Courtney B. Vance
 |
Courtney B. Vance | |
|---|---|
 Vance in March 2007 | |
| Born | Courtney Bernard Vance March 12, 1960 |
| Nationality | American |
| Alma mater | Harvard University (BA) Yale School of Drama (MFA) |
| Occupation | Actor |
| Years active | 1983–present |
| Spouse | |
| Children | 2 |
| Parent(s) | Conroy Vance (father) Leslie Vance (mother) |
Courtney Bernard Vance[1] (born March 12, 1960) is an American actor. He is notable for his roles in the feature films Hamburger Hill and The Hunt for Red October, the television series Law & Order: Criminal Intent, in which he played Assistant District Attorney Ron Carver, and The People v. O. J. Simpson, in which he played Johnnie Cochran. For the latter, he won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Limited Series or Movie. He guest starred on the TNT series The Closer as Chief Tommy Delk from 2010–11. In 2013 he won a Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Play for his role in Lucky Guy.[2]
Early life
Vance was born in Detroit, Michigan, on March 12, 1960, the son of Conroy Vance, a grocery store manager and benefits administrator, and Leslie, a librarian.[1] He attended Detroit Country Day School,[3] and later graduated from Harvard University with a bachelor of arts degree. While attending Harvard, Vance was already working as an actor at the Boston Shakespeare Company. He earned a Master of Fine Arts degree later at Yale School of Drama where he met fellow student and future wife Angela Bassett.[4]
Career
Vance has earned three Tony Award nominations. He won Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Play for his performance as Hap Hairston in Nora Ephron's Lucky Guy at the 67th Tony Awards (2013).[5] He was nominated for Best Featured Actor in a Play for his role as Corey in August Wilson's Pulitzer Prize-winning and Tony Award for Best Play-winning play Fences at the 41st Tony Awards (1987). He was nominated for Tony Award for Best Actor in a Play for his performance as Paul in John Guare's Six Degrees of Separation at the 45th Tony Awards (1991). In 1987, he won a Clarence Derwent Award for his role as Cory Maxson in Fences.
Prior to joining the cast of Law & Order: Criminal Intent, Vance appeared on the original Law & Order series twice: in a minor role in the first-season episode "By Hooker, By Crook", and in a major role in the fifth-season episode "Rage".
His early feature film credits include Hamburger Hill, The Hunt for Red October, The Last Supper, Dangerous Minds, and The Adventures of Huck Finn. More recently, he appeared in Robert Altman's Cookie's Fortune, Penny Marshall's The Preacher's Wife, and in Clint Eastwood's Space Cowboys. Vance also starred in Love and Action in Chicago, a romantic comedy which he also co-produced. Vance played Black Panther Bobby Seale in the Melvin and Mario Van Peebles docudrama Panther. In 2008 and 2009, he guest starred in the final season of ER, alongside his wife Angela Bassett. He was also in Hurricane Season.
Vance's television credits include such cable movies as:
- Blind Faith (opposite Charles S. Dutton), for which he received an Independent Spirit Award nomination for Best Actor in 1999)
- The 1997 William Friedkin-directed 12 Angry Men (with Jack Lemmon, George C. Scott and Ossie Davis)
- The Hallmark presentation The Boys Next Door (alongside Nathan Lane, Tony Goldwyn, and Michael Jeter)
- The Tuskegee Airmen (with Laurence Fishburne and Andre Braugher)
- The television production of August Wilson's play The Piano Lesson
- The Affair, for which he received a 1996 CableACE Award nomination as Best Actor
- The Showtime presentation Whitewash: The Clarence Brandley Story
- Guest starred in ER as Russell Banfield, Dr. Catherine Banfield's husband.
- Voiced several ex-slave narratives in Unchained Memories, aired on HBO in February 2003.
On December 2, 2008, TV Guide reported that Vance has been cast as the Los Angeles bureau chief of the FBI in the new ABC pilot FlashForward, which is based on a Robert J. Sawyer novel, and is said to be a possible “companion show” to Lost.[6] In 2011, he starred in the American horror film Final Destination 5. Vance is set for the lead in the German-American apocalypse thriller The Divide.
He also appeared in a Disney Channel Original Movie titled Let It Shine, where he played the Pastor Jacob Debarge, the main character's father. Vance co-starred with Tyler James Williams, Trevor Jackson, Coco Jones, Brandon Mychal Smith, and Dawnn Lewis. It was the third time Vance portrayed a pastor in a motion picture (the first being The Preacher's Wife and the second being Joyful Noise).
Vance has also provided the voiceover for the National Football League's "You Want the NFL, Go to the NFL" television spots.[7]
He appeared as Chief Tommy Delk on the TNT series, The Closer from 2010 to 2011 (Season 6–7). Vance also played the role of Attorney Benjamin Brooks on four episodes of ABC's Revenge.[8] In 2015 he portrayed Miles Dyson in Terminator Genisys.[9]
In 2016, he played the role of Johnnie Cochran in FX's American Crime Story, which tells the story of the O. J. Simpson murder case. The series premiered on February 2, 2016, and his performance was critically acclaimed by critics.
Personal life
Vance is married to Angela Bassett, whom he first met in 1980. Together, they have twins, son Slater Josiah Vance and daughter Bronwyn Golden Vance; the twins were born on January 27, 2006. He and Bassett have authored a book, Friends: A Love Story, with Hilary Beard.[10] The two also participate in the annual Christmas celebration, Candlelight Processional, at Epcot. The family lives in Los Angeles.
Vance is on the Board of Directors for The Actors Center in New York City, and is an active supporter of Boys & Girls Clubs of America. He is an alumnus of the Detroit Boys & Girls Club, and was recently inducted into the Alumni Hall of Fame for Boys & Girls Clubs of America.
On the PBS program Finding Your Roots,[11] Vance discovered that his father was born out of wedlock to a 17-year-old woman, Victoria Ardella Vance.
Filmography
Film
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1987 | Hamburger Hill | Spc. Abraham 'Doc' Johnson | |
| 1990 | The Hunt for Red October | Sonar Technician (Petty Officer 2nd Class) Jones | |
| 1993 | The Adventures of Huck Finn | Jim | |
| 1993 | Beyond the Law | Conroy Price | |
| 1994 | Holy Matrimony | Cooper | |
| 1995 | Panther | Bobby Seale | |
| 1995 | Dangerous Minds | George Grandey | |
| 1995 | The Last Supper | Luke | |
| 1996 | The Preacher's Wife | Reverend Henry Biggs | |
| 1998 | Blind Faith | John Williams | Nominated—Independent Spirit Award for Best Male Lead |
| 1998 | Ambushed | Jerry Robinson | |
| 1999 | Cookie's Fortune | Otis Tucker | |
| 1999 | Love and Action in Chicago | Eddie Jones | Co-producer |
| 2000 | Space Cowboys | Roger Hines | |
| 2002 | D-Tox | Reverend Jones | Also known as Eye See You |
| 2008 | Nothing but the Truth | Agent O'Hara | |
| 2009 | Hurricane Season | Mr. Randolph | |
| 2010 | Extraordinary Measures | Marcus Temple | |
| 2011 | The Divide | Delvin | |
| 2011 | Final Destination 5 | Agent Jim Block | |
| 2012 | Joyful Noise | Pastor Dale | |
| 2015 | Terminator Genisys | Miles Dyson | |
| 2016 | Office Christmas Party | Walter | |
| 2017 | The Mummy | Army Colonel | Filming |
Television
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1983 | First Affair | Male student | Television Film |
| 1989 | Thirtysomething | Curtis | Episode: "Trust Me" |
| 1990 | Law & Order | Mayor's Assistant | Episode: "By Hooker, by Crook" |
| 1991 | The Emperor's New Clothes | Scribe (voice) | Television Short |
| 1992 | In the Line of Duty: Street War | Justice Butler | Television Film |
| 1993 | Percy & Thunder | Thunder | Television Film |
| 1994 | Race to Freedom: The Underground Railroad | Thomas | Television Film |
| 1995 | Law & Order | Benjamin 'Bud' Greer | Episode: "Rage" |
| 1995 | Picket Fences | Warren Grier | 2 episodes |
| 1995 | The Piano Lesson | Lymon | Television Film |
| 1995 | The Tuskegee Airmen | Lt. Glenn | Television Film |
| 1995 | The Affair | Travis Holloway | Television Film Nominated—CableACE Award for Best Actor in a Movie or Miniseries |
| 1996 | The Boys Next Door | Lucien P. Singer | Television Film |
| 1997 | 12 Angry Men | Foreman | Television Film |
| 1998 | Any Day Now | Mr. James Jackson | Episode: "Unfinished Symphony" |
| 1998 | The Wild Thornberrys | Makai (voice role) | Episode: "Naimina Enkiyio" |
| 1998 | Naked City: Justice with a Bullet | Officer James Halloran | Television Film |
| 1998 | Naked City: A Killer Christmas | Officer James Halloran | Television Film |
| 2000 | Boston Public | Walter Harrelson | 2 episodes |
| 2001–06 | Law & Order: Criminal Intent | A.D.A. Ron Carver | 111 episodes Nominated—NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Actor in a Drama Series |
| 2002 | Whitewash: The Clarence Brandley Story | Clarence Brandley | Television Film |
| 2002 | American Experience | Dr. Vivien Thomas | Episode: "Partners of the Heart" |
| 2004 | American Experience | Narrator | Episode: "The Fight" |
| 2007 | State of Mind | William Banks | 3 episodes |
| 2008–09 | ER | Russell Banfield | 8 episodes |
| 2009 | The Spectacular Spider-Man | Roderick Kingsley | Episode: "Accomplices" |
| 2009–10 | FlashForward | Stanford Wedeck | 22 episodes |
| 2010–11 | The Closer | Chief Tommy Delk | 3 episodes |
| 2012 | Revenge | Benjamin Brooks | 4 episodes |
| 2012 | Let It Shine | Pastor Jacob DeBarge | Television Film |
| 2013 | Graceland | Sam Campbell | Episode: "Pilot" |
| 2014–15 | State of Affairs | Marshall Payton | 7 episodes |
| 2014 | Masters of Sex | Dr. Charles Hendricks | 3 episodes Nominated—NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series |
| 2015 | Scandal | Clarence Parker | Episode: "The Lawn Chair" |
| 2016 | American Crime Story | Johnnie Cochran | 10 episodes (The People v. O.J. Simpson) Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Limited Series or Movie Nominated—BET Award for Best Actor on Television Nominated—Television Critics Association Award for Individual Achievement in Drama |
| 2017 | The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks | Sir Lord Keenan Kester Cofield | Television film |
References
- ^ a b "Courtney Vance Biography (1960–)". Film Reference. 2015. Retrieved January 29, 2015.
- ^ Semuels, Alana (June 9, 2013). "Tony Awards 2013: Courtney B. Vance glad he took a chance on 'Lucky Guy'". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved June 9, 2013.
- ^ "Alumni E-Bee". Detroit Country Day School. 2013. Retrieved January 29, 2015.
- ^ Penn, Charli (12 October 2011). "Black Love: Angela Bassett and Courtney B. Vance". Essence. Retrieved 14 March 2016.
- ^ Purcell, Carey (6 September 2013). "Kinky Boots, Vanya and Sonia, Pippin and Virginia Woolf? Are Big Winners at 67th Annual Tony Awards". Playbill. Retrieved June 10, 2013.
- ^ Who's on board for ABC's new sci-fi thriller?" TV Guide. December 2, 2008. Retrieved on December 3, 2008.
- ^ For N.F.L., Split Seconds Become 30-Second Spots" New York Times. August 6, 2009. Retrieved on September 15, 2011.
- ^ "Revenge (TV Series 2011– ) - Full Cast & Crew". IMDb. 2015. Retrieved January 28, 2015.
- ^ "Preview: Here's a T-800 From 'Terminator Genisys'". Bloody Disgusting. January 6, 2015. Retrieved January 28, 2015.
- ^ "Bassett and Vance Tell Their 'Love Story'", NPR, February 16, 2007; with Farai Chideya interview (43 min.) and excerpts/readings by authors. Retrieved 2016-08-17.
- ^ "Courtney B. Vance", pbs.org, September 23 (2014?). Retrieved 2016-08-17.
External links
- Courtney B. Vance at IMDb
- Courtney B. Vance Interview with wife Angela Bassett on Sidewalks Entertainment
- 1960 births
- African-American male actors
- American male stage actors
- American male television actors
- Clarence Derwent Award winners
- Harvard University alumni
- Living people
- Male actors from Detroit
- People from Manhattan
- Tony Award winners
- Yale School of Drama alumni
- 20th-century American male actors
- 21st-century American male actors
- Detroit Country Day School alumni
- Outstanding Performance by a Lead Actor in a Miniseries or Movie Primetime Emmy Award winners