Bill Duke

William Henry Duke Jr. (born February 26, 1943) 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 (1976). Frequently a character actor, he starred in Commando (1985) and Predator (1987), alongside Arnold Schwarzenegger. He has appeared in films like American Gigolo (1980), Bird on a Wire (1990), Menace II Society (1993), Payback (1999), X-Men: The Last Stand (2006), and Mandy (2018). In television, he is best known as Agent Percy Odell in Black Lightning (2018–2021).

Duke's directorial debut was The Killing Floor (1984), 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 (1991), which was nominated for the Cannes Film Festival's Palme d'Or. He also directed the neo-noir thriller Deep Cover (1992) and the musical comedy Sister Act 2 (1993). He has directed episodes of numerous television series including Cagney & Lacey, Dallas, Hill Street Blues, Miami Vice, and The Twilight Zone.

Early life and education Duke was born in Poughkeepsie, New York, the son of Ethel Louise (née Douglas) 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. With acting roles difficult to come by, Duke next attended AFI Conservatory to study filmmaking.

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. . He played a corrupt law enforcement agent in two films opposite Mel Gibson—Bird on a Wire (as an FBI agent) and Payback (as a police detective). 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 (6 episodes). 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 (1991), Deep Cover (1992) and Hoodlum (1997). He also directed The Cemetery Club (1993) and the Whoopi Goldberg comedy sequel Sister Act 2: Back in the Habit (1993).

For television, Duke directed the A&E Network original film, The Golden Spiders: A Nero Wolfe Mystery (2000). 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".

Duke had a starring role in the short-lived TV series Palmerstown, U.S.A., produced by Norman Lear and 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 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, 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.

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 Year Title Role Notes 1976 Car Wash Duane / Abdullah Mohammed Akbar 1980 American Gigolo Leon James 1985 Commando Cooke 1987 Predator Sergeant Mac Eliot No Man's Land Malcolm 1988 Action Jackson Captain Earl Armbruster 1989 Street of No Return Lieutenant Borel 1990 Bird on a Wire FBI Agent Albert "Diggs" Diggins 1993 Menace II Society Detective Sister Act 2: Back in the Habit Mr. Johnson Also director 1998 Susan's Plan Detective Scott 1999 Payback Detective Hicks Foolish Studio Producer The Limey Head DEA Agent Fever Detective Glass 2001 Never Again Earl Exit Wounds Chief Hinges 2002 Love and a Bullet Mysterious Voice on Phone Red Dragon Police Chief 2003 National Security Lieutenant Washington 2005 Get Rich or Die Tryin Levar Cahill 2006 X-Men: The Last Stand Secretary Trask Yellow Miles Emory 2007 The Go-Getter Liquor 2009 Level 26: Dark Origins Jack Mitchell Short 2010 Henry's Crime Frank The Big Bang Drummer 2012 Freaky Deaky Wendell Robinson 2014 Bad Country John Nokes 2016 Restored Me Officer Brantley Beyond the Silence District Attorney Adam Stevenson 2017 American Satan Gabriel 2018 Mandy Caruthers Clipped Wings, They Do Fly District Attorney Adam Stevenson 2019 High Flying Bird Spence Hollow Point Senior Guard James 2021 No Sudden Move Aldrick Watkins The Vandal Harold Short 2022 In Search of Tomorrow Himself Documentary

Television

Year Title Role Notes 1972–1975 ABC Afterschool Specials Mr. Sands Episode: "Santiago's Ark" & "Santiago's America" 1976 Kojak Sylk Episode: "Bad Dude" On the Rocks - Episode: "High Noon" 1978 Starsky & Hutch Officer Dryden Episode: "Hutchinson for Murder One" Charlie’s Angels David Pearl Episode: "Angels on the Run" Love Is Not Enough "Happy" Jordan TV movie Sergeant Matlovich vs. the U.S. Air Force Sergeant Langford TV movie 1980–1981 Palmerstown, U.S.A. Luther Freeman Main cast 1981 Benson Mad-Dog Episode: "The Grass Ain't Greener" 1986 Dallas: The Early Years Seth Foster TV movie 1987 Starman Steven Putnam Episode: "The System" 1989 American Playhouse FBI Agent #2 Episode: "The Meeting" 1994 New York Undercover Hitman Episode: "Pilot" 1998 Biography The Narrator Episode: "Nat King Cole: Loved in Return" Always Outnumbered "Blackbird" Wills TV movie 2002 Justice League Detective (voice) Episode: "The Brave and the Bold" 2002–2003 Fastlane Captain Bob Parish Recurring cast 2003–2004 Karen Sisco Amos Andrews Main cast 2006 Battlestar Galactica Phelan Episode: "Black Market" Lost Warden Harris Episode: "Every Man for Himself" 2007 The Boondocks Detective (voice) Episode: "Thank You for Not Snitching" 2008 Cold Case Grover Boone '05/'08 Episode: "Street Money" My Own Worst Enemy Serge Khabako Episode: "Love in All the Wrong Places" 2011 Chaos General Margolis Episode: "Core Fortitude" 2013 Battledogs President Donald Sheridan TV movie 2015 Between Gord's Father Episode: "End of the Rope" 2016 Law & Order: Special Victims Unit Ed Pastrino Episode: "Intersecting Lives" & "Heartfelt Passages" 2018–2021 Black Lightning Agent Percy Odell Recurring cast (season 2-3), guest (season 4) 2020 Ghost Tape Byron Dixon Main cast 2021 The Oval Curtis Episode: "Like a Boss" & "Doomsday" 2022 Gaslit Charles Anderson Episode: "California"2026Diarra from Detroit Freemason leaderEpisode: "The Initiated"

Films directed Year Title Notes 1984 The Killing Floor 1989 A Raisin In The Sun 1991 A Rage in Harlem 1992 Deep Cover 1993 The Cemetery Club 1993 Sister Act 2: Back in the Habit 1996 America's Dream 1997 Hoodlum 2000 The Golden Spiders: A Nero Wolfe Mystery 2001 Angel: One More Road to Cross 2003 Deacons for Defense 2007 Cover Also a producer 2009 Not Easily Broken 2011 Dark Girls Also a producer 2017 Created Equal