20 Most Talented Black Actors of All Time

Chiwetel Ejiofor photo By NASA/Bill Ingalls Wikimedia

Top 20 Most Talented Black Actors of All Time

In the world, there are many talented black actors of all time. All these people are abundantly talented and it is hard to choose between them the most talented.

Here are the 20 most talented black actors who have won several awards and nominations due to the great work they have done in the field of acting such as Morgan Freeman, Samuel L. Jackson, James Earl Jones, Eddie Murphy and Don Cheadle among others.

1. Morgan Freeman

Morgan Freeman photo By DoD News Features Wikimedia

He was born in the year 1937 in Memphis, Tennessee. He has been in the acting field from 1964 to date. He is an American actor, director and narrator. He is known for his deep voice.

Morgan has been featured in many movies throughout his acting career. Some of the most famous films he has acted in include ‘The Shawshank Redemption’, ‘Million Dollar Baby’, ‘The Dark Knight Trilogy’ and ‘The Kominsky Method’.

2. Samuel L. Jackson

Samuel L. Jackson photo By Toglenn Wikimedia

Samuel is an American Actor and producer who was born on December 21, 1948. He started acting in the year 1972 and he is still active to date.

He has acted in over 150 films. The following a some of the roles in films which made him famous; Coming to America (1988), Patriot Games (1992), Menace II Society (1993), True Romance (1993), Fresh (1994), Juice (1992), and Jurassic Park (1993).

3. James Earl Jones

James Earl Jones photo By John Mathew Smith Wikimedia

James Earl Jones was born on January 17, 1931, in Arkabutla, Mississippi, the U.S.  He is one of the greatest actors in American history.

He has been in the industry for six decades and is still an active actor, during the acting career he has received a few performance awards such as Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, and Tony.

Some of the films he has acted in include; The Lion King (1994), Coming to America (1988), Conan the Barbarian (1982), and The Best Man (2012).

4. Eddie Murphy

Eddie Murphy photo By David Shankbone Wikimedia

Eddie Murphy was first known through his sketch comedy show known as ‘Saturday Night Live’  for which he was a regular cast member from 1980 to 1984. He later joined acting becoming one of the most successful actors.

Some of the movies Eddie has been featured in include Dolemite is My Name (2019), Shrek 2 (2004), Trading Places (1983), Bowfinger (1999), Mulan (1998) and Shrek (2001) among others.

5. Don Cheadle

Donald Frank Cheadle Jr. is an American actor and filmmaker. He has received multiple accolades, such as Grammy Awards, a Tony Award, two Golden Globe Awards and two Screen Actors Guild Awards and he has well-earned nominations for an Academy Award, 11 Primetime Emmy Awards and two British Academy Films Awards.

He has acted in many films. Some of the films, he appeared in include Hamburger Hill, Devil in a Blue Dress, Rosewood, Traffic, The Ocean’s Trilogy, Iron Man, Hotel Rwanda, and Boogie Nights.

6. Michael Clarke Duncan

Michael Clarke has been an active actor from 1994 till his demise on September 3, 2012. He was mostly known for his breakout role as John Coffey in The Green Mile (1999). The Green Mile made him nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor.

Daredevil, Spiderman: The New Animated Series, Planet of the Apes and Sin City, The Scorpion King, The Whole Nine Yards, and Armageddon are some of the films Duncan featured in.

7. Dwayne Johnson

Dwayne Johnson photo by Eva Rinaldi Celebrity and Live Music Photographer Wikimedia

Jackson is famously known as ‘The Rock’. Despite being the American greatest actor, he is also a professional wrestler. Before becoming an actor, he was part of the WWE wrestler for eight years.

The Rock is one of the highest-paid actors in the world since his films have grossed more than $ 10.5 billion worldwide.

Some of the films he has acted in include Tooth Fairy in 2010, Fast & Furious and Baywatch in 2017, Jungle Cruise in 2021, Race to Witch Mountain in 2009, Skyscraper in 2018, Central Intelligence in 2016, and G.I. Joe: Retaliation in 2013 among others.

8. Michael B. Jordan

Michael B. Jordan photo By Joan Hernandez Mir Wikimedia

Michael B. Jordan started acting in 1999, and most of his roles were in television shows. He is famously known for his role as Oscar Grant in Fruitvale Station which was acted in 2013.

He also acted in other movies which were successful and received well by audiences such as Creed in 2015, What If..?  in 2021, Black Panther in 2018 and Chronicle in 2012 among others.

He has won several awards due to his amazing work, Jordan has a nomination for a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Television Movie for Fahrenheit 451 in 2018 and he won other awards such as Gotham Awards, Hollywood Film Awards, and NAACP Image Awards.

9. Ice Cube

Initially, Ice Cube started with music career around 1986 and established himself as an actor in the early 1990s.

The film Friday of 1995 was the breakthrough of Ice Cube which he co-wrote and starred in it. He has appeared in over 40 films such as Are We There Yet? (2005), Straight Outta Compton (2015), Ride Along (2014), Ride Along 2 (2016), 21 Jump Street (2014), Fist Fight (2017), and The Longshots (2008).

Cube won a 2002 MECCA Movie Award and the 2000 Blockbuster Entertainment Award for Favorite Action Team.

10. Cuba Gooding, Jr

Cuba Gooding Jr photo By MingleMediaTVNetwork Wikimedia

Cuba Gooding, Jr is an American actor born on January 2, 1968. He has been an active actor from 1986 to the present. His breakthrough role was Tre Styles in Boyz n the Hood in 1991. He has received n Academy Award, a Screen Actors Guild Award and an Emmy nomination.

Later he gained fame once more for his roles in Men of Honor (2000) which he acted as Carl Brashear and in 2001 Michael Bay’s World War II epic Pearl Harbor acting as Doris Miller.

Other movies in which Cuba, as acted, include A Few Good Men in 1992, Jerry Maguire in 1996, The Tuskegee Airmen in 1995, As Good as It Gets in 1997, Rat Race in 2001, and The Fighting Temptations in 2003 among others.

11. Will Smith

Will Smith is a Black actor of Holly wood. He was born in 1968 in Pennsylvania, U.S.  He gained popularity in the 1990s NBC sitcom The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. He is among the highest-paid black actors.

Will had leading roles in films such as Ali, Enemy of the State, Independence Day, The Pursuit of Happyness, Bad Boys I & II, and Men in Black I, II, & III.

12. Denzel Washington

Denzel Washington photo By GabboT Wikimedia

Denzel Washington is an actor, director, and producer and will be remembered as one of the most talented black actors of all time. He has been in the field of acting for more than four decades and was named by The New York Times as the greatest actor of the 21^st century.

He has starred in many films including Macbeth, Flight, The Equalizer, The Book of Eli, Roman J. Israel Esq. and The Magnificent Seven.

Due to his performances, Denzel has received several accolades such as the Best Actor Oscar for Glory (1990), Cecil B. DeMille Award (2016), Training Day (2002), and Best Actor Golden Globe for The Hurricane (2000).

13. Chadwick Boseman

Chadwick Boseman November 29, 1976, and later died on August 28, 2020, he was an American actor. He acted for two-decade before he died and he received two Screen Actors Guild Awards, a Golden Globe Award, a Critics’ Choice Movie Award, and a Primetime Emmy Award not forgetting he was nominated for an Academy Award among others.

He is remembered for his great work in films such as Deep Azure of 2005 which earned him a Jeff Award, Black Panther, Get on Up, What if …? And 42 among others.

14. Idris Elba

Idris Elba photo By Harald Krichel Wikimedia

He is a black English actor of all the time and an alumnus of the National Youth Theatre in London. Elba is famously known for his roles such as Stringer Bell in the HBO series The Wire, the DCI John Luther in the BBC One series Luther, as well Nelson Mandera in the biographical film Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom in 2013.

Indris Elba is one of the most talented black actors and has received the honour of being nominated four times for the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor and nominated five times for a Primetime Emmy Award.

15. James Earl Jones

James Earl Jones was born on January 17, 1931, in Arkabutla, Mississippi, U.S. He is the greatest old African American actor. Despite being old he has never given up on his acting career, he is still active to date. He has been in the acting Industry for more than six decades since 1952.

Jones has starred in many successful films such as Conan the Barbarian (1982), Coming to America (1988), the Best Man (2012), and The Lion King (1994).

James is one of the actors who have received an Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, and Tony and they are popularly known as EGOT.

16. Sidney Poitier

Sidney Poitier photo by By Unknown photographer Wikimedia

Poitier was a Bahamian and American Black actor, film director, and diplomat. He was the first black actor and the first Bahamian to win the Academy Award for Best Actor hence living a legacy.

Sidney was a successful actor and he did his acting work best hence receiving several awards. Some of these awards include; two competitive Golden Globe Awards, a competitive British Academy of Film and Television Arts award, and a Grammy Award for Best Spoken Word Album.

Blackboard Jungle in 1955, A Raisin in the Sun in 1961, Lilies of the Field in 1963, The Defiant Ones in 1958 and 1959 Porgy and Bess are some of the films he was featured in.

17. Laurence Fishburne

Laurence Fishburne is an American black actor known for his roles on stage and screen. He has been awarded Emmy Award three times and Tony Award-winning actor.

Some of the movies he acted in made him known and famous such as The Matrix series which he acted as Morpheus from 1999-2003, John Singleton’s drama film Boyz n the Hood in 1991, Francis Ford Coppola’s war film Apocalypse Now in 1979, and John Wick film series in 2017.

18. Forest Whitaker

Forest Whitaker photo By Siebbi Wikimedia

Forest has been an active actor from 1981 to date. He is a recipient of various accolades such as an Academy Award, a British Academy Film Award, a Golden Globe Award and two Screen Actors Guild Awards.

He has appeared in many films such as Platoon (1986), Bid (1988), The Crying Game (1992), Phenomenon (1996), The Great Debaters (2007), Arrival (2016), The Butler (2013), and Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai (1999) among others.

Whitaker despite being an actor is also known for his humanitarian work and activism. He was inducted as a UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador in 2011, and later he received a promotion to Special Envoy and Development Initiative (WPDI).

19. Jamie Foxx

Foxx was given his television sitcom, known as The Jami Foxx Show after a successful stint in the sketch comedy show In Living Color. The television sitcom was given to him in 1996 and aired until 2001.

Some of the movies in which Jamie Foxx has starred include Jarhead in 2005, Miami Vice n 2006, Django Unchained in 2012, Baby Driver in 2017, Just Mercy in 2019, Dreamgirls in 2006 and The Amazing Spider-Man 2 in 2014.

20. Chiwetel Ejiofor

Chiwetel Ejiofor photo By NASA/Bill Ingalls Wikimedia

He is one of the most talented black British actors of all time. He was born in Forest Gate, London and his parent came from Africa, Nigeria to be specific.

It Was an Accident (2000), Trust (2002), Children of Men (2006), Talk to Me (2007), Dirty Pretty Things (2002), and Serenity (2005) are some of the films Chiwetel has appeared in.