William Stanford Davis

Cast

Born

August 7, 1951 · St. Louis, Missouri, USA

William Stanford Davis is an award-winning, classically trained actor and veteran of both stage and screen with close to 100 credits. The St. Louis, Missouri native has received rave reviews for his performance as the cantankerous yet lovable janitor Mr. Johnson on the hit ABC series "Abbott Elementary", and also recurs as Coach Max on the sports series "Swagger", based on Kevin Durant's youth basketball playing experience with the AAU circuit for AppleTV+. Davis has appeared in some of the most popular and award-winning TV shows, from his role on Showtime's long running, Golden Globe-winning series "Ray Donovan", as the popular Potato Pie from Donovan's Gym, and on OWN's flagship successful series, "If Loving You Is Wrong", from Tyler Perry. Davis has also been cast in critical recurring roles on TNT's "Snowpiercer", "Studio 60 On The Sunset Strip", from Aaron Sorkin, and "Lincoln Heights", and has guest starred on such long running programs as "Perry Mason", "Curb Your Enthusiasm", "Chicago Med", "Criminal Minds", "The Big Bang Theory", "Ally Mc Beal", "Touched By An Angel", and many more. In a career filled with numerous outstanding highlights, Davis also earned an Emmy Award in 2002 as part of the cast of Rasheen Crawley's "The Movement". In film, Davis recently starred alongside Nafessa Williams and Sharon Neal in "A Holiday Chance", which premiered in November 2021 on AppleTV+ and Hulu, as well as "Please Stand By", starring Dakota Fanning and Toni Collette, and "So B It", starring Cloris Leachman and Alfre Woodard. On stage, Davis was honored with an Ovation Nomination for Best Supporting Actor in the 2006 Actors Studio Production of August Wilson's "Fences", and he performed in the musical production "North on South Central", which won five NAACP Theatre Awards in 2004. He also counts "Cages" written by Leonard Manzella and directed by Jon Rivera at the Matrix Theatre in Los Angeles, CA, "The Anteroom", also for the Actors Studio, The Circle West Production of "Legacies" at The Matrix Theatre, written and directed by the late John Bishop, and the world premiere of "Two Ships Passing", at the Pan Andreas Theater in Hollywood. In addition to acting, Davis has directed a number of productions including Lawrence Fishburne's play "Riff Raff", a production of "Shame", at the Elephant Asylum Theatre, and "The Old Settler", at the Pico Playhouse. Davis has spent more than 15 years mentoring the next generation of talent at both his own company, the William Stanford Davis Acting Class masterclass, and at the Actors Studio, where he is a lifetime member. He has coached several emerging stars, including Alisha Boe, Dylan Sprayberry, Laila Ali, Mc Lyte, and many more. Davis resides in Los Angeles.