Black male actors of a certain age.
by yrnej | created - 25 Mar 2014 | updated - 25 Mar 2014 | PublicMany black male actors aged 60 and older end up with parts that fall into three categories. 1 - the malevolent villian, 2 - the all-knowing mentor, and 3 - the aging yet cool hipster. Which of these still-living actors is your favorite?
Discuss the list here
1. Harry Belafonte
Actor | Bobby
Harold George Belafonte was born on March 1, 1927 in New York City. He was educated at the New York Dramatic Workshop. He grew up in Jamaica, British West Indies, and did folk-singing in nightclubs and theaters, and on television and records. His debut was at the Village Vanguard in New York. Also,...
2. Andre Braugher
Actor | Homicide: Life on the Street
Many actors have attempted to crack both genres of drama and comedy. Few have succeeded, among them the genial Andre Braugher (pronounced 'Ahn-drey Braw-ger'). A two-time Emmy Award winner, he is especially remembered for two seminal roles: as the intense, often explosive Detective Frank Pembleton ...
3. Avery Brooks
Actor | Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
Avery Franklin Brooks was born on October 2, 1948 in Evansville, Indiana to a musically talented family. His maternal grandfather, Samuel Travis Crawford, was a tenor who graduated from Tougaloo College in Mississippi in 1901. Crawford toured the country singing with the Delta Rhythm Boys in the ...
4. Bill Cosby
Actor | The Cosby Show
Bill Cosby is one of the world's most well-known entertainers and comedians. William Henry Cosby, Jr. was born on July 12, 1937, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, to Anna Pearl (Hite), a maid and William Henry Cosby, Sr., a U.S. Navy sailor. After 10th grade, Cosby joined the Navy and completed high ...
5. Michael Dorn
Actor | Star Trek: First Contact
Michael Dorn is an American actor from Texas. He is best known for playing Worf in the "Star Trek" franchise, the first Klingon character to be part of a television series' main cast. Dorn played the character regularly from 1987 to 2002, appearing in four films and 272 television episodes. Dorn ...
6. Bill Duke
Actor | Predator
Duke Media Entertainment, led by actor, director, producer, writer and humanitarian, Bill Duke, is dedicated to bringing quality Edutainment to audiences around the globe. Formerly Yagya Productions, Duke Media has successfully produced critically acclaimed film and television content for more than...
7. Charles S. Dutton
Actor | Gothika
Charles S. Dutton was born on January 30, 1951 in Baltimore, Maryland, USA. He is an actor and producer, known for Gothika (2003), Alien³ (1992) and A Time to Kill (1996). He was previously married to Debbi Morgan.
8. Frankie Faison
Actor | Coming to America
Frankie Faison was born on June 10, 1949 in Newport News, Virginia, USA. He is an actor, known for Coming to America (1988), Do the Right Thing (1989) and White Chicks (2004). He is married to Samantha Jupiter Faison. He was previously married to Jane Mandel.
9. Morgan Freeman
Actor | Driving Miss Daisy
With an authoritative voice and calm demeanor, this ever popular American actor has grown into one of the most respected figures in modern US cinema. Morgan was born on June 1, 1937 in Memphis, Tennessee, to Mayme Edna (Revere), a teacher, and Morgan Porterfield Freeman, a barber. The young Freeman...
10. Danny Glover
Actor | Lethal Weapon
Actor, producer and humanitarian Danny Glover has been a commanding presence on screen, stage and television for more than 35 years.
Glover was born in San Francisco, California, to Carrie (Hunley) and James Glover, postal workers who were also active in civil rights. Glover trained at the Black ...
11. Louis Gossett Jr.
Actor | An Officer and a Gentleman
Louis Gossett Jr. is one of the most respected and beloved actors on stage, screen and television and is also an accomplished writer, producer and director. Off-screen he is a social activist, educator and author dedicated to enriching the lives of others. Gossett was the first African-American to ...
12. Dennis Haysbert
Actor | Far from Heaven
Dennis Haysbert was born on June 2, 1954 in San Mateo, California, USA. He is an actor and producer, known for Far from Heaven (2002), 24 (2001) and Heat (1995). He was previously married to Lynn Griffith and Elena Simms.
13. Ernie Hudson
Actor | Ghostbusters
As a child growing up in Benton Harbor, Michigan, Ernie Hudson wrote short stories, poems and songs, always thinking that his words might one day come to life on stage. After a short stint in the Marine Corps, he moved to Detroit where he became the resident playwright at Concept East, the oldest ...
14. Samuel L. Jackson
Actor | Pulp Fiction
Samuel L. Jackson is an American producer and highly prolific actor, having appeared in over 100 films, including Die Hard with a Vengeance (1995), Unbreakable (2000), Shaft (2000), Formula 51 (2001), Black Snake Moan (2006), Snakes on a Plane (2006), and the Star Wars prequel trilogy (1999-2005), ...
15. James Earl Jones
Actor | Rogue One
Widely regarded as the one of greatest stage and screen actors both in his native USA and internationally, James Earl Jones was born on January 17, 1931 in Arkabutla, Mississippi. At an early age, he started to take dramatic lessons to calm himself down. It appeared to work as he has since starred ...
16. Yaphet Kotto
Actor | Alien
Physically imposing, intense Yaphet Kotto was one of the few actors of his generation to succeed in breaking racial stereotypes in Hollywood. He was born in Harlem, New York, the son of Gladys, a nurse and army officer, and Abraham Kotto, a businessman-turned-construction worker. His father was a ...
17. Delroy Lindo
Actor | Get Shorty
On the stage and on the big screen, Delroy Lindo projects a powerful presence that is almost impossible to ignore. Alhough it was not his first film role, his portrayal of the bipolar numbers boss West Indian Archie in Spike Lee's Malcolm X (1992) is what first attracted attention to Lindo's ...
18. Garrett Morris
Actor | Coneheads
Garrett Morris was born on February 1, 1937 in New Orleans, Louisiana, USA. He is an actor and writer, known for Coneheads (1993), Saturday Night Live (1975) and How High (2001). He has been married to Freda Morris since September 20, 1996.
19. Joe Morton
Actor | Terminator 2: Judgment Day
Joe Morton was born on October 18, 1947 in New York, New York, USA. He is a television, film, and theater actor, best known for The Brother from Another Planet (1984), Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991), Eureka (2006), and Scandal (2012). He also writes and directs, and is a singer/songwriter.
20. Bill Nunn
Actor | Spider-Man 3
Commanding performer Bill Nunn made his feature debut in fellow Morehouse College graduate Spike Lee's School Daze (1988), but really etched himself into moviegoers' minds as a formidable screen presence in his second film with Lee, Do the Right Thing (1989), playing Radio Raheem, whose ...
21. Clarke Peters
Actor | The Wire
Clarke Peters was born on April 7, 1952 in New York City, New York, USA. He is an actor and producer, known for The Wire (2002), Da 5 Bloods (2020) and Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri (2017). He is married to Penny. They have one child. He was previously married to Janine Martyne.
22. Sidney Poitier
Actor | In the Heat of the Night
Sidney Poitier was a native of Cat Island, Bahamas, although born, two months prematurely, in Miami during a visit by his parents, Evelyn (Outten) and Reginald James Poitier. He grew up in poverty as the son of farmers, with his father also driving a cab in Nassau. Sidney had little formal ...
23. Ben Vereen
Actor | All That Jazz
Few entertainers today are as accomplished or versatile as Ben Vereen. His legendary performances transcend time and have been woven into the fabric of this country's artistic legacy. His first love and passion is and always will be the stage. "The theater was my first training ground. It taught me...
24. Billy Dee Williams
Actor | Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back
Billy Dee Williams was born William December Williams on April 6, 1937 in New York City. Billy Dee has notched up an impressive array of film and television appearances over the past 50+ years. He is easily best known to international film audiences as the roguish Lando Calrissian in the last two ...
25. Clarence Williams III
Actor | The General's Daughter
Born on August 21, 1939, the son of a displaced musician, Harlem-born actor Clarence Williams III was raised by his musical grandparents, the legendary jazz and boogie-woogie composer/pianist Clarence Williams, who wrote such classics as "T'Aint Nobody's Business If I Do" and "Baby, Won't You ...
26. Robert Wisdom
Actor | The Dark Knight Rises
Robert Wisdom graces each of his diverse screen roles with a powerful, profound and cool presence-- from his commercial hits to his bold and proactive performances in a variety of new features. He starred on HBO's The Wire, generating wide critical praise. Wisdom appeared in The Hawk is Dying at ...
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