Actor : 1917-2005 When Ossie Davis spoke out against injustice,
his words carried the weight of experience. Davis, a
distinguished stage, screen, and television actor, devoted his
life to the fight for civil rights and progressive change. In
1935, Davis hitchhiked from his home in rural Georgia to enter
Howard University in Washington, D.C. He studied drama with the
intention of becoming a playwright. Davis began acting in 1939
in Harlem, where he met the poet Langston Hughes, black
socialist reformer W.E.B. DuBois, and other leading figures of
the era. After serving as a surgical technician in Liberia in
World War II, Davis returned to New York. He debuted on Broadway
in 1946 in “Jeb,” a play about a soldier coming home from the
war. Davis’s co-star was Ruby Dee, whom he married two years
later. It was the start of a loving partnership that spanned
more than 50 years. Davis and Dee were soon swept up in social
unrest provoked by the start of the Cold War and mounting
tensions over racial injustice. The coupl