Courtney B. Vance was born March 12, 1960. He studied history at Harvard, graduating in 1982, and earned a Master of Fine Arts at the Yale School of Drama in 1985. His stage career began on Broadway in 1987, playing Cory in August Wilson’s Fences opposite James Earl Jones, and he stayed with the production through its 1987-88 run, winning both the Theatre World Award and the Clarence Derwent Award for that Broadway debut performance.
His screen credits include Hamburger Hill, The Hunt for Red October and The Preacher’s Wife. He portrayed Johnnie Cochran in The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story, a performance that won the Emmy for lead actor in a limited series, and played George in Lovecraft Country. On Broadway, he appeared as Hap Hairston in Lucky Guy, and his later television work included the criminal-justice drama 61st Street.
Vance’s work extends into producing with Angela Bassett through Bassett Vance Productions. He received a Hollywood Walk of Fame star in the Television category in December 2025, honored by the Chamber of Commerce as an Emmy and Tony Award-winning actor.
With psychologist Robin L. Smith and writer Charisse Jones, Vance co-wrote The Invisible Ache: Black Men Identifying Their Pain and Reclaiming Their Power. The book grew out of personal loss: Vance has spoken about losing his father to suicide early in his career and, more recently, his godson, experiences that shape the book’s argument about grief and emotional life among Black men. In a 2023 Fresh Air interview, he discussed his experiences with therapy and the value he finds in reading biographies.
