Ossie Davis (born 1917) was a leading African American playwright, actor, director, and television and movie star.

Ossie Davis was born in Cogdell, Georgia, on December 18, 1917. He grew up in Waycross. At Howard University in Washington, D.C., he was encouraged to pursue an acting career. He joined an acting group in Harlem in New York City and took part in the American Negro Theater, founded there in 1940.

Davis made his debut in the play Joy Exceeding Glory (1941). During Army service in World War II he wrote and produced shows. While playing his first Broadway role in Jeb (1946), he met actress Ruby Dee, and they were married two years later.

Davis's first movie role was in No Way Out (1950). This was followed by Broadway performances in No Time for Sergeants, Raisin in the Sun, and Jamaica. Other movie roles included The Cardinal, Shock Treatment, Slaves, and, in 1989, Do the...