Raiford Chatman "Ossie" Davis was an American actor, director, writer, and activist.
21 Facts About Ossie Davis
2.
Ossie Davis was married to Ruby Dee, with whom he frequently performed, until his death.
3.
Ossie Davis was inducted into the American Theater Hall of Fame in 1994.
4.
Raiford Chatman Davis was born in Cogdell, Georgia, the son of Kince Charles Davis, a railway construction engineer, and his wife Laura.
5.
Ossie Davis's siblings included scientist William Conan Davis, social worker Essie Davis Morgan, pharmacist Kenneth Curtis Davis, and biology teacher James Davis.
6.
Ossie Davis's acting career began in 1939 with the Rose McClendon Players in Harlem.
7.
Ossie Davis made his film debut in 1950 in the Sidney Poitier film No Way Out.
8.
When Ossie Davis wanted to pursue a career in acting, he ran into the usual roadblocks that black people suffered at that time as they generally could only portray stereotypical characters such as Stepin Fetchit.
9.
However, Ossie Davis never had the tremendous commercial or critical success that Cosby and Poitier enjoyed, though he starred with both of them in the 1975 film Let's Do It Again.
10.
In 1976, Ossie Davis appeared on Muhammad Ali's novelty album for children, The Adventures of Ali and His Gang vs Mr Tooth Decay.
11.
Ossie Davis found recognition late in his life by working in several of director Spike Lee's films, including School Daze, Do The Right Thing, Jungle Fever, She Hate Me and Get on the Bus.
12.
Ossie Davis 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 played one of the residents of a small southern town.
13.
Ossie Davis appeared in several popular 1990s films, including Grumpy Old Men, The Client and Dr Dolittle.
14.
Ossie Davis voiced Anansi the spider on the PBS children's television series Sesame Street in its animation segments.
15.
Ossie 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 parenting a child with her lesbian partner.
16.
In 1994, Ossie Davis was inducted into the American Theater Hall of Fame.
17.
Ossie Davis 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.
18.
In 1948, Ossie Davis married actress Ruby Dee, whom he had met on the set of Robert Ardrey's 1946 play Jeb.
19.
Ossie Davis was found dead in a Miami Beach hotel room on February 4,2005.
20.
Ossie Davis's funeral was held in New York City on February 12,2005.
21.
Shabazz, oldest daughter of Malcolm X and Betty Shabazz, spoke lovingly of the man she and her five sisters called Uncle Ossie Davis, saying he had provided exceptional support to her and her sisters after her father's assassination.