Courtney B. Vance

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.

Known For

Law & Order

Law & Order

Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen

The Late Show with Stephen Colbert

Law & Order: Criminal Intent

ER

The Closer

The Closer

All Movies (64)

• Girl Dad2026
• W.E.B. Du Bois: Rebel With a Cause2026 · as Self
• Lilo & Stitch2025 · as Cobra Bubbles
• Death Wish2024 · as Pilot (voice)
• Heist 882023 · as Jeremy Horne
• Between the World and Me2020 · as Self
• Project Power2020 · as Captain Craine
• Uncorked2020 · as Louis
• The Photograph2020 · as Louis Morton
• Hollywood's Architect: The Paul R. Williams Story2020 · as Self - Narrator
• On Broadway2019 · as Self (archive footage)
• Henry Louis Gates Jr.: Uncovering America2019 · as Self - Host
• Ben Is Back2018 · as Mr. Beeby
• The Groveland Four2018 · as Self - Narrator
• Isle of Dogs2018 · as Narrator (voice)
• The Mummy2017 · as Colonel Greenway
• The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks2017 · as Sir Lord Keenan Coefield
• Office Christmas Party2016 · as Walter Davis
• Terminator Genisys2015 · as Miles Dyson
• Let It Shine2012 · as Jacob
• Joyful Noise2012 · as Pastor Dale
• The Divide2012 · as Delvin
• Final Destination 52011 · as Agent Block
• Hurricane Season2010 · as Mr. Randolph
• Extraordinary Measures2010 · as Marcus Temple
• Nothing But the Truth2008 · as Agent O'Hara
• The Best of The Tony Awards: The Plays2006 · as Corey (segment "Fences")
• The Fight2005 · as Narrator (voice)
• Unforgivable Blackness: The Rise and Fall of Jack Johnson2004 · as Other Voices (voice)
• Unchained Memories: Readings from the Slave Narratives2003
• Partners of the Heart2002 · as Vivien Thomas (voice)
• Whitewash: The Clarence Brandley Story2002 · as Clarence Brandley
• D-Tox2002 · as Reverend Jones
• Space Cowboys2000 · as Roger Hines
• The Tulsa Lynching of 1921: A Hidden Story2000
• The Acting Class2000 · as Self
• Love and Action in Chicago1999 · as Eddie Jones
• Cookie's Fortune1999 · as Otis Tucker
• Naked City: A Killer Christmas1998 · as Officer James Halloran
• Blind Faith1998 · as John Williams
• Naked City: Justice with a Bullet1998 · as Officer James Halloran
• Ambushed1998 · as Jerry Robinson
• 12 Angry Men1997 · as Foreman
• The Preacher's Wife1996 · as Reverend Henry Biggs
• The Boys Next Door1996 · as Lucien P. Singer
• The Affair1995 · as Travis Holloway
• The Last Supper1995 · as Luke
• The Tuskegee Airmen1995 · as Lt. Glenn
• Dangerous Minds1995 · as Mr. George Grandey
• Panther1995 · as Bobby Seale
• The Piano Lesson1995 · as Lymon
• Holy Matrimony1994 · as Cooper
• Race to Freedom: The Underground Railroad1994 · as Thomas
• Percy & Thunder1993 · as Wayne 'Thunder' Carter
• Beyond the Law1993 · as Conroy Price
• The Adventures of Huck Finn1993 · as Jim
• In the Line of Duty: Street War1992 · as Justice Butler
• Nonsense and Lullabyes: Poems1992 · as (voice)
• Nonsense and Lullabyes: Nursery Rhymes1992 · as (voice)
• The Emperor's New Clothes1992 · as Scribe (voice)
• Memorial: Letters from American Soldiers1991 · as Reader
• The Hunt for Red October1990 · as Petty Officer Ronald 'Jonesy' Jones (USS Dallas)
• Hamburger Hill1987 · as Spc. Abraham 'Doc' Johnson
• First Affair1983 · as Male Student #2

All TV Shows (37)

• Grotesquerie2024 · as Marshall Tryon
• Percy Jackson and the Olympians2023 · as Zeus
• Sherri2022 · as Self - Guest
• The Jennifer Hudson Show2022 · as Self
• 61st Street2022 · as Franklin Roberts
• Amend: The Fight for America2021 · as Self
• Lovecraft Country2020 · as George Freeman
• Tamron Hall2019 · as Self - Guest
• Genius2017 · as C.L. Franklin
• American Crime Story2016 · as Johnnie Cochran
• The Late Show with Stephen Colbert2015 · as Self - Guest
• Variety Studio: Actors on Actors2014 · as Self
• Masters of Sex2013 · as Dr. Charles Hendricks
• Graceland2013 · as Sam Campbell
• Scandal2012 · as Clarence Parker
• Finding Your Roots2012 · as Self
• Revenge2011 · as Benjamin Brooks
• FlashForward2009 · as Stanford Wedeck
• Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen2009 · as Self - Guest
• The Closer2005 · as Chief Tommy Delk
• The Closer2005 · as Chief Tommy Delk (archive footage) (uncredited)
• Gary the Rat2003
• Law & Order: Criminal Intent2001 · as Ron Carver
• Boston Public2000 · as Walter Harrelson
• The Wild Thornberrys1998 · as Makai (voice)
• Any Day Now1998
• The View1997 · as Self
• The View1997 · as Self - Guest
• ER1994 · as Russell Banfield
• Picket Fences1992 · as Warren Grier
• Law & Order1990 · as Mayor's Assistant
• Law & Order1990 · as Benjamin Greer
• American Experience1988 · as Narrator (voice)
• thirtysomething1987
• NOVA1974 · as Narrator
• Hallmark Hall of Fame1951 · as Lucien P. Singer
• Golden Globe Awards1944 · as Self - Audience Member