remembering ossie davis

Ossie Davis, left, and Ruby Dee pose in front of their movie poster at the opening night gala of their film "Gone Are the Days!" at the Trans-Lux East Theater Sept. 23, 1963. The movie was based on Davis' play "Purlie Victorious."

Rep. Shirley Chisholm sits on a battered automobile, a prop in the play "Ain't Supposed to Die A Natural Death," as she addresses a theater audience in New York City on Jan. 2, 1972. Davis is at right.

Jack Lemmon, far left, the lone juror among 12 who holds out for innocence in a capital murder case, starred in a 1997 TV production of "12 Angry Men." Standing from left to right; Mykelti Williamson, James Gandolfini, Tony Danza, Edward James Olmos, William Peterson, Ossie Davis, and Courtney B. Vance. Seated from left to right; Lemmon, George C. Scott, Hume Cronyn, Armin Mueller-Stahl and Dorian Harewood.

Ruby Dee, left, Bill Cosby, and Ossie Davis pose for photographers at the start of a 50th wedding anniversary party for Dee and Davis in New York Dec. 15, 1998. The golden wedding anniversary couple held the party as a fund raiser for 12 community theaters.

Actors and activists Ruby Dee, second from right, and her husband Ossie Davis, left, wait to be arrested while protesting March 23, 1999, at New York's police headquarters.

Ossie starred in "I'm Not Rappaport."

Actor Ossie Davis, left; attorney Johnnie Cochran, chairman of the Upper Manhattan Empowerment Zone, second from left; actress Queen Esther, second from right; and producer John Schreiber meet after attending a news conference at the Apollo Theatre in the Harlem section of New York Nov. 18, 2002.

Actor Ossie Davis, left, is shown with Mario Van Peebles in the 2003 film "How to Get the Man's Foot Outta Your Ass."

Davis speaks near the United Nations headquarters, Feb 15, 2003, in New York to protest the U.S.-led attack on Iraq, part of a day of global protests.

Davis, center, speaks at the Kennedy Center Aug. 28, 2003, in Washington in honor of the 40th anniversary of Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I Have A Dream" speech and March on Washington.

Ruby Dee and Ossie Davis arrive for a memorial celebration honoring the artistic legacy of Gregory Hines Sept. 21, 2003, at New York's Apollo Theater.

Ossie Davis and Ruby Dee arrive at New York's Apollo Theater before a taped celebration of the theater's 70th anniversary, March 28, 2004.

President Bush, right, and first lady Laura Bush, second right, stand with Ossie Davis, second left, and Ruby Dee, left, during the National Anthem at the Kennedy Center in Washington Dec. 5, 2004. Davis and Dee were among those honored at the 27th annual national celebration of the arts.