Courtney B. Vance

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.

Courtney B. Vance is known for work in acting across film and television. New Release currently presents 24 verified screen credits connected to this profile. Selected work includes W.E.B. Du Bois: Rebel With a Cause (2026), Lilo & Stitch (2025), Grotesquerie (2024), Lovecraft Country (2020), Project Power (2020), The Mummy (2017), The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks (2017), Office Christmas Party (2016). The recorded credits span 1987 to 2026, including 20 movies and 4 TV shows. The filmography below lists available titles, release years and known roles. This profile is updated as additional verified information becomes available.