William Henry Duke Jr. (born February 26, 1943), is an American actor and director. He is known for his work in action and crime drama, often as a character related to law enforcement. Dubbed the "Godfather of African American Cinema",… William Henry Duke Jr. (born February 26, 1943), is an American actor and director. He is known for his work in action and crime drama, often as a character related to law enforcement. Dubbed the "Godfather of African American Cinema", he is known to direct films dealing with Black American experience and struggle.
Duke began his career as a theatre actor, before making his film debut in the ensembled comedy Car Wash (1976). Frequently a character actor, he starred in Commando (1985) and Predator (1987), alongside Arnold Schwarzenegger. He 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). He has directed episodes of numerous television series including Cagney & Lacey, Dallas, Hill Street Blues, Miami Vice, and The Twilight Zone.
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