Courtney B. Vance
Acting
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.
Known for
Acting98
movieLilo & Stitch
2025
Cobra Bubbles
movieDeath Wish
2024
Pilot (voice)
tvGrotesquerie
2024
Marshall Tryon
movieHeist 88
2023
Jeremy Horne
tvSherri
2022
Self - Guest
tv61st Street
2022
Franklin Roberts
tvLovecraft Country
2020
George Freeman
movieProject Power
2020
Captain Craine
movieUncorked
2020
Louis
movieThe Photograph
2020
Louis Morton
movieHollywood's Architect: The Paul R. Williams Story
2020
Self - Narrator
movieOn Broadway
2019
Self (archive footage)
tvTamron Hall
2019
Self - Guest
Henry Louis Gates Jr.: Uncovering America
2019
Self - Host
movieBen Is Back
2018
Mr. Beeby
movieThe Groveland Four
2018
Self - Narrator
movieIsle of Dogs
2018
Narrator (voice)
movieThe Mummy
2017
Colonel Greenway
tvGenius
2017
C.L. Franklin
movieThe Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks
2017
Sir Lord Keenan Coefield
movieOffice Christmas Party
2016
Walter Davis
tvAmerican Crime Story
2016
Johnnie Cochran
tvThe Late Show with Stephen Colbert
2015
Self - Guest
movieTerminator Genisys
2015
Miles Dyson
tvMasters of Sex
2013
Dr. Charles Hendricks
tvGraceland
2013
Sam Campbell
tvScandal
2012
Clarence Parker
movieJoyful Noise
2012
Pastor Dale
movieThe Divide
2012
Delvin
tvRevenge
2011
Benjamin Brooks
movieFinal Destination 5
2011
Agent Block
movieHurricane Season
2010
Mr. Randolph
movieExtraordinary Measures
2010
Marcus Temple
tvFlashForward
2009
Stanford Wedeck
tvWatch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen
2009
Self - Guest
movieNothing but the Truth
2008
Agent O'Hara
movieThe Best of The Tony Awards: The Plays
2006
Corey (segment "Fences")
tvThe Closer
2005
Chief Tommy Delk / Chief Tommy Delk (archive footage) (uncredited)
movieThe Fight
2005
Narrator (voice)
movieUnforgivable Blackness: The Rise and Fall of Jack Johnson
2004
Other Voices (voice)
moviePartners of the Heart
2002
Vivien Thomas (voice)
movieWhitewash: The Clarence Brandley Story
2002
Clarence Brandley
movieD-Tox
2002
Reverend Jones
tvLaw & Order: Criminal Intent
2001
Ron Carver
tvBoston Public
2000
Walter Harrelson
movieSpace Cowboys
2000
Roger Hines
movieLove and Action in Chicago
1999
Eddie Jones
movieCookie's Fortune
1999
Otis Tucker
movieNaked City: A Killer Christmas
1998
Officer James Halloran
movieBlind Faith
1998
John Williams
movieNaked City: Justice with a Bullet
1998
Officer James Halloran
tvThe Wild Thornberrys
1998
Makai (voice)
movieAmbushed
1998
Jerry Robinson
movie12 Angry Men
1997
Foreman
tvThe View
1997
Self / Self - Guest
movieThe Preacher's Wife
1996
Reverend Henry Biggs
movieThe Boys Next Door
1996
Lucien P. Singer
movieThe Affair
1995
Travis Holloway
movieThe Tuskegee Airmen
1995
Lt. Glenn
movieDangerous Minds
1995
Mr. George Grandey
moviePanther
1995
Bobby Seale
tvER
1994
Russell Banfield
movieHoly Matrimony
1994
Cooper
moviePercy & Thunder
1993
Wayne 'Thunder' Carter
movieBeyond the Law
1993
Conroy Price
movieIn the Line of Duty: Street War
1992
Justice Butler
tvPicket Fences
1992
Warren Grier
movieThe Emperor's New Clothes
1992
Scribe (voice)
tvLaw & Order
1990
Mayor's Assistant / Benjamin Greer
movieThe Hunt for Red October
1990
Petty Officer Ronald 'Jonesy' Jones (USS Dallas)
tvAmerican Experience
1988
Narrator (voice)
movieHamburger Hill
1987
Spc. Abraham 'Doc' Johnson
movieFirst Affair
1983
Male Student #2
tvNOVA
1974
Narrator
tvHallmark Hall of Fame
1951
Lucien P. Singer
tvGolden Globe Awards
1944
Self - Audience Member
Production2
tvGrotesquerie
2024
Executive Producer
movieHeist 88
2023
Executive Producer