Bill Duke
{{short description|American actor and director}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=January 2020}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Bill Duke
| image = Bill Duke (47003170452).jpg
| caption = Duke in 2019
| birthname = William Henry Duke Jr.
| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1943|02|26}}
| birth_place = Poughkeepsie, New York, U.S.
| height = 6 feet 4 inches
| yearsactive = 1961–present
| occupation = {{hlist|Actor|director|producer}}
| awards = American Black Film Festival Career Achievement Award, Lifetime achievement Directors Guild of America
| website =
| education = {{ubl|Boston University|New York University Tisch School of the Arts|AFI Conservatory}}
}}
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.{{Cite news |date=May 16, 1991 |title=ACTOR BILL DUKE MOVES FROM PLAYING HEAVIES TO ACTING OUT HIS DREAMS AS DIRECTOR OF 'HARLEM' |url=https://www.deseretnews.com/article/162548/ACTOR-BILL-DUKE-MOVES-FROM-PLAYING-HEAVIES-TO-ACTING-OUT-HIS-DREAMS--AS-DIRECTOR-OF-HARLEM.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180712022343/https://www.deseretnews.com/article/162548/ACTOR-BILL-DUKE-MOVES-FROM-PLAYING-HEAVIES-TO-ACTING-OUT-HIS-DREAMS--AS-DIRECTOR-OF-HARLEM.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=July 12, 2018 |access-date=July 11, 2018 |work=DeseretNews.com |language=en}} As a director, he is known for his works dealing in the Black American experience,{{Cite web |date=20 November 2019 |title=Bill Duke |url=https://www.thehistorymakers.org/biography/bill-duke-41 |website=The History Makers}} and has been called the "Godfather of African American Cinema."{{Cite web |date=2015-01-15 |title=Bill Duke {{!}} The African Artists' Association |url=https://the3as.org/guest-speaker-bill-duke/ |access-date=2024-08-08 |language=en-US}}
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).{{cite book |last1=Duke |first1=Bill |url=https://rowman.com/ISBN/9781538105566/Bill-Duke-My-40-Year-Career-on-Screen-and-behind-the-Camera |title=My 40-Year Career on Screen and behind the Camera |publisher=Rowman |access-date=December 18, 2019}} He has directed episodes of numerous television series including Cagney & Lacey, Dallas, Hill Street Blues, Miami Vice, and The Twilight Zone.
Early life and education
Duke was born in Poughkeepsie, New York, the son of Ethel Louise (née Douglas) and William Henry Duke Sr.{{cite web|url=http://www.filmreference.com/film/23/Bill-Duke.html|title=Bill Duke Biography (1943–)|work=filmreference.com|access-date=August 18, 2016}}{{Cite web|url=https://movies.yahoo.com/movie/contributor/1800019247/bio|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060430190208/http://movies.yahoo.com/movie/contributor/1800019247/bio |url-status=dead |title=Bill Duke Biography – Yahoo! Movies|archive-date=April 30, 2006}} He attended Franklin D. Roosevelt High School in Hyde Park{{cite news |last1=Thomas |first1=Nick |title=Bill Duke recounts steps to success |url=https://eu.thespectrum.com/story/entertainment/2018/11/16/bill-duke-recounts-steps-success/1903983002/ |access-date=December 19, 2019 |publisher=The Spectrum |date=November 16, 2018}} and later received his first instruction in the performing arts and in creative writing at Dutchess Community College in Poughkeepsie. Duke worked menial jobs seven days a week to cover his living expenses and intended to halt his education until Dr. James Hall, the first president of DCC, gave Duke a personal check to cover room, board and books for his next three years at Boston University, where (Duke) had secured an academic-based scholarship, intending to pursue medical school after graduation, to please his parents. He later switched to English Education and then instruction in dance and drama for the completion of his B.A.
After graduating, Duke went on to study at New York University's Tisch School of the Arts. Unable to secure enough acting work, he pan-handled, as well as shop-lifted groceries.{{citation needed|date=June 2022}} He did, however, appear on Broadway in the 1971 Melvin Van Peebles musical Ain't Supposed to Die a Natural Death.{{cite news |last1=Simonson |first1=Robert |title=Death Lives as Harlem Revival of Van Peebles Work Begins Sept. 29 |url=http://www.playbill.com/article/death-lives-as-harlem-revival-of-van-peebles-work-begins-sept-29-com-122174 |access-date=December 18, 2019 |publisher=Playbill |date=September 29, 2004}} With acting roles dried up, Duke next attended AFI Conservatory to study filmmaking.{{citation needed|date=September 2022}}
Career
=Film=
Standing at an imposing {{convert|6|ft|4+1/2|in|2}} and with a closely shaved head, Duke first became a familiar face to moviegoers in Car Wash (1976), where he portrayed fierce young Black Muslim revolutionary Abdullah Mohammed Akbar (formerly known as Duane). He expanded his repertoire with American Gigolo (1980), where he played a gay pimp, who co-orchestrates a murder, pinned on star Richard Gere.{{cite web |title=Bill Duke |url=http://metrograph.com/series/series/185/bill-duke |publisher=Metrograph |access-date=December 18, 2019 |archive-date=December 21, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191221104553/http://metrograph.com/series/series/185/bill-duke |url-status=dead }}
As the action-film-oriented genre became more popular, Duke portrayed a string of tough guys. He worked opposite Arnold Schwarzenegger with a small role in Commando. Then he acted alongside Schwarzenegger, Carl Weathers and Jesse Ventura in the scifi action thriller Predator, followed by a role as a police chief in the 1988 Carl Weathers vehicle Action Jackson. Duke appeared uncredited as a DEA officer in The Limey (1999), as well as a police chief opposite Steven Seagal in Exit Wounds. In Menace II Society (1993), he played a police investigator who tricks the main character into contradicting himself during an interrogation, then tries to rattle him by repeating the line, "You done fucked up, you know that, don't you?"{{YouTube|K2v-8ctq5x4}} The line became often-quoted.{{citation needed|date=June 2022}} He played a corrupt law enforcement agent in two films opposite Mel Gibson—Bird on a Wire (as an FBI agent) and Payback (as a police detective). Duke appeared as Trask in X-Men: The Last Stand, Washington in National Security, Levar in Get Rich or Die Tryin', Nokes in Bad Country and Caruthers in Mandy.{{Citation needed|date=November 2019}}
=Directing=
In the early 1980s, Duke accidentally secured a directing job on Knots Landing, due to a secretarial or clerical error at AFI Conservatory.{{citation needed|date=June 2022}} However, the producers were pleased with his work, and he was kept on, eventually directing 10 episodes of the show.{{citation needed|date=June 2022}} This made him one of the first four black television directors.{{citation needed|date=June 2022}} Duke then directed episodes of Knots Landing's mother show Dallas and its sister show Falcon Crest (6 episodes). Next came action and cop shows Hill Street Blues, Miami Vice and Starman. He credits the benevolence and humanity of people like Larry Hagman and Jane Wyman for his early TV directing success, while he occasionally heard derogatory remarks, and even racial slurs, from crew members, including the Teamsters.{{citation needed|date=July 2021}}
Duke directed the TV movie The Killing Floor in 1984. He began directing theatrical films in the 1990s with crime dramas A Rage in Harlem (1991), Deep Cover (1992) and Hoodlum (1997).{{cite news |last1=Gaydos |first1=Steven |title=Bill Duke Remembers the Theater Training That Helped Him |url=https://variety.com/2018/film/awards/bill-duke-remembers-the-theater-training-that-helped-him-1203082134/ |access-date=December 19, 2019 |publisher=Variety |date=December 8, 2018}} He also directed The Cemetery Club (1993) and the Whoopi Goldberg comedy sequel Sister Act 2: Back in the Habit (1993).
For television, Duke directed the A&E Network original film, The Golden Spiders: A Nero Wolfe Mystery (2000). In 2007 he directed the historical reenactments in the award-winning PBS-broadcast documentary Prince Among Slaves.{{cite news |title=Slave's Royal Lineage Chronicled in New Film |url=https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=18659102&t=1576717506847 |access-date=December 19, 2019 |publisher=NPR |date=February 4, 2008}}
Duke teamed with screenwriter Bayard Johnson to co-produce Cover, a 2007 film which explores the HIV epidemic.{{cite news|first=Mike|last=Barnes |title=Bayard Johnson, 'Tarzan and the Lost City' Screenwriter, Dies at 63 |url=http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/bayard-johnson-tarzan-lost-city-864676 |work=The Hollywood Reporter |date=February 12, 2016 |access-date=March 5, 2016}}
He is set to direct The Power of One: The Diane Latiker Story, a film based on Chicago activist Diane Latiker.{{cite news |last1=N'Duka |first1=Amanda |title=Bill Duke To Helm 'The PThe Diane Latiker Story' Feature |url=https://deadline.com/2019/07/bill-duke-the-power-of-one-the-diane-latiker-story-diane-latiker-biopic-1202648827/ |access-date=December 19, 2019 |publisher=Deadline |date=July 18, 2019}}
=Television=
Duke made an appearance on Kojak in 1976, as Sylk in the episode "Bad Dude", in the third season of the series. He guest-starred in the fourth episode of Lost in its third season as Warden Harris, in the episode "Every Man for Himself".
Duke had a starring role in the short-lived TV series Palmerstown, U.S.A., produced by Norman Lear and Roots author, Alex Haley. Although the series was critically acclaimed and won an Emmy, it ran for only 17 episodes in the 1980–81 television season.{{cite web |title=Bill Duke |url=https://www.thehistorymakers.org/biography/bill-duke-41 |publisher=The History Makers |access-date=December 19, 2019}}{{cite news |title=Norman Lear and Alex Haley's Palmerstown, U.S.A. returns on GeTTV |url=https://www.get.tv/gettv-blog/norman-lear-and-alex-haleys-palmerstown-usa-returns-gettv |access-date=December 19, 2019 |publisher=GetTV}}
He guest-starred in Battlestar Galactica remake in 2004, the season two episode "Black Market".
Duke was cast as recurring character Capt. Parish in the action television series/crime drama Fastlane. He made a guest appearance on Baisden After Dark in the episode broadcast on July 18, 2008 and guest-starred on Cold Case as Grover Boone, a corrupt politician, in the 2008 episode "Street Money". Duke voiced a detective in the episode "Thank You for Not Snitching" of the animated television series The Boondocks. The character and his entire scene were references to Menace II Society.{{Citation needed|date=November 2019}} Duke appears in Busta Rhymes' music video "Dangerous".{{YouTube|id=UJUk45l4h8c}} Duke also appears in an episode of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit as a lawyer.{{cite web |title=Bill Duke - My 40-Year Career on Screen and Behind the Camera |url=https://www.acappellabooks.com/pages/events/552/bill-duke-my-40-year-career-on-screen-and |publisher=Acappella Books |access-date=December 19, 2019}} In May 2017, Duke appeared on episode 6 of the first season of the Outdoor Channel show Hollywood Weapons: Fact or Fiction?. Duke discussed with host Terry Schappert his time filming Predator, his character Sgt. Mac Elliot, and what it was like to fire an M134 Minigun.{{cite web|url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt6842824/?ref_=ttpl_pl_tt|series=Hollywood Weapons: Fact or Fiction? |title=Terry and the Minigun (TV Episode 2017)|website=IMDb }}
In 2018, Duke joined the second season of The CW superhero drama series Black Lightning as recurring character Agent Percy Odell, a dedicated A.S.A. government official.{{cite web|url=https://shadowandact.com/robert-townsend-and-bill-duke-join-black-lightning-season-2|title=Robert Townsend And Bill Duke Join 'Black Lightning' Season 2|website=Shadow and Act|last=Mangum|first=Trey|date=October 9, 2018|access-date=March 22, 2019}}
=Other work=
He has served on the board of trustees of the American Film Institute,{{cite web |title=A Tribute to Director Bill Duke |url=https://www.dga.org/Events/2010/04-april-2010/AASC-Tribute-to-Director-Bill-Duke.aspx |publisher=DGA |date=February 23, 2010 |access-date=December 19, 2019}} as a member of the California Film Commission board, appointed by Governor Schwarzenegger,{{cite news |last1=McNary |first1=Dave |title=California teaming with producer |url=https://variety.com/2004/biz/features/california-teaming-with-producer-1117904253 |access-date=June 17, 2020 |publisher=Variety |date=May 3, 2004}}{{cite news |title=Governor Schwarzenegger announces appointmets to California Film Commission |url=https://www.iatse.net/news/governor-schwarzenegger-announces-appointments-california-film-commission |access-date=December 19, 2019 |publisher=IATSE |date=May 15, 2006 |archive-date=December 19, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191219235012/https://www.iatse.net/news/governor-schwarzenegger-announces-appointments-california-film-commission |url-status=dead }} in the Time Warner Endowed Chair in the Department of Radio Television and Film at Howard University in Washington, D.C.,{{cite book |last1=Ellis |first1=George |title=A Symphony of Silence: An Enlightened Vision 2nd Editio |date=2015 |publisher=George A. Ellis |isbn=9781508944256}}{{cite news |title=Howard University to Get $2 Million for Communications Chair |url=https://diverseeducation.com/article/115/ |access-date=December 19, 2019 |publisher=Diverse Education |date=April 26, 1999 |archive-date=December 19, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191219234958/https://diverseeducation.com/article/115/ |url-status=dead }} and as a member of the National Endowment for the Humanities, appointed by President Bill Clinton.{{cite web |title=President Clinton names Bill Duke to the National Council on the Humanities |url=https://clintonwhitehouse4.archives.gov/textonly/library/hot_releases/October_162000_2.html |publisher=White House |date=October 16, 2000 |access-date=December 19, 2019}}{{cite book |last1=Duke |first1=Bill |title=Bill Duke : my 40-year career on screen and behind the camera |date=2018 |publisher=Rowman & Littlefield |isbn=9781538105566}}
In 2011 he directed the documentary Dark Girls, which was nominated for an NAACP Award, followed by 2015's Light Girls.
Duke is also the founder & owner of the Duke Media Foundation that helps prepare young people for a career in all aspects of film, video and TV production. Duke became a teacher of Transcendental Meditation in Ethiopia in 1973 under the guidance of Maharishi Mahesh Yogi.
Personal life
Duke has been married to author Shelia P. Moses since 2006. He is an honorary member of the Phi Beta Sigma fraternity.{{Cite web|title=Bill Duke and Wayne Brady are now Honorary Members of Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity|url=https://www.watchtheyard.com/sigmas/wayne-brady-bill-duke-phi-beta|website=Watch The Yard|date=June 15, 2020 }}
On May 16, 2025, in his hometown of Poughkeepsie NY, Duke's childhood Street was renamed Bill Duke Way, in honor of its hometown legend.
Filmography
=Film=
| class="wikitable plainrowheaders sortable" style="margin-right: 0;" |
| Year
! Title ! Role ! Notes |
|---|
| 1976
| Car Wash | Duane / Abdullah Mohammed Akbar | |
| 1980
| Leon James | |
| 1985
| Commando | Cooke | |
| rowspan=2| 1987
| Predator | Sgt. Mac Eliot | |
| No Man's Land
| Malcolm | |
| 1988
| Capt. Earl Armbruster | |
| 1989
| Lt. Borel | |
| 1990
| FBI Agent Albert "Diggs" Diggins | |
| rowspan=2| 1993
| Detective | |
| Sister Act 2: Back in the Habit
| Mr. Johnson | Also director |
| 1998
| Dect. Scott | |
| rowspan=4| 1999
| Payback | Det. Hicks | |
| Foolish
| Studio Producer | |
| The Limey
| Head DEA Agent | |
| Fever
| Det. Glass | |
| rowspan=2| 2001
| Earl | |
| Exit Wounds
| Chief Hinges | |
| rowspan=2| 2002
| Mysterious Voice on Phone | |
| Red Dragon
| Police Chief | |
| 2003
| Lieutenant Washington | |
| 2005
| Levar Cahill | |
| rowspan=2| 2006
| Secretary Trask | |
| Yellow
| Miles Emory | |
| 2007
| Liquor | |
| 2009
| Level 26: Dark Origins | Jack Mitchell | Short |
| rowspan=2| 2010
| Frank | |
| The Big Bang
| Drummer | |
| 2012
| Wendell Robinson | |
| 2014
| John Nokes | |
| rowspan=2| 2016
| Restored Me | Officer Brantley | |
| Beyond the Silence
| District Attorney Adam Stevenson | |
| 2017
| Gabriel | |
| rowspan=2| 2018
| Mandy | Caruthers | |
| Clipped Wings, They Do Fly
| District Attorney Adam Stevenson | |
| rowspan=2| 2019
| Spence | |
| Hollow Point
| Senior Guard James | |
| rowspan=2| 2021
| Aldrick Watkins | |
| The Vandal
| Harold | Short |
| 2022
| Himself | Documentary |
=Television=
| class="wikitable plainrowheaders sortable" style="margin-right: 0;" |
| Year
! Title ! Role ! Notes |
|---|
| 1972–75
| Mr. Sands | Episode: "Santiago's Ark" & "Santiago's America" |
| rowspan=2| 1976
| Kojak | Sylk | Episode: "Bad Dude" |
| On the Rocks
| - | Episode: "High Noon" |
| rowspan=4| 1978
| Officer Dryden | Episode: "Hutchinson for Murder One" |
| Charlie’s Angels
| David Pearl | Episode: "Angels on the Run" |
| Love Is Not Enough
| 'Happy' Jordan | TV movie |
| Sergeant Matlovich vs. the U.S. Air Force
| Sgt. Langford | TV movie |
| 1980–81
| Luther Freeman | Main cast |
| 1981
| Benson | Mad-Dog | Episode: "The Grass Ain't Greener" |
| 1986
| Seth Foster | TV movie |
| 1987
| Starman | Steven Putnam | Episode: "The System" |
| 1989
| FBI Agent #2 | Episode: "The Meeting" |
| 1994
| Hitman | Episode: "Pilot" |
| rowspan=2| 1998
| Narrator | Episode: "Nat King Cole: Loved in Return" |
| Always Outnumbered
| Blackbird Wills | TV movie |
| 2002
| Detective (voice) | Episode: "The Brave and the Bold" |
| 2002–03
| Fastlane | Capt. Bob Parish | Recurring cast |
| 2003–04
| Amos Andrews | Main cast |
| rowspan=2| 2006
| Phelan | Episode: "Black Market" |
| Lost
| Warden Harris | Episode: "Every Man for Himself" |
| 2007
| Detective (voice) | Episode: "Thank You for Not Snitching" |
| rowspan=2| 2008
| Grover Boone '05/'08 | Episode: "Street Money" |
| My Own Worst Enemy
| Serge Khabako | Episode: "Love in All the Wrong Places" |
| 2011
| Chaos | General Margolis | Episode: "Core Fortitude" |
| 2013
| President Donald Sheridan | TV movie |
| 2015
| Between | Gord's Father | Episode: "End of the Rope" |
| 2016
| Law & Order: Special Victims Unit | Ed Pastrino | Episode: "Intersecting Lives" & "Heartfelt Passages" |
| 2018–21
| Agent Percy Odell | Recurring cast (season 2-3), guest (season 4) |
| 2020
| Ghost Tape | Byron Dixon | Main cast |
| 2021
| The Oval | Curtis | Episode: "Like a Boss" & "Doomsday" |
| 2022
| Gaslit | Charles Anderson | Episode: "California" |
=Films directed=
| class="wikitable sortable" |
| Year
! Title ! Notes |
|---|
| 1984
| |
| 1989
| A Raisin In The Sun | |
| 1991
| |
| 1992
| |
| 1993
| |
| 1993
| Sister Act 2: Back in the Habit | |
| 1996
| |
| 1997
| Hoodlum | |
| 2000
| The Golden Spiders: A Nero Wolfe Mystery | |
| 2001
| Angel: One More Road to Cross | {{Cite web|url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0329991/|title=Angel: One More Road to Cross|via=IMDb}} |
| 2003
| |
| 2007
| Cover | Also a producer |
| 2009
| |
| 2011
| Also a producer |
| 2017
| |
References
{{reflist}}
External links
- {{Twitter|RealBillDuke|Bill Duke}}
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20150211010747/http://www.billduke.com/ Official website] at the Internet Archive
- {{IMDb name|4886}}
- {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20010307064652/http://www.aande.com/tv/shows/goldenspiders/bduke.html |date=March 7, 2001 |title=Bill Duke interview }} about The Golden Spiders: A Nero Wolfe Mystery
- [https://www.thespectrum.com/story/entertainment/2018/11/16/bill-duke-recounts-steps-success/1903983002/ Interview with Bill Duke] – The Spectrum, November 16, 2018.
{{Bill Duke}}
{{Black Reel Award for Outstanding Director, TV Movie or Limited Series}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Duke, Bill}}
Category:20th-century African-American male actors
Category:20th-century American male actors
Category:21st-century African-American male actors
Category:21st-century American male actors
Category:African-American film directors
Category:African-American television directors
Category:American male film actors
Category:American male television actors
Category:American television directors
Category:Boston University College of Fine Arts alumni
Category:Film directors from New York (state)
Category:Male actors from New York (state)
Category:Sundance Film Festival award winners
Category:People from Poughkeepsie, New York