We love our Black fathers on the big and small screens. We admired the domineering and austere fathers of “Good Times” and Boyz N the Hood, the kindhearted, lovable types from “Fresh Prince of Bel-Air” and “Family Matters,” the gentle but stern parenting of Dr. Cliff Huxtable of “The Cosby Show,” and the bombastic wise wise-cracking dads of “The Jeffersons” and “black-ish.”
We celebrate Father’s Day with a look back at our favorite patriarchs from the movies and television.
James Earl Jones — Coming to America
In one of the most iconic and quoted films in the annals of American motion pictures, we raved as James Earl Jones used his booming baritone to rule over Zamunda in the Eddie Murphy classic Coming to America. Murphy played Akeem, who defied his father and sojourned in the United States with his best friend Semi (Arsenio Hall) to find the love of his life.
Eddie Murphy — The Nutty Professor franchise
Later, in the 1990s, it was Murphy’s turn to take on the fatherly role and he did so with profane aplomb, first playing a father (and mother, grandmother, and brother) in the blockbuster hit The Nutty Professor and The Klumps...
Eddie Murphy — Dr. Dolittle
… And then Murphy managed to turn a campy kids’ flick into an even bigger hit when he learned he could communicate with animals in the Dr. Dolittle movie franchise.
James Avery — “Fresh Prince of Bel-Air”
This turned out to be a career-defining role for both the suddenly broke Will Smith and James Avery, who played Uncle Phil who played a judge who lived in the prosperous Beverly Hills-adjacent community in the “Fresh Prince of Bel-Air.”
Will Smith — King Richard
Like Eddie Murphy before him, the lessons that Will Smith gleamed from his onscreen dad transferred seamlessly into his own fatherly roles. Smith was masterful playing Venus and Serena Williams’ father in the colossal cinematic triumph, King Richard. Audiences were spellbound as Smith took us on road that the Williams parents traveled to turn their youngest daughters into a pair of tennis icons.
John Amos — “Good Times”
James Evans towers above most Black TV dads because he was a formidable figure and an absolutist who commanded respect and obedience in this 1970’s-era sitcom, “Good Times.”
Furious Styles — Boyz N the Hood
Other than James Evans, there are few depictions of fatherhood where the man of the house was as revered and feared as Academy Award-nominated Lawrence Fishburne’s breakout role as Furious Styles. In John Singleton’s classic Boyz N the Hood, Styles was a strict disciplinarian, historian, business owner and intellectual who instilled values into his only son Tre, played by Oscar winner Cuba Gooding Jr.
