African-American male actors

Orenthal James Simpson (born July 9, 1947), commonly referred to as O. J. Simpson, is an American former football running back, actor, and broadcaster. He played in the National Football League (NFL) for 11 seasons, primarily with the Buffalo Bills, and is regarded as one of the greatest running backs of all time. Once a popular figure with the American public, Simpson's professional success was overshadowed by his trial and controversial acquittal for the murders of his former wife Nicole Brown and her friend Ron Goldman.
Simpson played college football for the USC Trojans, where he won the Heisman Trophy as a senior, and was selected first overall by the Bills in the 1969 NFL/AFL draft. During his nine seasons with the Bills, Simpson received five consecutive Pro Bowl and first-team All-Pro selections from 1972 to 1976. He also led the league in rushing yards four times, in rushing touchdowns twice, and in points scored in 1975. In 1973, he became the first NFL player to rush for more than 2,000 yards in a season, earning him NFL Most Valuable Player (MVP), and is the only NFL player to do so in a 14-game regular season. Simpson holds the record for the single-season yards-per-game average at 143.1. After retiring with the San Francisco 49ers in 1979, Simpson pursued an acting and broadcasting career. He was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1983 and the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1985.
In June 1994, Simpson was arrested and charged with the murders of Brown and Goldman. He was acquitted in a lengthy and internationally publicized trial, but found liable for the deaths three years later in a civil suit from the victims' families. To date, Simpson has paid little of the $33.5 million judgment (equivalent to $61 million in 2022).
In 2007, Simpson was arrested in Las Vegas, Nevada, and charged with armed robbery and kidnapping. In 2008, he was convicted and sentenced to 33 years' imprisonment, with a minimum of nine years without parole. He served his sentence at the Lovelock Correctional Center near Lovelock, Nevada. He was granted parole on July 20, 2017, which was the minimum sentence. He was released on October 1, 2017. In December 2021, Simpson was granted early release from his parole by the Nevada Division of Parole and Probation.

Bernard Hamilton (June 12, 1928 – December 30, 2008) was an American actor. He is best known as Captain Dobey in Starsky & Hutch (1975–1979).

Lorenzo Tucker (June 27, 1907 – August 19, 1986), known as the "Black Valentino," was an American stage and screen actor who played the romantic lead in the early black films of Oscar Micheaux.

Keith Tyree Powers (born August 22, 1992) is an American actor and model. He is best known for his roles as Ronnie DeVoe in BET's miniseries The New Edition Story and Tyree in the film Straight Outta Compton.

William Horace Marshall (August 19, 1924 – June 11, 2003) was an American actor, director and opera singer. He played the title role in the 1972 blaxploitation classic Blacula and its sequel Scream Blacula Scream (1973), and appeared as the King of Cartoons on the 1980s television show Pee-wee's Playhouse and as Dr. Richard Daystrom on the Star Trek television series. He was 6‘5” (1.96 m) tall and was known for his bass voice.

Samuel Lloyd Haynes (September 19, 1934 – January 1, 1987) was an American actor, best known for his starring role in the Emmy Award-winning series Room 222.

James Johnson Edwards (March 6, 1918 – January 4, 1970) was an American actor in films and television. His most famous role was as Private Peter Moss in the 1949 film Home of the Brave, in which he portrayed a Black soldier experiencing racial prejudice while serving in the South Pacific during World War II.

Damon Kyle Wayans Jr. (born November 18, 1982) is an American actor and comedian. He starred as Brad Williams in the ABC sitcom Happy Endings, for which he was nominated for the Critics' Choice Television Award for Best Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series in 2012, and as Coach in the Fox sitcom New Girl. In 2014, he starred in the comedy film Let's Be Cops, and provided the voice of Wasabi in Big Hero 6.
He is the eldest son of actor and comedian Damon Wayans, and nephew of Keenen Ivory Wayans, Shawn Wayans, Kim Wayans, and Marlon Wayans.

Brian Joseph White (born April 21, 1975) is an American actor. He is best known for his roles in films such as The Family Stone (2005), The Game Plan (2007), 12 Rounds (2009), I Can Do Bad All by Myself (2009), Good Deeds (2012), and The Cabin in the Woods (2012). On television, White had prominent roles in Men of a Certain Age (2009–11), Beauty and the Beast (2012-13), and Ambitions (2019).

Calvin Levels (born September 30, 1954) is an American film actor. In 1984, he won a Theatre World Award and was nominated for both the Tony Award for Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Play and the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Featured Actor in a Play for his portrayal of Calvin Jefferson in Open Admissions. Levels is known for his roles in the films The Atlanta Child Murders (1985), Adventures in Babysitting (1987), Johnny Suede (1991), and Hellbound (1994). For his role in The Atlanta Child Murders, Levels had to drastically change his diet and quit exercising, which he said took months to undo.