Ossie Davis - A Life of Commitment and Dedication

A statement of the Committees of Correspondence for Democracy and Socialism

Actor Ossie Davis was found dead in his hotel room Friday morning in Miami where he was on location shooting a movie.

Alongside his wife of more than 50 years, actress Ruby Dee, Davis was an outstanding progressive movement activist. Throughout his adult life he was a central figure in the African American freedom movement, a stalwart participant in activities against war and for economic and social justice.

Throughout their careers Davis and Dee broke new ground in overcoming racial exclusion in the entertainment world and helped open new prospects for generations of African American actors and entertainers.

In 1963, Davis and Dee were masters of ceremonies at the landmark March on Washington. Later he delivered often- quoted eulogies at the funerals of Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X.

Davis strongly opposed the anti-Communist witchhunt in the 1950s and stood resolutely behind singer Paul Robeson and scholar-author Dr. W.E.B. Dubois when the two legendary African American activists came under attack for their leftist views and activities.

Davis was born in 1917 in Cogdell, Ga., and grew up in nearby Waycross and Valdosta. Raiford Chatman Davis (his name at birth) was the oldest of five children born to Laura Cooper and Kince Davis. As described by the African American Registry, "He picked up his nickname when friends and neighbors mistook his mother's articulation of his initials, 'R. C,' as 'Ossie'."

In 1935, Davis enrolled in predominantly African American Howard University in Washington, D.C., where he majored in drama under the tutelage of drama critic Alain Locke, the first black Rhodes Scholar, who also aided the careers of authors Langston Hughes and Zora Neale Hurston. "On April 16, 1939, I heard Marian Anderson at the Lincoln Memorial because she had been barred from singing at Constitutional Hall in Washington, D.C.," Davis would say later. "I understood fully for the first time the importance of black song, black music, black arts. I was handed my spiritual assignment that night."

In 1939 he began his acting career in New York, appearing with the Rose McClendon Players in Harlem.

Davis served in the U.S. military four years during World War II. Last December, Davis told Washington Post writer Wil Haygood, "My experiences with New York are divided before I went to World War II and when I came back." He served in the Army with a Negro medical unit that eventually would send him to Liberia. "While in the Army, he read plenty of W.E.B. DuBois and honed his political mind," wrote Haygood.

The book "With Ossie and Ruby: In This Life Together,"
published in 1998, described their life together as entertainers and political activists. Together they received Kennedy Center Honors for their achievements in 2004.

A radio show, "The Ossie Davis and Ruby Dee Story Hour,"
ran on 65 stations for four years in the mid-1970s.

Over the course of his career, Davis acted, directed and produced movies and theater. His many and widely varied screen credits include the Spike Lee films "Jungle Fever" and "Do the Right Thing"; television work included "Roots: The Next Generation" taken from the novel by Alex Hailey, the comedy "Grumpy Old Men" with Jack Lemmon, "Martin Luther King: The Dream and the Drum" and "The Stand." He also earned acclaim for his roles in "A Raisin in the Sun" - both on stage and screen - and "The Joe Louis Story." Davis directed several films, including "Cotton Comes to Harlem." Other films include "The Cardinal," "The Client" and "I'm Not Rappaport."

On Broadway Davis had the title role in "Purlie Victorious." He wrote the script for the comedy and helped write a musical version of the play, "Purlie," a revival of which is slated for next season. His first movie role was in "No Way Out" in 1950, in which he co- starred with Dee. The pair had previously appeared together on stage in the 1940's in "Jeb" and "Anna Lucasta."

At the time of his passing, Davis was in Florida for the filming of "Retirement," in which he was co-starring with Peter Falk, George Segal and Rip Torn, together portraying four senior men who take off from their retirement homes to journey to Las Vegas in an effort to derail the marriage of one of their daughters to the wrong man.

Davis appeared in numerous television productions, including "The Emperor Jones," "Miss Evers' Boys" and "Twelve Angry Men" and was a member of the cast of the early 60s series "The Defenders." This year he will appear in three previously filmed episodes of the Showtime series "The L Word."

Davis authored three books for children: "Escape to Freedom," "Langston," about the life of Black author Langston Hughes, and "Just Like Martin," about Martin Luther King.

Davis received many honors, awards 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 and the NAACP Image Award.

Actors' Equity Association issued a statement Friday calling Davis "an icon in the American theater" and he and Dee "American treasures." House lights for Broadway marquees were to be dimmed Friday at curtain time.

"He's my hero," actor Alan Alda, who appeared in "Purlie Victorious," wrote in e-mail to the Associated Press. "I am sorry for his family and for all of us who have benefited from ... his art and from his service to his country."

Davis was a stanch supporter of the activities of the Committees of Correspondence for Democracy and Socialism (CCDS). "The progressive community in our country and the movement for peace, against racism, sexism, anti- Semitism and against exploitation and oppression throughout the world has lost a true hero, a person of tremendous talent, selfless dedication and commitment,"
said the Committee's National Co-Chair Charlene Mitchell. "His life, and that of Ruby, his lifelong companion and fellow-activist, will serve as a source of inspiration for generations to come."

Besides Dee, Davis is survived by three children - Nora, Hasna and Guy (a blues artist), and seven grandchildren.

A funeral is being planned for next week at the Abyssinian Baptist Church in Harlem.

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