Courtney B. Vance
Born: 1960-03-12 in Detroit, Michigan, USA
Known For: Acting
Biography
Courtney Bernard Vance (born March 12, 1960) is an American actor. Vance started his career on the Broadway stage in the original productions of August Wilson's Fences in 1985, John Guare's Six Degrees of Separation in 1990 and Nora Ephron's Lucky Guy in 2013 for which he won a Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Play. He is known for his roles in films such as Hamburger Hill (1987), The Hunt for Red October (1990), The Preacher's Wife (1996), Cookie's Fortune (1999), Terminator Genisys (2015), and Isle of Dogs (2018). Vance is also known for work on television on shows such as Law & Order: Criminal Intent, where he portrayed Assistant District Attorney Ron Carver. He also guest-starred on Law & Order, Picket Fences, The Closer, Revenge, Scandal, and Masters of Sex. He won acclaim for his portrayal of Johnnie Cochran in the FX limited series The People v. O. J. Simpson: American Crime Story (2016) for which he received the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Limited Series or Movie. He recently appeared in the HBO television film, The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks (2017), National Geographic's limited series Genius: Aretha (2020), and the HBO drama series Lovecraft Country (2020) the latter of which earned him a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series. He has been married to actress Angela Bassett since 1997. 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. In 2019, Vance was appointed as the President of the Screen Actors Guild Foundation.
Filmography
2025
- Lilo & Stitch as Cobra Bubbles
2024
- Grotesquerie as Marshall Tryon
- Death Wish
2023
- Heist 88 as Jeremy Horne
2022
- The Jennifer Hudson Show as Self
- Sherri as Self - Guest
- 61st Street as Franklin Roberts
2021
- Amend: The Fight for America as Self
2020
- Project Power as Captain Craine
- Uncorked as Louis
- Lovecraft Country as George Freeman
- Between the World and Me as Self
- The Photograph as Louis Morton
- Hollywood's Architect: The Paul R. Williams Story as Self - Narrator
2019
- Tamron Hall as Self - Guest
- Henry Louis Gates Jr.: Uncovering America as Self - Host
- On Broadway as Self (archive footage)
2018
- Isle of Dogs as Narrator (voice)
- Ben Is Back as Mr. Beeby
- The Groveland Four as Self - Narrator
2017
- Genius as C.L. Franklin
- The Mummy as Colonel Greenway
- The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks as Sir Lord Keenan Coefield
2016
- American Crime Story as Johnnie Cochran
- Office Christmas Party as Walter Davis
2015
- Terminator Genisys as Miles Dyson
2014
- Variety Studio: Actors on Actors as Self
2013
- Masters of Sex as Dr. Charles Hendricks
- Graceland as Sam Campbell
2012
- Scandal as Clarence Parker
- Finding Your Roots as Self
- Joyful Noise as Pastor Dale
- Let It Shine as Jacob
- The Divide as Delvin
2011
- Revenge as Benjamin Brooks
- Final Destination 5 as Agent Block
2010
- Hurricane Season as Mr. Randolph
- Extraordinary Measures as Marcus Temple
2009
- Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen as Self - Guest
- FlashForward as Stanford Wedeck
2008
- Nothing But the Truth as Agent O'Hara
2006
- The Best of The Tony Awards: The Plays as Corey (segment "Fences")
2005
- The Closer as Chief Tommy Delk
- The Fight as Narrator (voice)
2004
- Unforgivable Blackness: The Rise and Fall of Jack Johnson as Other Voices (voice)
2002
- Whitewash: The Clarence Brandley Story as Clarence Brandley
- D-Tox as Reverend Jones
- Partners of the Heart as Vivien Thomas (voice)
2001
- Law & Order: Criminal Intent as Ron Carver
2000
- Boston Public as Walter Harrelson
- Space Cowboys as Roger Hines
- The Acting Class as Self
- The Tulsa Lynching of 1921: A Hidden Story
1999
- Cookie's Fortune as Otis Tucker
- Love and Action in Chicago as Eddie Jones
1998
- The Wild Thornberrys as Makai (voice)
- Any Day Now
- Ambushed as Jerry Robinson
- Naked City: Justice with a Bullet as Officer James Halloran
- Blind Faith as John Williams
- Naked City: A Killer Christmas as Officer James Halloran
1997
- The View as Self
- 12 Angry Men as Foreman
1996
- The Preacher's Wife as Reverend Henry Biggs
- The Boys Next Door as Lucien P. Singer
1995
- Dangerous Minds as Mr. George Grandey
- Panther as Bobby Seale
- The Affair as Travis Holloway
- The Last Supper as Luke
- The Tuskegee Airmen as Lt. Glenn
- The Piano Lesson as Lymon
1994
- ER as Russell Banfield
- Race to Freedom: The Underground Railroad as Thomas
- Holy Matrimony as Cooper
1993
- Percy & Thunder as Wayne 'Thunder' Carter
- Beyond the Law as Conroy Price
- The Adventures of Huck Finn as Jim
1992
- Picket Fences as Warren Grier
- Nonsense and Lullabyes: Poems as (voice)
- Nonsense and Lullabyes: Nursery Rhymes as (voice)
- In the Line of Duty: Street War as Justice Butler
1991
- Memorial: Letters from American Soldiers as Reader
1990
- Law & Order as Mayor's Assistant
- The Hunt for Red October as Petty Officer Ronald 'Jonesy' Jones (USS Dallas)
1988
- American Experience as Narrator (voice)
1987
- thirtysomething
- Hamburger Hill as Spc. Abraham 'Doc' Johnson
1983
- First Affair as Male Student #2
1974
- NOVA as Narrator
1951
- Hallmark Hall of Fame as Lucien P. Singer
1944
- Golden Globe Awards as Self - Audience Member