List of African-American actors
This is a list of African-American actors.
To be included in this list, the person must have a Wikipedia article and/or references showing the person is African American and a notable actor. The list is organized chronologically, grouping actors by their birth decades.
- This is an incomplete list that may never be able to satisfy particular standards for completeness. You can help by expanding it with reliably sourced entries.
1800s
- Ira Aldridge – 1807
1860s
- Ernest Hogan – 1865
- Bob Cole (composer) – 1868
1870s
- George Walker (vaudeville) – 1872/1873
- Bert Williams – 1874
- Bill Robinson – 1878
1880s
- Abbie Mitchell – 1884
- Dooley Wilson – 1886
- Clarence Muse – 1989
1890s
- Moms Mabley – 1894
- Rex Ingram 1895
Hattie McDaniel – 1895
- Amanda Randolph – 1896
- Evelyn Preer – 1896
- Ethel Waters – 1896
- Jules Bledsoe – 1897
- Paul Robeson – 1898
1900s
- Adelaide Hall – 1901
- Louise Beavers – 1902
- Mantan Moreland – 1902
- Pigmeat Markham – 1904
- Frederick O'Neal – 1905
- Cab Calloway – 1907
- Louis Jordan – 1908
- Helen Martin – 1909
1910s
- Scatman Crothers – 1910
- Muriel Rahn – 1911
- Ossie Davis – 1917
- Lena Horne – 1917
- Isabel Sanford – 1917
- James Edwards (actor) – 1918
- Nipsey Russell – 1918
1920s
- Esther Rolle – 1920
- Dorothy Dandridge – 1922
- Redd Foxx – 1922
- Muriel Smith (singer) – 1923
- Ruby Dee – 1924
- Sammy Davis, Jr. – 1925
- Harry Belafonte – 1927
- Brock Peters – 1927
- Sidney Poitier – 1927
- Maya Angelou – 1928
- Moses Gunn – 1929
1930s
- Ivan Dixon – 1931
- James Earl Jones – 1931
- Carl Gordon (actor) – 1932
- Nichelle Nichols – 1932
- Cicely Tyson – 1933
- Diahann Carroll – 1935
- Louis Gossett, Jr. – 1936
- Bill Cosby – 1937
- Morgan Freeman – 1937
- Billy Dee Williams – 1937
- Sherman Hemsley – 1938
- John Amos – 1939
- Cleavon Little – 1939
- Clarence Williams III – 1939
1940s
- Richard Pryor – 1940
- Isaac Hayes – 1942
- Richard Roundtree – 1942
- Leslie Uggams – 1943
- Georg Stanford Brown – 1943
- Margaret Avery – 1944
- Patti LaBelle – 1944
- Danny Glover – 1946
- Gregory Hines – 1946
- Ben Vereen – 1946
- Demond Wilson – 1946
- Samuel L. Jackson – 1948
- Phylicia Rashād – 1948
- Avery Brooks – 1948
1950s
- Dorian Harewood – 1950
- Obba Babatundé – 1951
- Alfre Woodard – 1952
- Michael Dorn – 1952
- Tom Wright – 1952
- James Pickens, Jr. – 1954
- Oprah Winfrey – 1954
- Denzel Washington – 1954
- Whoopi Goldberg – 1955
- Arsenio Hall – 1956
- Levar Burton – 1957
- Steve Harvey – 1957
- Spike Lee – 1957
- Michael Jackson – 1958
- Angela Bassett – 1958
- Giancarlo Esposito – 1958
- Keenen Ivory Wayans – 1958
1960s
- Rusty Cundieff – 1960
- Damon Wayans – 1960
- Mark Curry – 1961
- Eddie Murphy – 1961
- Forest Whitaker – 1961
- Laurence Fishburne – 1961
- Kim Coles – 1962
- Eriq La Salle – 1962
- Wesley Snipes – 1962
- Whitney Houston – 1963
- Isaiah Washington – 1963
- Vanessa L. Williams – 1963
- Don Cheadle – 1964
- Vivica A. Fox – 1964
- Lenny Kravitz – 1964
- Cedric the Entertainer (Cedric Antonio Kyles) – 1964
- Holly Robinson Peete – 1964
- Blair Underwood – 1964
- Martin Lawrence – 1965
- Jeffrey Wright (actor) – 1965
- Halle Berry – 1966
- Janet Jackson – 1966
- Hill Harper – 1966
- Jamie Foxx – 1967
- Cuba Gooding, Jr. – 1968
- Orlando Jones – 1968
- Phill Lewis – 1968
- Will Smith – 1968
- Tracy Morgan – 1968
- Terrence Howard – 1969
- Tyler Perry – 1969
- Gina Torres – 1969
- Chandra Wilson – 1969
1970s
- Anthony Anderson – 1970
- Mariah Carey – 1970
- Taraji P. Henson – 1970
- Nia Long – 1970
- Audra McDonald – 1970
- Taye Diggs – 1971
- Regina King – 1971
- Sanaa Lathan – 1971
- Jada Pinkett Smith – 1971
- Chris Tucker – 1971
- Shawn Wayans – 1971
- Wayne Brady – 1972
- Leonard Roberts – 1972
- Anika Noni Rose – 1972
- Marlon Wayans – 1972
- Dave Chappelle – 1973
- Michael Ealy – 1973
- Brian Copeland – 1974
- Tamala Jones – 1974
- Iris Kyle – 1974
- Sharif Atkins – 1975
- Dulé Hill – 1975
- Rashida Jones – 1976
- Rochelle Aytes – 1976
- Chadwick Boseman – 1976
- Kerry Washington – 1977
- Tyrese Gibson – 1978
- Tamera Mowry – 1978
- Tia Mowry – 1978
- Zoe Saldana – 1978
1980s
- Nick Cannon – 1980
- Lamorne Morris – 1980
- Jennifer Hudson – 1981
- Alicia Keys – 1981
- Beyoncé Knowles – 1981
- Damon Wayans, Jr. – 1982
- Donald Glover – 1983
- Gabourey Sidibe – 1983
- Will Thompson – 1983
- Lauren London – 1984
- DeVaughn Nixon – 1984
- Raven-Symoné – 1985
- Aldis Hodge – 1986
- Tahj Mowry – 1986
- Jordin Sparks – 1989
1990s
- Christopher Massey – 1990
- Kyle Massey – 1991
- Leon Thomas III – 1993
- Jaden Smith – 1998