Ossie Davis funeral on Saturday

Raiford Chatman “Ossie” Davis, the actor, civil rights activist, writer, producer and director who carved out a career as one of the most distinguished actors and public figures of the 20th century, died last Friday, February 4, 2005, at the age of 87. He was found dead in his hotel room in Miami, where he was working on a film titled Retirement.

When eulogies for this beloved man are delivered this Saturday, February 12, at the Riverside Church in Harlem, they will be said for an orator who himself delivered one of the most famous eulogies in American history.

On February 27, 1965, at the Faith Temple Church of God in New York, Davis delivered the eulogy at the funeral of Malcolm X, a politically risky move for a public figure. In closing, he recognized Malcolm as “our own black shining prince, who didn’t hesitate to die because he loved us so.”

Ron Himes, founder of the St. Louis Black Repertory Company and a personal friend of Davis’, said, “If Malcolm was our shining black prince, then Davis had to be the shining black king.”

Davis visited St. Louis in October 1999, when his wife and soulmate, Ruby Dee, starred in the Black Rep’s production of My Last Good Nerve, and had previously been in town in 1990 to see Ron Bobb-Semple in the St. Louis Repertory Company’s production of August Wilson’s Fences.

In 1997, Davis and Dee performed before a capacity crowd of 1,100 in Gitana Production’s Faces of Love at the Westport Playhouse.

“We have lost a wonderful illuminator. Ossie was a giant of a man who set a model for black men, for black families and, especially, for the arts,” said Cecilia Nadal of Gitana.

“He never forgot that he was a child of the South, and he wanted to positively impact other people’s lives. He felt that activism should be the focal point for the arts and the community.”

Raiford Chatman Davis was born on December 18, 1917, in Cogdell, Georgia. From 1935 until 1938, he was a student at Howard University, where he became a civil rights activist and playwright. His acting career began in 1939 with the Rose McClendon Players in Harlem.

In 1948, Davis married actress Ruby Dee, whom he met in 1946 in the Broadway production of Jeb. They are the parents of three children.

Davis and Dee often worked together and were inseparable, as they described in their 1998 dual autobiography With Ossie and Ruby: In This Life Together, which chronicles their activism in the civil rights movement and more than 50 years as a couple.

They were close friends and allies of Martin Luther King Jr., Malcolm X and Stokely Carmichael and served as masters of ceremonies for the historic 1963 March on Washington.

Davis was chairman of a memorial tribute to W.E.B. DuBois and is the voice of the famous United Negro College Fund advertising slogan, “A mind is a terrible thing to waste,” as well as the voice over the theme music heard by more than 4 million people annually at the St. Louis Gateway Arch.

He was master of ceremonies for President Bill Clinton’s 1997 Memorial Day ceremonies on the Mall in Washington, D.C.

Davis and Dee made their film debuts together in 1950 in No Way Out, and then starred together on Broadway in Loraine Hansberry’s A Raisin in the Sun, their first of many Broadway roles. In 1961, Davis wrote and starred with Dee in the acclaimed stage comedy Purlie Victorious.

Davis first exhilarated television audiences in 1965 in the title role in The Emperor Jones. He received Emmy nominations for Teacher, Teacher, King and Miss Evers’ Boys. He was a regular or recurring player on TV series such as Evening Shade, B.L. Stryker and The Client.

In 1970, Davis directed his first feature film, Cotton Comes to Harlem. In 1976 Davis and Dee produced and Davis directed the first American feature film to be shot entirely in Africa by black professionals, Countdown at Kusani.

Among many other film roles, Davis and Dee appeared together in Spike Lee’s 1992 biopic Malcolm X, in which Davis played himself, delivering his eloquent eulogy for the slain black leader.

In 1995, Davis and Dee were celebrated as “national treasures” when they received the National Medal of Arts. In 2000, they were presented with the Screen Actors Guild’s highest honor, the Life Achievement Award. They are also inductees in the Theater Hall of Fame and the NAACP Image Awards Hall of Fame.

Funeral services are scheduled for noon this Saturday, February 12 at the Riverside Church in Harlem. The ecumenical service, which is open to the public, will be preceded by a community viewing on Friday at Abyssinia Baptist Church in Harlem from 5 p.m. to 10 p.m.

In lieu of flowers, Ossie Davis’ family requests that donations be made to one or more of the following organizations in Mr. Davis’ name.

WBAI Pacifica Radio

120 Wall Street

New York, NY 10005

Att: Bernard White

Today’s Students/Tomorrow’s Teachers

3 West Main Street

Elmsford, NY 10523

Att: Dr. Betty Perkins

Excel Institute

2266 25th Place, NE

Washington, DC. 20018