Ossie Davis
- Love in Exile
2026 Writer
- Deacons for Defense
2005 Reverend 'Rev' Gregory
- Baadasssss!
2004 Granddad
- Proud
2004 Lorenzo DuFau
- She Hate Me
2004 Judge Buchanan
- The Tuskegee Airmen: They Fought Two Wars
2003 Narrator
- Nat Turner: A Troublesome Property
2003 Himself
- Bubba Ho-tep
2002 John F. "Jack" Kennedy
- Feast of All Saints
2001 Jean-Jacques
- The Legend of the Candy Cane
2001 Julius (voice)
- Dinosaur
2000 Yar (voice)
- Finding Buck McHenry
2000 Buck McHenry
- Here's to Life!
2000 Duncan Cox
- The Secret Path
1999 Too Tall
- The Soul Collector
1999 Mordecai
- Trans-Siberian Orchestra: The Ghosts of Christmas Eve
1999 Caretaker
- A Vow to Cherish
1999 Alexander Billman
- The Unfinished Journey
1999 Narrator (voice)
- Doctor Dolittle
1998 Archer Dolittle
- 12 Angry Men
1997 Juror 2
- Miss Evers' Boys
1997 Mr. Evers
- Jackie Robinson: Breaking Barriers
1997 Narrator
- I'm Not Rappaport
1996 Midge Carter
- Get on the Bus
1996 Jeremiah / 'Pop'
- The Android Affair
1995 Dr. Winston
- Ray Alexander: A Menu for Murder
1995 Uncle Phil
- Arthur Ashe: Citizen of the World
1994 Narrator
- The Client
1994 Harry Roosevelt
- Ray Alexander: A Taste For Justice
1994 Uncle Phil
- Goin' Back to T-Town
1993 Narrator
- Grumpy Old Men
1993 Chuck
- The Ernest Green Story
1993 Grandfather
- Cop & ½
1993 Detective in Squad Room
- Malcolm X
1992 Eulogy Performer (voice)
- Gladiator
1992 Noah
- Lincoln
1992 Frederick Douglas (voice)
- Jungle Fever
1991 Reverend Purify
- Joe Versus the Volcano
1990 Marshall
- The Red Shoes
1990
- Do the Right Thing
1989 Da Mayor
- School Daze
1988 Coach Odom
- Sesame Street: Sleepytime Songs & Stories
1986 Anansi the Spider (Sleepytime Songs and Stories) (voice)
- Avenging Angel
1985 Capt. Harry Moradian
- Tyler Texas Black Film Collection
1985 Himself
- Harry & Son
1984 Raymond
- The House of God
1984 Dr. Sanders
- Marcus Garvey: Toward Black Nationhood
1984 Narrator
- Don't Look Back: The Story of Leroy "Satchel" Paige
1981 Chuffy Russell
- Purlie
1981 Musical
- All God's Children
1980 Blaine Whitfield
- Hot Stuff
1979 Captain John Geiberger
- Freedom Road
1979 Narrator
- Freedom Man
1979 Benjamin Banneker
- Billy: Portrait of a Street Kid
1977 Dr. Fredericks
- The Tenth Level
1976 Reed
- Countdown at Kusini
1976 Director
- Let's Do It Again
1975 Elder Johnson
- Black Shadows on a Silver Screen
1975 Narrator
- Gordon's War
1973 Director
- Malcolm X
1972 Eulogy (voice)
- Black Girl
1972 Director
- The Sheriff
1971 James Lucas
- Kongi's Harvest
1970 Director
- Cotton Comes to Harlem
1970 Director
- Sam Whiskey
1969 Jed Hooker
- Teacher, Teacher
1969 Charles Carter
- Slaves
1969 Luke
- The Fall
1969
- Night Gallery
1969 Osmond Portifoy
- The Scalphunters
1968 Joseph Lee
- Still A Brother: Inside the Negro Middle Class
1968 Narrator
- The Outsider
1967 Lt. Wagner
- Black Liberation
1967 Narrator
- A Man Called Adam
1966 Nelson Davis
- The Hill
1965 Jacko King
- The Sun... the Sand... the Hill
1965 Jason King (archival footage)
- Shock Treatment
1964 Capshaw
- Gone Are the Days!
1963 Writer
- The Cardinal
1963 Father Gillis
- Hands of Inge
1962 Narrator (voice)
- John Brown's Raid
1960 Dangerfield Newby
- Fourteen Hours
1951 Cab Driver (uncredited)
- No Way Out
1950 John Brooks (uncredited)
