Courtney B. Vance Movies and Career Information

Courtney Bernard Vance (born March 12, 1960) is an American actor. He was formerly a regular on the NBC/USA television series Law & Order: Criminal Intent as Assistant District Attorney Ron Carver. He also appeared on the ABC series FlashForward. Vance was born in Detroit, Michigan, the son of Leslie, a librarian, and Conroy Vance, a grocery store manager and benefits administrator. He attended Detroit Country Day School, a fee-paying university-preparatory school, and later graduated from Harvard University with a bachelor of arts degree. While attending Harvard, Vance was already working as an actor at the Boston Shakespeare Company. He earned a Master of Fine Arts degree later at Yale School of Drama where he met future wife and fellow student Angela Bassett. Vance has earned two Tony Award nominations, each in Tony Award-winning productions. He was first nominated for his role in August Wilson's Pulitzer Prize-winning play Fences and later for his lead role in John Guare's Six Degrees of Separation. In 1987 he won a Clarence Derwent Award for his appearance as Cory Maxson in Fences. Prior to joining the cast of Law & Order: Criminal Intent, Vance appeared on the original Law &