FrameThrower · Actors · Ossie Davis
Ossie Davis
3 films · 178 frames · top-billed in 2 · 1989–2002
Born 18 December 1917 · Cogdell, Georgia, USA · died 4 February 2005
Raiford Chatman "Ossie" Davis was an American actor, director, writer, and activist. He may be best known for his roles in Spike Lee-directed films such as School Daze (1988) and Do the Right Thing (1989). Other films Davis acted in include The Hill (1965), A Man Called Adam (1966), Let's Do It Again (1975), Joe Versus the Volcano (1990), Grumpy Old Men (1993), The Client (1994), Dr. Dolittle (1998), Dinosaur (2000), and Bubba Ho-Tep (2002). He was married to Ruby Dee, with whom he frequently performed, from 1948 until his death.
Awards
On FrameThrower we have: 3 films · 178 frames · top-billed in 2 · 1989–2002
- Screen Actors Guild Life Achievement Award2001
- National Medal of Arts
- Grammy Award for Best Audio Book, Narration & Storytelling Recording2006
- Marian Anderson Award2005
- Kennedy Center Honors2004
- NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series2001
- NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series1999
- NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture1989
- NAACP Image Award – Hall of Fame Award1987
- Coretta Scott King Award1979
- Paul Robeson Award1975
- Daytime Emmy Award
How their films are shot
Measured across 178 frames from the 3 films we hold. This is the look of the work Ossie takes, not a claim about any single frame — we index the cast of a film, never the people in a shot.
Across the 3 films we hold, 48% of their frames are night, 45% low key — the look of the work Ossie takes.
Time of day
Lighting
Shot size
Camera angle
Mood
Films in the library
Every poster opens that film — stills, cinematography notes and colour palette.
A reference database for filmmakers
FrameThrower is a fully machine-searchable film database and visual reference library — all 178 frames from Ossie Davis's 3 films, and 5,000+ films besides, indexed frame by frame and readable by AI. Search it in plain language, from a reference image, or by colour; call it from an API, an MCP server or an SDK. It's the reference layer for making the next movie.