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Actor Ossie Davis dies at 87

MIAMI BEACH, Fla., Feb. 4 (UPI) -- Actor and civil rights activist Ossie Davis was found dead Friday in his hotel room in Miami Beach, an employee of his production company said.

Arminda Thomas of Emmalyn II Productions in New Rochelle, N.Y., said Davis, 87, had been working on his latest movie, "Retirement." There was no immediate word on the cause of death.

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Davis -- who starred in scores of movies and TV shows including "Roots: The Next Generation" and "Do the Right Thing" -- received multiple honors in recent years with his wife and acting partner, Ruby Dee. The couple received a Kennedy Center Honor last year and were celebrated as "national treasures" when they received the National Medal of Arts in 1995.

In 2000, they were presented with the Screen Actors Guild Life Achievement Award. They received the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences Silver Circle Award in 1994 and are members of the Theater Hall of Fame and the NAACP Image Awards Hall of Fame.

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