# Courtney B. Vance

Courtney Bernard Vance (born March 12, 1960) is an American actor. He started his career on stage before moving to film and television. Vance has received various accolades, including a Tony Award and two Primetime Emmy Awards, as well as nominations for a Grammy Award, Golden Globe Award, and Screen Actors Guild Award.
Having trained at the Yale School of Drama, he soon made his Broadway debut in the original production of August Wilson's Fences (1985), earning his first Tony Award nomination. He continued acting in theatre in John Guare's Six Degrees of Separation (1990) and Nora Ephron's Lucky Guy (2013), the latter of which earned him a Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Play. He is known for his roles in the films Hamburger Hill (1987), The Hunt for Red October (1990), The Tuskegee Airmen (1995), The Preacher's Wife (1996), Cookie's Fortune (1999), and Isle of Dogs (2018).
From 2001 to 2006 he portrayed Assistant District Attorney Ron Carver in the NBC series Law & Order: Criminal Intent. He earned Primetime Emmy Awards for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Limited Series or Movie portraying Johnnie Cochran in the FX limited series The People v. O. J. Simpson: American Crime Story (2016), and for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series playing George Freeman in the HBO series Lovecraft Country (2020). He played Sir Lord Keenan Kester Cofield in The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks (2017) and C. L. Franklin in Genius: Aretha (2020).
He has been married to actress Angela Bassett since 1997. He is on the board of directors of The Actors Center in New York City, and is an active supporter of Boys & Girls Clubs of America. In 2019, he was appointed president of the Screen Actors Guild Foundation.

## Early life and education

Vance was born in Detroit, Michigan, the son of Leslie Anita (née Daniels), a librarian, and Conroy Vance, a grocery store manager and benefits administrator. He attended Detroit Country Day School and later graduated from Harvard University with a Bachelor of Arts degree. While at Harvard, he was already working as an actor at the Boston Shakespeare Company. He subsequently earned a Master of Fine Arts degree at Yale School of Drama, where he met fellow student and future wife Angela Bassett.

## Career
### 1985–1999: Broadway debut and early roles

In 1985, Vance started his acting career on the stage as Cory in the Yale Repertory Theatre production of August Wilson's Pulitzer Prize-winning and Tony Award for Best Play-winning play Fences. From 1987 to 1988, Vance continued the role on Broadway opposite James Earl Jones where he won a Clarence Derwent Award and the Theatre World Award for his performance. He was also nominated for his first Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Play for his role. Vance's film debut was in 1987 American war film, Hamburger Hill about the 1969 assault during the Vietnam War. During this time he had small roles in the CBS television film First Affair (1983), and the ABC drama Thirtysomething (1989), and Law & Order (1990). Vance played Thami Mbikwarna in the Athol Fugard play My Children! My Africa! at the New York Theatre Workshop from 1989 to 1990. In 1991, Vance returned to Broadway playing Paul in John Guare's Six Degrees of Separation. Vance played Paul, replacing James McDaniel who originated the role in the 1990 Off-Broadway production. Vance acted alongside John Cunningham and Stockard Channing. He was nominated for the Tony Award for Best Actor in a Play for his performance at the 45th Tony Awards.
Throughout the 1990s, Vance continued acting in a variety of feature films such as The Hunt for Red October (1990), and The Adventures of Huck Finn (1993). In 1995, Vance played Black Panther Bobby Seale in the Melvin and Mario Van Peebles docudrama Panther. That same year, he also appeared in The Last Supper, Dangerous Minds, and the HBO film The Tuskegee Airmen. He also worked with acclaimed directors such as Penny Marshall in The Preacher's Wife (1996), Robert Altman in Cookie's Fortune (1999), and Clint Eastwood in Space Cowboys (2000). During the 1990s, Vance guest-starred in numerous television shows including Law & Order, Picket Fences, and Thirtysomething. In 1998 he acted in the Showtime television film Blind Faith he played John Williams. Vance earned critical acclaim with Janet Maslin of The New York Times describing his performance as "first rate". He went on to receive a nomination for the Independent Spirit Award for Best Male Lead. He also starred in made-for-television films such as William Friedkin's 12 Angry Men (1997), in which he played the Foreman and acted alongside Ossie Davis, George C. Scott, Jack Lemmon, Hume Cronyn, and James Gandolfini. In 1999, Vance also starred in and co-produced the romantic comedy Love and Action in Chicago.

### 2000–2015: Television roles and return to Broadway

From 2001 to 2006, Vance starred in Law & Order: Criminal Intent, in which he played A.D.A. Ron Carver. He was nominated for the NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Actor in a Drama Series for his performance. In 2008 and 2009, he guest-starred in the final season of ER alongside his wife Angela Bassett. He was also in Hurricane Season. On December 2, 2008, TV Guide reported that Vance had been cast as the Los Angeles bureau chief of the FBI in the ABC pilot FlashForward, based on a Robert J. Sawyer novel and slated to be a possible "companion show" to Lost. In 2011, he starred in the American horror film Final Destination 5. Vance was tapped for the lead in the German-American apocalypse thriller The Divide. He appeared in the Disney Channel Original Movie Let It Shine, where he played the pastor Jacob Debarge, the main character's father, and co-starred with Tyler James Williams, Trevor Jackson, Coco Jones, Brandon Mychal Smith, and Dawnn Lewis. It was the third time Vance portrayed a pastor in a motion picture, after The Preacher's Wife and Joyful Noise). Vance has provided the voiceover for the National Football League's "You Want the NFL, Go to the NFL" television spots.
He appeared as Chief Tommy Delk on the TNT series, The Closer, from 2010 to 2011 (Season 6–7). Vance also played the role of Attorney Benjamin Brooks on four episodes of ABC's Revenge. Vance returned to Broadway playing Hap Hairston in the Nora Ephron play Lucky Guy (2013) acting alongside Tom Hanks. David Rooney of The Hollywood Reporter praised Vance writing, "[He] is terrific as the whip-smart black editor who, even with the sharpest of professional skills, has had to stay on his toes to keep ahead in a white man’s game." He won the Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Play for his performance at the 67th Tony Awards. In 2015, he portrayed Miles Dyson in Terminator Genisys opposite Arnold Schwarzenegger and Emilia Clarke.

### 2016–present: Career expansion

In 2016, he took on the role of famed civil rights lawyer Johnnie Cochran in FX's American Crime Story, which tells the story of the O. J. Simpson murder case. The series premiered on February 2, 2016, and his performance was critically acclaimed, winning Vance numerous accolades including the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie, and the Critics' Choice Television Award for Best Actor in a Movie/Miniseries. He was nominated for the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Miniseries or Television Film and the Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Actor in a Miniseries or Television Movie. In 2017, he starred in the HBO television film The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, where he played Sir Lord Keenan Kester Cofield opposite Oprah Winfrey's Deborah Lacks. In 2018, Vance narrated Wes Anderson's stop motion animated comedy Isle of Dogs. The same year, he appeared as Neil Beeby in the Peter Hedges film Ben Is Back, opposite Julia Roberts and Lucas Hedges.
In 2019, Vance was appointed President of the SAG-AFTRA Foundation. In 2020, Vance was seen in HBO's drama series Lovecraft Country for which he won a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series. He was cast opposite Niecy Nash in Prentice Penny's feature film directorial debut, the Netflix original movie Uncorked, released in 2020. In 2021, he appeared in National Geographic's Genius: Aretha as C. L. Franklin. In 2023, Vance was cast in Disney's live-action reimagining of Lilo & Stitch as Cobra Bubbles.
In November 2024, it was announced that Vance would take over the role of Zeus in the second season of Percy Jackson and the Olympians following the 2023 death of Lance Reddick. In a statement, Vance expressed his excitement to join the cast and said he would be giving Reddick "a heavenly hug."

## Personal life
### Marriage and family

Vance first met Angela Bassett in 1980, and the pair has been married since 1997. Together, they have twins, a son and a daughter, born in 2006. He and Bassett have authored a book, Friends: A Love Story, with Hilary Beard. The two also participate in the annual Christmas celebration, Candlelight Processional, at Epcot. The family lives in Los Angeles. On the PBS program Finding Your Roots, Vance discovered that his father was born out of wedlock to 17-year-old Victoria Ardella Vance. In October 2024, he voiced a commercial for Kamala Harris about Detroit.

### Interests

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. He is an alumnus of the Detroit Boys & Girls Club, and was recently inducted into the Alumni Hall of Fame for Boys & Girls Clubs of America.

## Acting credits
### Theatre

| Year | Title | Role | Venue |
| 1985 | Fences | Cory | Yale Repertory Theatre |
| 1987–88 | Fences | Cory | 46th Street Theatre, Broadway |
| 1989–90 | My Children! My Africa! | Thami Mbikwarna | New York Theatre Workshop |
| 1990–92 | Six Degrees of Separation | Paul | Vivian Beaumont Theatre, Broadway |
| 2013 | Lucky Guy | Hap Hairston | Broadhurst Theatre, Broadway |

### Film

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 1987 | Hamburger Hill | Spc. Abraham 'Doc' Johnson | |
| 1990 | The Hunt for Red October | Sonar Technician (Petty Officer 2nd Class) Jones | |
| 1993 | The Adventures of Huck Finn | Jim | |
| 1993 | Beyond the Law | Conroy Price | |
| 1994 | Holy Matrimony | Cooper | |
| 1995 | Panther | Bobby Seale | |
| 1995 | Dangerous Minds | George Grandey | |
| 1995 | The Tuskegee Airmen | 2nd Lt. Glenn | |
| 1995 | The Last Supper | Luke | |
| 1996 | The Preacher's Wife | Reverend Henry Biggs | |
| 1998 | Blind Faith | John Williams | |
| 1998 | Ambushed | Jerry Robinson | |
| 1999 | Cookie's Fortune | Otis Tucker | |
| 1999 | Love and Action in Chicago | Eddie Jones | Also co-producer |
| 2000 | Space Cowboys | Roger Hines | |
| 2002 | D-Tox | Reverend Jones | Also known as Eye See You |
| 2008 | Nothing but the Truth | Agent O'Hara | |
| 2009 | Hurricane Season | Mr. Randolph | |
| 2010 | Extraordinary Measures | Marcus Temple | |
| 2011 | The Divide | Delvin | |
| 2011 | Final Destination 5 | Agent Jim Block | |
| 2012 | Joyful Noise | Pastor Dale | |
| 2012 | Let It Shine | Pastor Jacob DeBarge | |
| 2015 | Terminator Genisys | Miles Dyson | |
| 2016 | Office Christmas Party | Walter Davis | |
| 2017 | The Mummy | Army Colonel Greenway | |
| 2018 | Isle of Dogs | Narrator (voice) | |
| 2018 | Ben Is Back | Neal Burns | |
| 2020 | The Photograph | Louis Morton | |
| 2020 | Uncorked | Louis | |
| 2020 | Project Power | Captain Crane | |
| 2023 | Heist 88 | Jeremy Horne | Also executive producer |
| 2025 | Lilo & Stitch | Cobra Bubbles | Post-production |

### Television

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 1983 | First Affair | Male student | Television film |
| 1989 | Thirtysomething | Curtis | Episode: "Trust Me" |
| 1990 | Law & Order | Mayor's Assistant | Episode: "By Hooker, by Crook" Uncredited |
| 1991 | The Emperor's New Clothes | Scribe (voice) | Television film |
| 1992 | In the Line of Duty: Street War | Justice Butler | Television film |
| 1993 | Percy & Thunder | Thunder | Television film |
| 1994 | Race to Freedom: The Underground Railroad | Thomas | Television film |
| 1995 | Law & Order | Benjamin 'Bud' Greer | Episode: "Rage" |
| 1995 | The Piano Lesson | Lymon | Television film |
| 1995 | Picket Fences | Warren Grier | 2 episodes |
| 1995 | The Tuskegee Airmen | Lt. Glenn | Television film |
| 1995 | The Affair | Travis Holloway | Television film |
| 1996 | The Boys Next Door | Lucien P. Singer | Television film |
| 1997 | 12 Angry Men | Foreman | Television film |
| 1998 | Any Day Now | Mr. James Jackson | Episode: "Unfinished Symphony" |
| 1998 | Naked City: Justice with a Bullet | Officer James Halloran | Television film |
| 1998 | The Wild Thornberrys | Makai (voice) | Episode: "Naimina Enkiyio" |
| 1998 | Naked City: A Killer Christmas | Officer James Halloran | Television film |
| 2000 | Boston Public | Walter Harrelson | 2 episodes |
| 2001–06 | Law & Order: Criminal Intent | A.D.A. Ron Carver | 111 episodes |
| 2002 | American Experience | Dr. Vivien Thomas (voice) | Episode: "Partners of the Heart" |
| 2002 | Whitewash: The Clarence Brandley Story | Clarence Brandley | Television film |
| 2004 | American Experience | Narrator (voice) | Episode: "The Fight" |
| 2007 | State of Mind | William Banks | 3 episodes |
| 2008–09 | ER | Russell Banfield | 8 episodes |
| 2009 | The Spectacular Spider-Man | Roderick Kingsley (voice) | Episode: "Accomplices" |
| 2009–10 | FlashForward | Stanford Wedeck | 22 episodes |
| 2010–11 | The Closer | Chief Tommy Delk | 3 episodes |
| 2012 | Revenge | Benjamin Brooks | 4 episodes |
| 2012 | Let It Shine | Pastor Jacob DeBarge | Television film |
| 2013 | Graceland | Sam Campbell | Episode: "Pilot" |
| 2014–15 | State of Affairs | Marshall Payton | 7 episodes |
| 2014 | Masters of Sex | Dr. Charles Hendricks | 3 episodes |
| 2015 | Scandal | Clarence Parker | Episode: "The Lawn Chair" |
| 2016 | The People v. O. J. Simpson: American Crime Story | Johnnie Cochran | 10 episodes |
| 2017 | The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks | Sir Lord Keenan Kester Cofield | Television film |
| 2020 | Lovecraft Country | George Freeman | 3 episodes |
| 2021 | Genius: Aretha | C. L. Franklin | 8 episodes |
| 2022–23 | 61st Street | Franklin Roberts | 16 episodes |
| 2023 | The Proud Family: Louder and Prouder | Merlin Kelly (voice) | Episode: "The Soul Vibrations" |
| 2024 | Grotesquerie | Marshall Tryon | 9 episodes |
| 2025 | Percy Jackson and the Olympians | Zeus | |

## Awards and nominations

| Year | Award | Category | Nominated Work | Result |
| 1987 | Clarence Derwent Award | Most Promising Male Performer | Fences | Won |
| 1987 | Theatre World Award | Theatre World Award | Fences | Won |
| 1987 | Tony Award | Best Featured Actor in a Play | Fences | Nominated |
| 1991 | Tony Award | Best Actor in a Play | Six Degrees of Separation | Nominated |
| 1998 | Independent Spirit Award | Best Male Lead | Blind Faith | Nominated |
| 2013 | Tony Award | Best Featured Actor in a Play | Lucky Guy | Won |
| 2016 | Primetime Emmy Award | Outstanding Lead Actor in a Limited Series or a Movie | The People v. O.J. Simpson | Won |
| 2016 | Golden Globe Award | Best Actor - Miniseries or Television Movie | The People v. O.J. Simpson | Nominated |
| 2016 | Screen Actors Guild Award | Outstanding Actor in a Miniseries or Television Movie | The People v. O.J. Simpson | Nominated |
| 2016 | Critics' Choice Television Awards | Best Actor in a Movie or Limited Series | The People v. O.J. Simpson | Won |
| 2016 | Television Critics Association Award | Individual Achievement in Drama | The People v. O.J. Simpson | Nominated |
| 2016 | Satellite Award | Best Actor - Miniseries or Television Film | The People v. O.J. Simpson | Nominated |
| 2016 | NAACP Image Award | Outstanding Actor in a Television Movie/Miniseries/Special | The People v. O.J. Simpson | Won |
| 2016 | BET Awards | BET Award for Best Actor on Television | The People v. O.J. Simpson | Nominated |
| 2019 | Grammy Award | Best Spoken Word Album | Accessory to War | Nominated |
| 2021 | Primetime Emmy Award | Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series | Lovecraft Country | Won |
| 2021 | Hollywood Critics Association TV Awards | Best Supporting Actor in a Broadcast Network or Cable Series, Drama | Lovecraft Country | Nominated |
| 2021 | Hollywood Critics Association TV Awards | Best Supporting Actor in a Limited Series, Anthology Series or Television Movie | Genius | Nominated |
| 2021 | Critics' Choice Television Awards | Best Supporting Actor in a Movie/Miniseries | Genius | Nominated |
| 2024 | Harvard Foundation for Intercultural and Race Relations | Artist of the Year | Himself | Won |
| 2024 | NAACP Image Awards | Outstanding Actor in a Television Movie, Mini-Series or Dramatic Special | Heist 88 | Nominated |
| 2024 | Black Reel TV Awards | Outstanding Lead Performance in a Miniseries or TV Movie | Heist 88 | Nominated |