Bill Duke


William Henry Duke Jr., also known as Bill Duke, is an American actor and director. He is known for his work in action and crime drama, often as a character related to law enforcement. Dubbed the "Godfather of African American Cinema", he is known to direct films dealing with Black American experience and struggle.
Duke began his career as a theatre actor, before making his film debut in the ensembled comedy Car Wash. Frequently a character actor, he starred in Commando and Predator, alongside Arnold Schwarzenegger. He has appeared in films like American Gigolo, Bird [on a Wire (film)|Bird on a Wire], Menace II Society, Payback, X-Men: The Last Stand, and Mandy. In television, he is best known as Agent Percy Odell in Black Lightning.
Duke's directorial debut was The Killing Floor, 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, which was nominated for the Cannes Film Festival's Palme d'Or. He also directed the neo-noir thriller Deep Cover and the musical comedy Sister Act 2. He has directed episodes of numerous television series including Cagney & Lacey, Dallas, Hill Street Blues, Miami Vice, and The [Twilight Zone (1985 TV series)|The Twilight Zone].

Early life and education

Duke was born in Poughkeepsie, New York, the son of Ethel Louise and William Henry Duke Sr. He attended Franklin D. Roosevelt High School in Hyde Park 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 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, and appeared on Broadway in the 1971 Melvin Van Peebles musical Ain't Supposed [to Die a Natural Death]. With acting roles difficult to come by, Duke next attended AFI Conservatory to study filmmaking.

Career

Film

Standing at an imposing and with a closely shaved head, Duke first became a familiar face to moviegoers in Car Wash, where he portrayed fierce young Black Muslim revolutionary Abdullah Mohammed Akbar. He expanded his repertoire with American Gigolo, where he played a gay pimp, who co-orchestrates a murder, pinned on star Richard Gere.
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, as well as a police chief opposite Steven Seagal in Exit Wounds. In Menace II Society, 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?" The line became often-quoted. He played a corrupt law enforcement agent in two films opposite Mel Gibson—Bird on a Wire and Payback. 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.

Directing

In the early 1980s, Duke accidentally secured a directing job on Knots Landing, due to a secretarial or clerical error at AFI Conservatory. However, the producers were pleased with his work, and he was kept on, eventually directing 10 episodes of the show. This made him one of the first four black television directors. Duke then directed episodes of Knots Landing's mother show Dallas and its sister show Falcon Crest. 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.
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, Deep Cover and Hoodlum. He also directed The Cemetery Club and the Whoopi Goldberg comedy sequel Sister Act 2: Back in the Habit.
For television, Duke directed the A&E Network original film, The Golden Spiders: A Nero Wolfe Mystery. In 2007 he directed the historical reenactments in the award-winning PBS-broadcast documentary Prince Among Slaves.
Duke teamed with screenwriter Bayard Johnson to co-produce Cover, a 2007 film which explores the HIV epidemic.
He is set to direct The Power of One: The Diane Latiker Story, a film based on Chicago activist Diane Latiker.

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 (Lost)|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: [The Saga of an American Family|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.
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. Duke appears in Busta Rhymes' music video "Dangerous". Duke also appears in an episode of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit as a lawyer. 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.
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.

Other work

He has served on the board of trustees of the American Film Institute, as a member of the California Film Commission board, appointed by Governor Schwarzenegger, in the Time Warner Endowed Chair in the Department of Radio Television and Film at Howard University in Washington, D.C., and as a member of the National Endowment for the Humanities, appointed by President Bill Clinton.
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 and owner of the Duke Media Foundation, which helps prepare young people for a career in all aspects of film, video and TV production.
He became a teacher of Transcendental Meditation in Ethiopia in 1973 under the guidance of Maharishi Mahesh Yogi.

Personal life

He is an honorary member of the Phi Beta Sigma fraternity.
In honor of his accomplishments in the film industry, he has a street named after him, Bill Duke Way, also known as Fallkill Avenue, in Poughkeepsie. The renaming ceremony took place on May 16, 2025 in his home town.

Filmography

Film

Television

YearTitleRoleNotes
1972–75ABC Afterschool SpecialsMr. SandsEpisode: "Santiago's Ark" & "Santiago's America"
1976KojakSylkEpisode: "Bad Dude"
1976On the Rocks-Episode: "High Noon"
1978Starsky & HutchOfficer DrydenEpisode: "Hutchinson for Murder One"
1978Charlie’s AngelsDavid PearlEpisode: "Angels on the Run"
1978Love Is Not Enough'Happy' JordanTV movie
1978Sergeant Matlovich vs. the U.S. Air ForceSgt. LangfordTV movie
1980–81Palmerstown, U.S.A.Luther FreemanMain cast
1981BensonMad-DogEpisode: "The Grass Ain't Greener"
1986Dallas: The Early YearsSeth FosterTV movie
1987StarmanSteven PutnamEpisode: "The System"
1989American PlayhouseFBI Agent #2Episode: "The Meeting"
1994New York UndercoverHitmanEpisode: "Pilot"
1998BiographyNarratorEpisode: "Nat King Cole: Loved in Return"
1998Always OutnumberedBlackbird WillsTV movie
2002Justice LeagueDetective Episode: "The Brave and the Bold"
2002–03FastlaneCapt. Bob ParishRecurring cast
2003–04Karen SiscoAmos AndrewsMain cast
2006Battlestar GalacticaPhelanEpisode: "Black Market"
2006LostWarden HarrisEpisode: "Every Man for Himself"
2007The BoondocksDetective Episode: "Thank You for Not Snitching"
2008Cold CaseGrover Boone '05/'08Episode: "Street Money"
2008My [Own Worst Enemy (TV series)|My Own Worst Enemy]Serge KhabakoEpisode: "Love in All the Wrong Places"
2011ChaosGeneral MargolisEpisode: "Core Fortitude"
2013BattledogsPresident Donald SheridanTV movie
2015BetweenGord's FatherEpisode: "End of the Rope"
2016Law & Order: Special Victims UnitEd PastrinoEpisode: "Intersecting Lives" & "Heartfelt Passages"
2018–21Black LightningAgent Percy OdellRecurring cast, guest
2020Ghost TapeByron DixonMain cast
2021The OvalCurtisEpisode: "Like a Boss" & "Doomsday"
2022GaslitCharles AndersonEpisode: "California"

Films directed