Courtney B. Vance
Known for: 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.
Filmography
Series
Law & Order
Mayor's Assistant
1990
Series
Law & Order
Benjamin Greer
1990
Series
Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen
Self - Guest
2009
Series
The Late Show with Stephen Colbert
Self - Guest
2015
Series
Law & Order: Criminal Intent
Ron Carver
2001
Series
The Jennifer Hudson Show
Self
2022
Series
ER
Russell Banfield
1994
Series
Sherri
Self - Guest
2022
Series
NOVA
Narrator
1974
Series
The Closer
Chief Tommy Delk
2005
Series
The Closer
Chief Tommy Delk (archive footage) (uncredited)
2005
Series
The View
Self
1997
Series
The View
Self - Guest
1997
Series
Golden Globe Awards
Self - Audience Member
1944
Series
Scandal
Clarence Parker
2012
Series
American Experience
Narrator (voice)
1988
Series
Variety Studio: Actors on Actors
Self
2014
Series
Revenge
Benjamin Brooks
2011
Series
Tamron Hall
Self - Guest
2019
Series
Boston Public
Walter Harrelson
2000
Series
Masters of Sex
Dr. Charles Hendricks
2013
Series
American Crime Story
Johnnie Cochran
2016
Series
The Wild Thornberrys
Makai (voice)
1998
Series
Percy Jackson and the Olympians
Zeus
2023
Series
thirtysomething
1987
Film
Lilo & Stitch
Cobra Bubbles
2025
Series
Genius
C.L. Franklin
2017
Series
Finding Your Roots
Self
2012
Series
Picket Fences
Warren Grier
1992
Series
FlashForward
Stanford Wedeck
2009
Film
Terminator Genisys
Miles Dyson
2015
Series
Graceland
Sam Campbell
2013
Series
Grotesquerie
Marshall Tryon
2024
Series
Any Day Now
1998
Series
Lovecraft Country
George Freeman
2020
Film
Final Destination 5
Agent Block
2011
Film
The Mummy
Colonel Greenway
2017
Film
Isle of Dogs
Narrator (voice)
2018
Film
The Hunt for Red October
Petty Officer Ronald 'Jonesy' Jones (USS Dallas)
1990
Series
Amend: The Fight for America
Self
2021
Film
12 Angry Men
Foreman
1997
Series
61st Street
Franklin Roberts
2022
Series
Hallmark Hall of Fame
Lucien P. Singer
1951
Film
The Divide
Delvin
2012
Film
D-Tox
Reverend Jones
2002
Film
Space Cowboys
Roger Hines
2000
Film
Dangerous Minds
Mr. George Grandey
1995
Film
Project Power
Captain Craine
2020
Film
Office Christmas Party
Walter Davis
2016
Film
The Photograph
Louis Morton
2020
Film
Heist 88
Jeremy Horne
2023
Film
Hamburger Hill
Spc. Abraham 'Doc' Johnson
1987
Film
Nothing But the Truth
Agent O'Hara
2008
Film
Extraordinary Measures
Marcus Temple
2010
Series
Gary the Rat
2003
Film
Ben Is Back
Mr. Beeby
2018
Film
Let It Shine
Jacob
2012
Film
The Tuskegee Airmen
Lt. Glenn
1995
Film
The Last Supper
Luke
1995
Film
The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks
Sir Lord Keenan Coefield
2017
Film
The Preacher's Wife
Reverend Henry Biggs
1996
Film
Panther
Bobby Seale
1995
Film
Hurricane Season
Mr. Randolph
2010
Film
Ambushed
Jerry Robinson
1998
Film
Unforgivable Blackness: The Rise and Fall of Jack Johnson
Other Voices (voice)
2004
Film
Joyful Noise
Pastor Dale
2012
Film
Uncorked
Louis
2020
Film
Cookie's Fortune
Otis Tucker
1999
Film
The Adventures of Huck Finn
Jim
1993
Film
Beyond the Law
Conroy Price
1993
Film
Holy Matrimony
Cooper
1994
Film
Memorial: Letters from American Soldiers
Reader
1991
Film
The Best of The Tony Awards: The Plays
Corey (segment "Fences")
2006
Film
Unchained Memories: Readings from the Slave Narratives
2003
Film
On Broadway
Self (archive footage)
2019
Film
Blind Faith
John Williams
1998
Film
The Affair
Travis Holloway
1995
Film
Nonsense and Lullabyes: Nursery Rhymes
(voice)
1992
Film
Between the World and Me
Self
2020
Film
The Boys Next Door
Lucien P. Singer
1996
Film
In the Line of Duty: Street War
Justice Butler
1992
Film
Naked City: Justice with a Bullet
Officer James Halloran
1998
Film
The Acting Class
Self
2000
Film
Death Wish
Pilot (voice)
2024
Film
W.E.B. Du Bois: Rebel With a Cause
Self
2026
Film
Girl Dad
2026
Film
The Piano Lesson
Lymon
1995
Film
Partners of the Heart
Vivien Thomas (voice)
2002
Film
The Tulsa Lynching of 1921: A Hidden Story
2000
Film
First Affair
Male Student #2
1983
Film
Race to Freedom: The Underground Railroad
Thomas
1994
Film
Whitewash: The Clarence Brandley Story
Clarence Brandley
2002
Film
Percy & Thunder
Wayne 'Thunder' Carter
1993
Film
Naked City: A Killer Christmas
Officer James Halloran
1998
Film
Love and Action in Chicago
Eddie Jones
1999
Film
Nonsense and Lullabyes: Poems
(voice)
1992
Henry Louis Gates Jr.: Uncovering America
Self - Host
2019
Film
The Groveland Four
Self - Narrator
2018
Film
The Emperor's New Clothes
Scribe (voice)
1992
Film
Hollywood's Architect: The Paul R. Williams Story
Self - Narrator
2020
Film
The Fight
Narrator (voice)
2005