Ossie Davis, whose rich baritone and elegant, unshakable bearing made him a giant of the stage, screen and the civil rights movement often in tandem with his wife, Ruby Dee has died. He was 87.

Davis was found dead Friday in his hotel room in Miami Beach, Fla., according to officials there. He was making a film, “Retirement,” said Arminda Thomas, who works in his New Rochelle office and confirmed the death.

Miami Beach police spokesman Bobby Hernandez said Davis’ grandson called shortly before 7 a.m. when Davis would not open the door to his room at the Shore Club Hotel. Davis was found dead, apparently of natural causes, Hernandez said.

Davis wrote, acted, directed and produced for the theater and Hollywood. Even light fare such as the comedy “Grumpy Old Men” with Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau was somehow enriched by his strong, but gentle presence. Davis and Dee celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary in 1998 with the publication of a dual autobiography, “With Ossie & Ruby: In This Life Together.”

Their partnership rivaled the achievements of other celebrated performing couples, such as Hume Cronyn and Jessica Tandy. Davis and Dee first appeared together in the plays “Jeb,” in 1946, and “Anna Lucasta,” in 1946-47. Davis’ first film, “No Way Out” in 1950, was Dee’s fifth.

Both had key roles in the TV series “Roots: The Next Generation” (1978), “Martin Luther King: The Dream and the Drum” (1986) and “The Stand” (1994). Davis appeared in several Spike Lee films, including “Do the Right Thing” and “Jungle Fever,” in which Dee also appeared.

Davis had a guest role as the father of two women characters in Showtime’s dramatic series, “The L Word.” He appeared in one episode in the first season, then returned for three episodes for the season about to begin, where his character takes ill and dies.

“We knew that we were working with a powerful, important actor,” executive producer Ilene Chaiken said Friday. “Ruby Dee sat with me and watched as he filmed his death scene. It was extraordinary.”

Among Davis’ more notable Broadway appearances was his portrayal of the title character in “Purlie Victorious” (1961), a comedy he wrote lampooning racial stereotypes. In it, he played a conniving preacher who sets out to buy a church in rural Georgia. In 1970, Davis co-wrote the book for “Purlie,” a musical version of the play. A revival of the musical is planned for Broadway next season.

Actors’ Equity Association issued a statement Friday calling Davis “an icon in the American theater” and he and Dee “American treasures.” House lights for Broadway marquees were to be dimmed Friday at curtain time.

In 2004, Davis and Dee were among the artists selected to receive the Kennedy Center Honors.

“His greatness as a human being went far beyond his excellence as an actor,” former New York Governor Mario Cuomo said Friday. “Ossie was a citizen of the country, first, and the world. He and his wife were activists and they took it seriously.”

Dee was in New Zealand making a movie at the time of Davis’ death, said his agent, Michael Livingston.

When not on stage or on camera, Davis and Dee were deeply involved in civil rights issues and efforts to promote the cause of blacks in the entertainment industry. In 1963, Davis participated in the landmark March on Washington. Two years later, he delivered a memorable eulogy for his slain friend, Malcolm X, whom Davis praised as “our own black shining prince” and “our living, black manhood!”

“In honoring him, we honor the best in ourselves,” said Davis, who reprised his eulogy in a voice-over for the 1992 Spike Lee film, “Malcolm X.”

Davis directed several films, most notably “Cotton Comes to Harlem” (1970). Other films include “The Cardinal” (1963), “The Client” (1994) and “I’m Not Rappaport” (1996), a reprise of his stage role 10 years earlier.

On TV, he appeared in “The Emperor Jones” (1955), “Miss Evers’ Boys” (1997) and “Twelve Angry Men” (1997). He was a cast member on “The Defenders” from 1963-65, and “Evening Shade” from 1990-94, among other shows.

Davis had just started his new movie on Monday, Livingston said. “Retirement,” a comedy about an elderly group of friends, also starred Jack Warden, Peter Falk and George Segal.

The oldest of five children, Davis was born in tiny Cogdell, Ga., in 1917, and grew up in nearby Waycross and Valdosta. He left home in 1935, hitchhiking to Washington, D.C., to enter Howard University, where he studied drama, intending to be a playwright.

His career as an actor began in 1939 with the Rose McClendon Players in Harlem. After the outbreak of World War II, Davis spent nearly four years in service, mainly as a surgical technician in an Army hospital in Liberia, serving both wounded troops and local inhabitants.

Back in New York in 1946, he debuted on Broadway in “Jeb,” a play about a returning soldier. His co-star was Dee. In December 1948, on a day off from rehearsals from another play, they took a bus to New Jersey to get married.

As black performers, they found themselves caught up in the social unrest of the then-new Cold War. In one instance, Davis stood by singer Paul Robeson even as others denounced him for his openly communist sympathies. “We young ones in the theater, trying to fathom even as we followed, were pulled this way and that by the swirling currents of these new dimensions of the Struggle,” Davis wrote.

“Look up the word ‘activist.’ Think about what it means to be a role model,” Bill Cosby said of Davis in a statement Friday.

Besides Dee, Davis is survived by three children Nora, Hasna and Guy, a blues artist, and seven grandchildren.

R&B singer Houston, whose full name is Houston Summers IV, reportedly gouged out one of his eyes after a failed suicide attempt in a London hotel.

MTV.com reports that last Thursday (January 27), the singer attempted to commit suicide by jumping off of the hotel balcony but was stopped by his security team. Houston then locked himself into a bathroom and gouged one of his eyes out. The singer was in Europe for a string of performances.

Details are still sketchy but on Wednesday (February 2), the singer’s label, Capitol Records, released the following statement, “Our thoughts and prayers are with Houston during this tragic time.”

The Los Angeles-based singer released his debut album, It’s Already Written, last August. The set was certified gold for sales of 500,000 copies and featured the hit, “I Like That” featuring Chingy, Nate Dogg, and I-20.

When LAUNCH spoke to the singer last year, he explained that singing was in his blood. He said: “Been singing all my life. Pops is a singer, I’m the Fourth. You know he’s Houston Summers the Third. You know he used to sing with Marvin Gaye back in the day. He used to do those background vocals. He was on the radio, so it’s basically in my blood. Music is what I thirst for you know as well as God.”

Snoop Dogg has been accused of raping a woman in his dressing room, it emerged on Tuesday.

The alleged victim claims to have been sexually assaulted by the entertainer and his friends following the recording of a show for US television network ABC News.

According to legal papers obtained by website thesmokinggun.com, she alleges she was drugged before being sexually assaulted by the rapper and four of his associates. She is seeking $35 million in combined damages.

The complaint was filed at Los Angeles Superior Court just weeks after Snoop Dogg (real name Calvin Broadus) filed a pre-emptive lawsuit claiming he was the target of an extortion scheme hatched by the woman in question, the website reports.

The 12-page complaint details the circumstances surrounding the alleged attack in January 2002 when Snoop Dogg co-hosted the Jimmy Kimmel Live television show.

The legal documents name ABC News, the Kimmel show, and the Walt Disney Company as defendants, alleging the network is partly liable for the attack because the entertainer’s dressing room was stocked with “large quantities” of champagne and marijuana.

The morning after the incident, the alleged victim claims she told family members about the assault, but was advised not to report it to police because the rapper was a gang member and “would send someone to kill her”.

Four months later, according to the complaint, she contacted the Kimmel program and told them she had been sexually assaulted at the show and was calling the police.

Both sides made an attempt to mediate the dispute in October 2004. This month they agreed to settle at a financial sum less than originally recommended by the mediator, according to the lawsuit.

The alleged deal fell apart on January 18 when the rapper’s insurance company refused to “pay a portion of the compensation previously promised” by his legal team, the papers state.

The claimant alleges that the incident caused “serious emotional distress and anxiety” and left her reclusive, unable to work or go out. She is said to have been “psychiatrically hospitalised” in September 2003 as a direct result of the alleged attack.

After watching this cat’s performance on American Idol I had to ask a few people I know what they thought. I will say that the opinions I got were far and wide.

I heard comments like:

“That nigga set us back 20 years!”

“I was embarrassed to be black”

“Its a shame that black folks gotta resort to this..”

“He is just crazy”

“Ya boy was wildin'”

“Dat nigga on that rock.”

How do you feel about it?