Renowned actor, writer, director, and civil rights figure Ossie Davis passed away Friday. Best known for his roles in "Roots: The Next Generation" (1978) and multiple Spike Lee movies including "Jungle Fever" (1991) and "Get on the Bus" (1996), Davis and longtime wife Ruby Dee have been a staple of African-American theater and culture for the past five decades.
Beginning his career in Harlem in the 1930s, Davis became friends with famous African American figureheads such as W.E.B. DuBois and Langston Hughes. In the 1950s and '60s Davis and Dee became major figures in the ongoing civil rights struggle, developing lasting friendships with notables from Jackie Robinson to Malcolm X. Davis delivered the eulogy at Malcolm X's funeral, reprising the reading in Spike Lee's "Malcolm X" (1992).
- Dave Cavell
