Lynn Whitfield
| Lynn Whitfield | |
|---|---|
| Born | Lynn Butler-Smith May 6, 1953 Baton Rouge, Louisiana, U.S. |
| Occupation | Actress |
| Years active | 1981—present |
| Spouse | Vantile Whitfield (1974-1978) (divorced) [1] |
Lynn Whitfield (born May 6, 1953) is an American actress.
Whitfield began her acting career in television and theatre, before progressing to supporting roles in film. She won an Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Miniseries or a Special and a NAACP Image Award for her performance as Josephine Baker in the HBO movie The Josephine Baker Story (1991). She also won NAACP Image awards for her work in Touched by an Angel (1998), The Planet of Junior Brown (2000) and Redemption: The Stan Tookie Williams Story (2004).
Her film work includes performances in A Thin Line Between Love and Hate (1996), Eve's Bayou (1997), The Cheetah Girls (2003), Madea's Family Reunion (2006), and The Cheetah Girls 2 (2006).
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[edit] Early life
Whitfield was born Lynn Butler-Smith in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, the daughter of Jean (née Butler), an officer of a finance agency, and Valerian Smith, a dentist.[2] Lynn Whitfield is an honorary member of Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority.
[edit] Career
Whitfield had a series of television appearances before her film career began, including playing Jill Thomas in the award-winning series Hill Street Blues. After gaining attention on stage in Ntozake Shange's For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide When the Rainbow Is Enuf, Whitfield appeared in supporting roles in such films as Doctor Detroit (1983) and Silverado (1985). She gained wider success by starring in the television films The George McKenna Story, Johnnie Mae Gibson: FBI, (both 1986), and the miniseries The Women of Brewster Place (1989).
Whitfield achieved international recognition in the title role of The Josephine Baker Story (1991), the HBO biopic requiring her to age from 18 to 68. She portrayed the American Folies Bergère star who became a Resistance fighter during WWII and civil rights activist. In a highly publicized casting call, Whitfield was chosen over more than 500 women. She won an Emmy Award for her role and said this gave her, "the greatest sense of accomplishment and realization of my vision. It absolutely called upon everything I thought I could do at that point." Around this time she also married the film's director, Brian Gibson. They had a daughter named Grace Gibson and divorced in 1992.
Whitfield worked as a regular in two ABC series (Heartbreak and Equal Justice) prior to playing Baker. She returned to a TV series opposite Bill Cosby in The Cosby Mysteries (NBC, 1994–95).
A Thin Line Between Love and Hate and Gone Fishin' (both 1996) increased her exposure. Whitfield then appeared in Eve's Bayou (1997), as the head of a prosperous, socially prominent black family in Louisiana. She returned to a similar milieu as snobby Martha's Vineyard matron Corinne Coles in the ABC miniseries The Wedding (1998). In recent years, she starred as Dorthea Garibaldi in both The Cheetah Girls and The Cheetah Girls 2. She recently starred in Mama, I Want To Sing! with Ciara, and in 2006's film drama Madea's Family Reunion.
[edit] Filmography
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1981 | Hill Street Blues | Jill Thomas | Episode: "Chipped Beef" Episode: "Fecund Hand Rose" Episode: "Can World War III Be an Attitude?" |
| 1982 | American Playhouse | Episode: "For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide When the Rainbow Is Enuf" Episode: "Zora Is My Name!" |
|
| 1983 | Doctor Detroit | Thelma Cleland | |
| Matt Houston | Episode: "The Centerfold Murders" | ||
| This Is the Life | Norma | Episode: "Certain Arrangements" | |
| 1985 | Episode: "How Shall We Then Live?" | ||
| Cagney & Lacey | Eleanor Taggart | Episode: "Who Says It's Fair: Part 1" Episode: "Who Says It's Fair: Part 2" |
|
| The Slugger's Wife | Tina Alvarado | ||
| Silverado | Rae | ||
| Miami Vice | Odette Ribaud | Episode: "Bought and Paid For" | |
| The Fall Guy | Jeanne | Episode: "Escape Claus" | |
| 1986 | Johnnie Mae Gibson: FBI | Johnnie Mae Gibson | TV movies |
| The George McKenna Story | Bobbie Maxwell | ||
| Mike Hammer | Della Marvel | Episode: "Harlem Nocturne" | |
| Tall Tales & Legends | Pollie Ann | Episode: "John Henry" | |
| 1987 | Dead Aim | Sheila Freeman | |
| Jaws: The Revenge | Louisa | ||
| 1988 | St. Elsewhere | Annie Callan | Episode: "Curtains" |
| Heartbeat | Dr. Cory Banks | Episode: "Pilot" | |
| 1989 | The Women of Brewster Place | Ciel | TV miniseries |
| 1990 | Matlock | Angela Page | Episode: "The Informer: Part 1" Episode: "The Informer: Part 2" |
| 1991 | The Trials of Rosie O'Neill | Episode: "Domestic Silence" | |
| Equal Justice | Maggie Mayfield | 4 episodes | |
| The Josephine Baker Story | Josephine Baker | TV movies | |
| A Triumph of the Heart: The Ricky Bell Story | Natala | ||
| 1992 | Stompin' at the Savoy | Esther | |
| 1993 | Taking the Heat | Carolyn Hunter | |
| 1994 | In the Army Now | Sgt. Ladd | |
| State of Emergency | Dehlia Johnson | TV movies | |
| Thicker Than Blood: The Larry McLinden Story | Bobbie Mallory | ||
| The Cosby Mysteries | Barbara Lorenz | ||
| Episode: "One Day at a Time" Episode: "Home, Street Home" |
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| 1995 | Episode: "Last Tango" | ||
| 1996 | Sophie & the Moonhanger | Sophie | TV movie |
| A Thin Line Between Love and Hate | Brandi | ||
| 1997 | Martin | Ellen | Episode: "Goin' Overboard: Part 1" Episode: "Goin' Overboard: Part 2" |
| Touched by an Angel | Dr. Serena Hall | Episode: "Amazing Grace: Part 1" Episode: "Amazing Grace: Part 2" |
|
| Gone Fishin' | Angie | ||
| The Planet of Junior Brown | Mrs. Brown | ||
| Eve's Bayou | Roz Batiste | ||
| 1998 | Stepmom | Dr. P. Sweikert | |
| The Wedding | Corinne Coles | TV movies | |
| 1999 | The Color of Courage | Minnie McGhee | |
| Deep in My Heart | Corinne Burrell | ||
| Dangerous Evidence: The Lori Jackson Story | Lori Jackson | ||
| Love Songs | Jean Simpson | ||
| 2000 | A Time for Dancing | Linda Derricks | |
| 2001 | A Girl Thing | Nia Morgan | TV movie |
| Boston Public | Louanna Harper | 3 episodes | |
| 2002 | Without a Trace | Paula Van Doren | Episode: "Suspect" |
| 2003 | Episode: "Are You now or Have You Ever Been" Episode: "Fallout: Parts 1" Episode: "Fallout: Parts 2" |
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| Head of State | Debra Lassiter | TV movies | |
| The Cheetah Girls | Dorothea | ||
| 2004 | Redemption: The Stan Tookie Williams Story | Barbara Becnel | |
| Strong Medicine | Dr. Marshall | Episode: "Race for a Cure" | |
| Without a Trace | Paula Van Doren | Episode: "Lost and Found" | |
| 2006 | Episode: "White Balance" | ||
| Madea's Family Reunion | Victoria | ||
| Confessions | Dr. Page | ||
| The Cheetah Girls 2 | Dorothea | TV movie | |
| Shark | Anita Astin | Episode: "Pilot" | |
| 2008 | Kings of the Evening | Gracie | |
| The Women | Glenda Hill | ||
| 2011 | Mama, I Want to Sing! | Lillian Winter | |
| The Rebound | Laura | ||
| FlashForward | Anastasia Markham | Episode: "White to Play" | |
| 2012 | All Things Fall Apart | Bee[3] |
[edit] Television work
- Hill Street Blues (1981)
- American Playhouse (1982)
- Matt Houston (1983)
- This Is the Life (1983–1985)
- Cagney & Lacey (1985)
- Miami Vice (1985)
- The Fall Guy (1985)
- St. Elsewhere (1988)
- Matlock (1990)
- The Trials of Rosie O'Neill (1991)
- The Cosby Mysteries (1994)
- Martin (1997) (episodes: Goin' Overboared part 1 and Goin' Overboared part 2)
- Touched by an Angel (1997)
- Boston Public' (2001)
- Strong Medicine (2004)
- Without a Trace (2002–2006)
- Shark (2006)
- FlashForward (2009)
[edit] Awards and nominations
- BET Comedy Award
- 2004, Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Box Office Movie: Head of State (movie) (Nominated)
- Black Movie Awards
- 2006, Outstanding Performance by an actress in a supporting role: Madea's Family Reunion (Nominated)
[edit] References
- ^ Shinhoster Lamb, Yvonne (2005-01-23). "Arts Administrator, Playwright Vantile Whitfield Dies". Washington Post (Washington, DC). "His marriages to Barbara Cobb, Barbara Grant Thomas and Lynn Whitfield, the actress and a former student, ended in divorce."
- ^ http://www.filmreference.com/film/16/Lynn-Whitfield.html
- ^ http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1606390/
[edit] External links
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