005, 2006
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