Obba Babatundé facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Obba Babatundé
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Babatundé in 1969
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Donald Cohen
December 1, 1951 New York City, U.S.
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| Occupation | Actor |
| Years active | 1969–present |
Obba Babatundé (born Donald Cohen on December 1, 1951) is an American actor. He grew up in Queens, New York City. Obba Babatundé has been in many plays, movies, and TV shows. He has appeared in over 17 stage productions, 30 movies, 60 TV films, and two popular TV series.
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Early Life and Name Change
Donald Cohen was born in Jamaica, Queens, New York City. As a child, he loved theater. He enjoyed singing, dancing, and acting for his family. He went to Jamaica High School. There, he was a good student. He was in school musicals and played on the track and cross country teams.
After high school in 1969, he taught at a private school. He also started acting in New York. He got some roles in smaller plays. Later, he learned that his family came from Nigeria. So, he chose a new name using Yoruba words. Obba means "king," and Babatundé means "father has returned again."
Acting Career Highlights
Obba Babatundé got a big acting chance in 1976. He joined a touring play called Guys and Dolls. After that, he performed in many other stage shows.
His first time on Broadway was in Timbuktu! in 1978. He also starred as C.C. White in the original Broadway show Dreamgirls. For this role, he was nominated for a Tony Award in 1982. He toured with Dreamgirls for two years. Over time, he started working more in movies and television.
Movies
Obba Babatundé has been in many feature films. Some of his roles include Willie in Life. He was also in The Celestine Prophecy and Material Girls. You might have seen him in The Notebook or as a SWAT captain in John Q.. He also played an attorney in Philadelphia (1993). Other films include How High as Dean Cain and Santa Paws 2: The Santa Pups as Mayor Denny.
Television Shows
Babatundé has appeared in several prime-time TV series. He was in CBS' Madam Secretary. He also played Barton Royce in Showtime's I'm Dying Up Here (2017). On Netflix, he was Dean Fairbanks in Dear White People (2017–2018).
He had a repeating role on Kingdom. He also played Bishop Bruce Congdon in Amazon's Hand of God. He appeared in Half & Half and many other popular shows. These include The Bold and the Beautiful, Boston Legal, Grey's Anatomy, NCIS, The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, and Friends. In a 1998 TV miniseries, The Temptations, he played Berry Gordy. Berry Gordy was the person who started Motown Records.
Since 2017, Babatundé has played Daniel Harrelson Sr. in the series S.W.A.T.. He plays the father of Shemar Moore's character.
Other Work
Obba Babatundé is not just an actor. He also does voice acting, and he produces and directs films.
Voice Acting
He has lent his voice to many animated films and video games. He voiced Lando Calrissian in several Star Wars games. These include Star Wars: Galactic Battlegrounds and Disney Infinity 3.0. He was also Conroy in Rocket Power. In The Wild Thornberrys Movie, he voiced the character Boko. In the 2016 film Pup Star, he was the voice of Big Ears, a singing Basset Hound.
Producer and Director
Babatundé has worked behind the scenes too. He was a co-producer and director for Oscar's Black Odyssey. He also co-produced Dorothy Dandridge: An American Beauty and TV in Black: The First 50 Years. He was an associate producer for Voodoo Dolls and an executive producer for Journey.
More recently, he directed and acted in the film American Bad Boy. He also produced and directed a short film called Clarissa's Gift. He even directed a version of the Broadway musical Dreamgirls.
Singing
Obba Babatundé is also a singer. He sang the main song on Onaje Allan Gumbs' album Sack Full of Dreams. He also sang "The Gal That Got Away" on the Over The Rainbow soundtrack. In 1982, he starred as Zodzetrick in the opera Treemonisha.
Awards and Recognition
Obba Babatundé has received many awards for his work.
- In 1981, he was nominated for an Ovation Award and a Tony Award. This was for his role in Dreamgirls.
- He was nominated for an Emmy Award in 1997 for the HBO film Miss Evers' Boys.
- He also received an NAACP Image Award nomination in 1999 for the HBO film Introducing Dorothy Dandridge.
- In 2010, he won the NAACP Theatre Award for "Best Lead Male." This was for playing Sammy Davis Jr. in the musical Sammy.
- In 2011, he won an NAACP Image Award for "Best Actor." This was for his role as Sarge in A Soldiers Play.
- In 2016, he won a Daytime Emmy Award. This was for "Outstanding Guest Performer in a Drama Series" for his role as Julius Avant in The Bold and the Beautiful.
- In 2019, Obba Babatundé was added to the National Multicultural Western Heritage Museum. He also received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Peachtree Village International Film Festival.
Images for kids
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Babatundé in 1969
See also
In Spanish: Obba Babatundé para niños
