| William Stanford Davis | |
| Birth Date: | 7 August 1951[1] |
| Birth Place: | St. Louis, Missouri, U.S. |
| Occupation: | Actor |
| Years Active: | 1995–present |
William Stanford Davis (born August 7, 1951) is an American actor. He is best known for his role as school custodian Mr. Johnson on the ABC sitcom Abbott Elementary (2021–present), for which he earned a nomination for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series at the 54th NAACP Image Awards and won the Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series. His career began with a minor role on the soap opera The Bold and the Beautiful in 1995 and later included recurring roles on the Showtime television series Ray Donovan and the Apple TV+ television series Swagger.
Davis was born and raised in The Ville in the north of St. Louis, Missouri, where he attended an all-Black elementary school before going to an integrated school in fifth grade.[2] [3] After graduating from Northwest High School, he attended Lincoln University, a historically Black university (HBCU) in Jefferson City, Missouri. He was inspired to become an actor during high school, when a teacher brought him to see the Negro Ensemble Company perform. From high school to college, he was the frontman for the pop and R&B band The Fabulous Paramount Revue, which opened for The O'Jays among other acts before disbanding during the Vietnam War. He also worked as a radio personality at a country radio station in Texas before moving to Los Angeles to pursue a career in acting at age 33, inspired by seeing Sidney Poitier in the 1958 film The Defiant Ones.[4] Upon moving, his car caught on fire, which inspired him to stay in Los Angeles. His first role was as a custodian on the soap opera The Bold and the Beautiful in 1995.[5]
Davis is a member of the Actors Studio. He had minor roles on the TNT series Snowpiercer, on the NBC series Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip, on the ABC series The Practice, on the HBO series Curb Your Enthusiasm and Perry Mason, on the OWN series If Loving You Is Wrong, and in the films So B. It, Please Stand By, Holly Day, Dead Women Walking, Adopt a Highway, and A Holiday Chance.[6] [7] [8] He had recurring roles as Coach Max on the Apple TV+ series Swagger and as Potato Pie on the Showtime series Ray Donovan.[9] [10]
Davis began starring in the Quinta Brunson-helmed ABC sitcom Abbott Elementary as the character of Mr. Johnson, the eccentric longtime janitor of the show's titular elementary school, in 2021. He auditioned over Zoom and was meant to be a guest star but was soon brought on as a recurring character, appearing in all 12 episodes of the show's first season.[11] [12] He became a series regular in its second season, the first series regular role of his career.[13] He partially based his portrayal of the character on his paternal grandmother, who he described as a "filter-less" "conspiracy theorist" and "the nosiest woman in the neighborhood".[14] For his role on Abbott Elementary, he was nominated for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series at the 54th NAACP Image Awards in 2023.[15] He was inducted into Phi Beta Sigma fraternity as an honorary brother at their 2023 Conclave, held in Houston, Texas. Davis won the Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series in 2022 and received a second nomination in 2024.[16]
| Year | Title | Role | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1995 | The Bold and the Beautiful | Janitor | 2 episodes | |
| 1998 | The Secret Diary of Desmond Pfeiffer | Lincoln Impersonator | ||
| 1999 | The Practice | Clarence Barnett | Episode: "A Day in the Life" | |
| Sister, Sister | Reverend Tatum | Episode: "Fly Away Home" | ||
| Ally McBeal | Jim | 3 episodes | ||
| Time of Your Life | Pawn Shop Owner | 2 episodes | ||
| 2001 | James Dean | Train Conductor | TV movie | |
| Bette | The Customer | Episode: "A Method to Her Madness" | ||
| 2002 | The Movement | Silas | TV movie | |
| Robbery Homicide Division | Security Guard Ellis | Episode: "City of Strivers" | ||
| 2003 | Touched by an Angel | Doug | Episode: "Private Eyes" | |
| The District | Mr. Gillis | Episode: "Untouchable" | ||
| Strong Medicine | Doug | Episode: "Risk" | ||
| Cold Case | DeAnte Rollins | Episode: "The Runner" | ||
| American Dreams | Joe | Episode: "The Long Goodbye" | ||
| 2004 | Angel | Security Guard | Episode: "Damage" | |
| The Guardian | Brian | Episode: "Without Consent" | ||
| The Shield | Deon | Episode: "Slipknot" | ||
| LAX | Engineer Dietrich | Episode: "Finnegan Again, Begin Again" | ||
| NYPD Blue | Howard Jackson | Episode: "The Vision Thing" | ||
| Hollywood Division | Neighbor | TV movie | ||
| 2006 | Sons & Daughters | Cook | Episode: "Bowling Night" | |
| Desperate Housewives | William | Episode: "Could I Leave You?" | ||
| My Name Is Earl | Neighbor | Episode: "Stole a Badge" | ||
| The Closer | Homeless Man | Episode: "Head Over Heels" | ||
| 2006–2007 | Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip | Floor Manager | 8 episodes | |
| 2007–2009 | Lincoln Heights | Jake Wyatt | 13 episodes | |
| 2007 | Passions | Prison Doctor | 2 episodes | |
| Marlowe | Bartender | TV movie | ||
| 2008 | Shark | Sonny Gore | Episode: "Partners in Crime" | |
| Mechanic | Episode: "A Thousand Days on Earth" | |||
| Pastor Jonas | Episode: "Earthlings Welcome Here" | |||
| 2009 | Saving Grace | Group Member at Party | Episode: "She's a Lump" | |
| 2010 | America's Most Wanted | Dante | Episode: "America's Most Wanted's 1,000th Episode Special Edition" | |
| Bones | Floyd Barber | Episode: "The Witch in the Wardrobe" | ||
| 2011 | The Event | The Elder | Episode: "Inostranka" | |
| Harry's Law | Kareem Anderson | Episode: "In the Ghetto" | ||
| Nick Swardson's Pretend Time | Bathroom Attendant | Episode: "Flying Stripper" | ||
| 2012 | Shameless | Conrad | Episode: "Just Like the Pilgrims Intended" | |
| The Finder | Earl | Episode: "The Inheritance" | ||
| The Big Bang Theory | Dry Cleaner | Episode: "The Parking Spot Escalation" | ||
| Prodigy Bully | Mr. Douglas | TV movie | ||
| 2013–2017 | Ray Donovan | Potato Pie | Recurring role; 20 episodes | |
| 2014–2017 | If Loving You Is Wrong | Mr. Kym | 6 episodes | |
| 2015 | When Duty Calls | Clyde Pierce | TV movie | |
| Criminal Minds | Sam Pritchett | Episode: "Lockdown" | ||
| 2016 | Chicago Med | Ed Brennan | Episode: "Choices" | |
| The Middle | Projectionist | Episode: "Hecks at a Movie | ||
| 2017 | Code Black | Emmanuel | Episode: "Unfinished Business" | |
| 2019 | Light as a Feather | Old Man | Episode: "...Hungry Like a Wolf" | |
| 2020 | Curb Your Enthusiasm | Chulu Porter | Episode: "Artificial Fruit" | |
| Perry Mason | Daniel Madison | Episode: "Chapter Two" | ||
| Snowpiercer | Mr. Riggs | 5 episodes | ||
| 2021 | Swagger | Coach Max | 3 episodes | |
| 2021–present | Abbott Elementary | Mr. Johnson | Main role; 33 episodes | |
| 2023 | Truth Be Told | Agathia | Episode: "Her, Armed with Sorrow Sore" |
| Year | Title | Role | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1997 | Running Time | Buzz | Credited as Stan Davis | |
| 1998 | Primary Colors | Jack Mandela Washington | ||
| City of Angels | Construction Foreman | |||
| 1999 | Ragdoll | Pere | ||
| 2000 | Portly Coroner | |||
| 2001 | James Dean | Train Conductor | ||
| 2005 | A Lot like Love | Priest | ||
| Self Medicated | Gabe | |||
| The Big Empty | Doctor #6 | |||
| 2007 | Hallowed Ground | Truck Driver | ||
| 2009 | Across the Hall | Custodian | ||
| Accused at 17 | Detective Gilson | |||
| 2010 | Barry Munday | Greens Keeper | ||
| 2016 | So B. It | Man at Cab Co. | ||
| Cardboard Boxer | Jazzy | |||
| 2017 | Handsome | Lester | ||
| Please Stand By | Creed | Uncredited | ||
| 2018 | Holly Day | Thaddeus | ||
| 2019 | Adopt a Highway | Hatty | ||
| 2021 | A Holiday Chance | Bernie |