Enduring Black Celebrity Couples

Celebrity couples like Brangelina (Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie), and the TomKat (Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes) garner hordes of media attention wherever they go, but most of the time, black celebrity couples never get so much as a mention from the mainstream press.

For a celebrity couple to be together more than five years is quite an accomplishment in Hollywood. Famous couples with decades old unions like Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward, and Jerry Stiller and Anne Meara have defied the odds.

Since Hollywood refuses to give them recognition, let us have a look at a few of the black celebrity couples who have defied the odds as well.

Ossie Davis and Ruby Dee Wallace

Ossie Davis and Ruby Dee are legendary black actors of their own individual accord. They both began their acting careers in the early 1950s, and since that time, they have kept a steady stream of film and television roles between the two of them.

Later in their career, Davis and Dee starred together in the Spike Lee films, Do the Right Thing (1989) and Jungle Fever (1991), they worked together in the Stephen King TV mini-series adaptation of The Stand (1994), and they had a short-lived TV series in the early '80s called "Ossie and Ruby!"

The pair were strong civil rights supporters, and they were personal friends with both Martin Luther King, Jr., and Malcolm X. Ossie Davis and Ruby Dee were married in 1948, and they were separated only by his death in 2005.

Sammy Davis Jr. and Altovise Gore

Sammy Davis Jr. is Hollywood royalty. He was the only black member of the famous '60s Brat Pack with Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Joey Bishop and Peter Lawford. And he had a Hollywood career that spanned nearly six decades.

Altovise Gore was a black actress who appeared in a couple of low budget films like The Kingdom of Spiders (1977). Sammy Davis Jr. and Altovise Gore were married in 1970, and together they remained until his death in 1990.

Will Smith and Jada Pinkett

All of America knows and probably loves Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith. We know Will from his early days as a singer and rapper alongside DJ Jazzy Smith, and then later he strolled into our living rooms each week on "The Fresh Prince of Bel Air."

Audiences were somewhat familiar with Jada Pinkett through the '90s TV show, "A Different World," and films like Jason's Lyric (1994) and The Inkwell (1994). Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith have been married since 1997, and they have a pair of mega-talented kids who have already become superstars.

Angela Basset and Courtney B. Vance

Angela Bassett is one of the best dramatic actresses in Hollywood. Her rendition of Tina Turner in the turbulent and emotional biopic, What's Love Got to Do with It (1993) was one of the strongest performances in film history.

Courtney B. Vance has been on the small screen since 1983, and audiences got to know him better in his long running role on Law & Order: Criminal Intent. Angela Bassett and Courtney B. Vance have been happily married since 1997.

Boris Kodjoe and Nicole Ari Parker

You may remember gorgeous black actor, Boris Kodjoe from his days as a model or his acting role in Resident Evil: Afterlife (2010). His wife, Nicole Ari Parker - who is equally gorgeous, has had more Hollywood exposure, and you may know her, from her roles in "Soul Food" (TV), Boogie Nights (1997), and Remember the Titans (2000).

Boris Kodjoe and Nicole Ari Parker have been married since 2005, and they have two beautiful children together.

- Sources -

Internet Movie Database

Ossie & Ruby - Tribute Site