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Bill Duke

Bill Duke
Duke in 2019
Born
William Henry Duke Jr.

(1943-02-26) February 26, 1943 (age 81)
Poughkeepsie, New York, U.S.
Education
Occupation(s)Actor, director, producer
Years active1961–present
Height6 ft 4 in (193 cm)
AwardsAmerican Black Film Festival Career Achievement Award, Lifetime achievement Directors Guild of America

William Henry Duke Jr. (born February 26, 1943) is an American actor, director, and producer. Known for his physically imposing frame, Duke works primarily in the action and crime drama genres often as a character related to law enforcement.[1] As a director, he is known for his works dealing in the Black American experience,[2] and has been called the "Godfather of African American Cinema."[3]

Duke began his career as a theatre actor, before making his film debut as aspiring revolutionary Abdullah Mohammed Akbar in the ensemble comedy Car Wash (1976). Frequently a character actor, he has starred opposite Arnold Schwarzenegger in Commando (1985) and Predator (1987), and has appeared in films like American Gigolo (1980), Bird on a Wire (1990), Menace II Society (1993), Payback (1999), X-Men: The Last Stand (2006), and Mandy (2018). In television, he is best known as Agent Percy Odell in Black Lightning (2018–2021).

Duke's directorial debut was The Killing Floor (1984), which aired as an episode of American Playhouse and won the Special Jury Prize at the 1984 Sundance Film Festival. He directed a film adaptation of Chester Himes' Harlem Detective series, A Rage in Harlem (1991), which was nominated for the Cannes Film Festival's Palme d'Or. He also directed the neo-noir thriller Deep Cover (1992) and the musical comedy Sister Act 2 (1993).[4] He has directed episodes of numerous television series including Cagney & Lacey, Dallas, Hill Street Blues, Miami Vice, and The Twilight Zone.

  1. ^ "ACTOR BILL DUKE MOVES FROM PLAYING HEAVIES TO ACTING OUT HIS DREAMS AS DIRECTOR OF 'HARLEM'". DeseretNews.com. May 16, 1991. Retrieved July 11, 2018.
  2. ^ "Bill Duke". The History Makers. November 20, 2019.
  3. ^ "Bill Duke | The African Artists' Association". January 15, 2015. Retrieved August 8, 2024.
  4. ^ Duke, Bill. My 40-Year Career on Screen and behind the Camera. Rowman. Retrieved December 18, 2019.

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