Lynn Whitfield
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| Lynn Whitfield | |
|---|---|
| Born | Lynn Butler-Smith May 6, 1953 Baton Rouge, Louisiana, U.S. |
| Occupation | Actress |
| Years active | 1981—present |
| Spouse(s) | Vantile Whitfield (m. 1974–d. 1978)[1] |
Lynn Whitfield (née Butler-Smith; 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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Early life [edit]
Whitfield was born 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.
Career [edit]
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 also starred in Mama, I Want To Sing! with Ciara, and in 2006's film drama Madea's Family Reunion.
Filmography [edit]
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1981 | Hill Street Blues | Jill Thomas | Television program Episodes: "Chipped Beef" "Fecund Hand Rose" "Can World War III Be an Attitude?" |
| 1982 | For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide When the Rainbow Is Enuf | Woman in the bath | American Playhouse Anthology series |
| 1983 | Doctor Detroit | Thelma Cleland | |
| 1983 | Matt Houston | Val | Television program Episode: "The Centerfold Murders" |
| 1983–1985 | This Is the Life | Norma | Television program Episodes: "Certain Arrangements" "How Shall We Then Live?" |
| 1985 | Cagney & Lacey | Eleanor Taggart | Television program Episodes: "Who Says It's Fair: Part 1" "Who Says It's Fair: Part 2" |
| 1985 | The Slugger's Wife | Tina Alvarado | |
| 1985 | Silverado | Rae | |
| 1985 | Miami Vice | Odette Ribaud | Television program Episode: "Bought and Paid For" |
| 1985 | The Fall Guy | Jeanne | Television program Episode: "Escape Claus" |
| 1986 | Johnnie Mae Gibson: FBI | Johnnie Mae Gibson | Television film |
| 1986 | The George McKenna Story | Bobbie Maxwell | Television film |
| 1986 | The New Mike Hammer | Della Marvel | Television program Episode: "Harlem Nocturne" |
| 1986 | Tall Tales & Legends | Pollie Ann | Television program Episode: "John Henry" |
| 1987 | Dead Aim | Sheila Freeman | |
| 1987 | Jaws: The Revenge | Louisa | |
| 1988 | St. Elsewhere | Annie Callan | Television program Episode: "Curtains" |
| 1988 | Heartbeat | Dr. Cory Banks | Television program Episode: "Pilot" |
| 1989 | The Women of Brewster Place | Ciel | Miniseries |
| 1990 | Zora Is My Name | American Playhouse Anthology series |
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| 1990 | Matlock | Angela Page | Television program Episodes: "The Informer: Part 1" "The Informer: Part 2" |
| 1991 | The Trials of Rosie O'Neill | Television program Episode: "Domestic Silence" |
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| 1991 | Equal Justice | Maggie Mayfield | Television program 5 episodes |
| 1991 | The Josephine Baker Story | Josephine Baker | Television film |
| 1991 | A Triumph of the Heart: The Ricky Bell Story | Natala | Television film |
| 1992 | Stompin' at the Savoy | Esther | Television film |
| 1993 | Taking the Heat | Carolyn Hunter | Television film |
| 1994 | In the Army Now | Sgt. Ladd | |
| 1994 | State of Emergency | Dehlia Johnson | Television film |
| 1994 | Thicker Than Blood: The Larry McLinden Story | Bobbie Mallory | Television film |
| 1994–1995 | The Cosby Mysteries | Barbara Lorenz | Television program Episodes: "Pilot" "One Day at a Time" "Home, Street Home" "Last Tango" |
| 1996 | Sophie & the Moonhanger | Sophie | Television film |
| 1996 | A Thin Line Between Love and Hate | Brandi | |
| 1997 | Martin | Ellen | Television program Episodes: "Goin' Overboard: Part 1" "Goin' Overboard: Part 2" |
| 1997 | Touched by an Angel | Dr. Serena Hall | Television program Episodes: "Amazing Grace: Part 1" "Amazing Grace: Part 2" |
| 1997 | Gone Fishin' | Angie | |
| 1997 | The Planet of Junior Brown | Mrs. Brown | |
| 1997 | Eve's Bayou | Roz Batiste | |
| 1998 | Stepmom | Dr. P. Sweikert | |
| 1998 | The Wedding | Corinne Coles | Television film |
| 1999 | The Color of Courage | Minnie McGhee | Television film |
| 1999 | Deep in My Heart | Corinne Burrell | Television film |
| 1999 | Dangerous Evidence: The Lori Jackson Story | Lori Jackson | Television film |
| 1999 | Love Songs | Jean Simpson | Television film |
| 2000 | A Time for Dancing | Linda Derricks | |
| 2001 | A Girl Thing | Nia Morgan | Television film |
| 2001 | Boston Public | Louanna Harper | Television program 3 episodes |
| 2002–2006 | Without a Trace | Paula Van Doren | Television program Episodes: "Suspect" "Are You now or Have You Ever Been" "Fallout: Part 1" "Fallout: Part 2" "Lost and Found" "White Balance" |
| 2003 | Head of State | Debra Lassiter | |
| 2003 | The Cheetah Girls | Dorothea | Television film |
| 2004 | Redemption: The Stan Tookie Williams Story | Barbara Becnel | Television film |
| 2004 | Strong Medicine | Dr. Marshall | Television program Episode: "Race for a Cure" |
| 2006 | Madea's Family Reunion | Victoria | |
| 2006 | Confessions | Dr. Page | |
| 2006 | The Cheetah Girls 2 | Dorothea | Television film |
| 2006 | Shark | Anita Astin | Television program Episode: "Pilot" |
| 2008 | Kings of the Evening | Gracie | |
| 2008 | The Women | Glenda Hill | |
| 2011 | Mama, I Want to Sing! | Lillian Winter | |
| 2011 | The Rebound | Laura | |
| 2011 | FlashForward | Anastasia Markham | Television program Episode: "White to Play" |
| 2011 | All Things Fall Apart | Bee | |
| 2012 | Somebody's Child | Constance | Television film |
| 2012 | Battlefield America | Ms. Parker | |
| 2012 | Prodigy Bully | Angela Washington | Television film |
| 2012 | Redemption of a Dog | Francine |
Awards and nominations [edit]
| Year | Award | Category | Title | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1991 | Emmy Awards | "Outstanding Lead Actress in a Miniseries or a Special" | The Josephine Baker Story | Won |
| 1992 | Golden Globe Awards | "Best Performance by an Actress in a Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for TV" | The Josephine Baker Story | Nominated |
| 1993 | NAACP Image Awards | "Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series, Mini-Series or Television Movie" | The Josephine Baker Story | Won |
| 1998 | NAACP Image Awards | "Outstanding Lead Actress in a Motion Picture" | Eve's Bayou | Nominated |
| 1998 | NAACP Image Awards | "Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series" | Touched by an Angel | Won |
| 1999 | NAACP Image Awards | "Outstanding Lead Actress in a Television Movie or Mini-Series" | The Wedding | Nominated |
| 2000 | NAACP Image Awards | "Outstanding Actress in a Television Movie/Miniseries/Dramatic Special" | Dangerous Evidence: The Lori Jackson Story | Nominated |
| 2000 | NAACP Image Awards | "Outstanding Performance in a Youth or Children's Series/Special" | The Planet of Junior Brown | Won |
| 2000 | Black Reel Awards | "Network/Cable - Best Actress" | Love Songs | Nominated |
| 2004 | Black Reel Awards | "Television: Best Supporting Actress" | The Cheetah Girls | Nominated |
| 2004 | BET Comedy Awards | "Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Box Office Movie" | Head of State | Nominated |
| 2004 | NAACP Image Awards | "Outstanding Performance in a Youth/Children's Program" | The Cheetah Girls | Nominated |
| 2004 | NAMIC Vision Awards | "Best Dramatic Performance" | The Cheetah Girls | Nominated |
| 2005 | Black Reel Awards | "Best Actress, Network/Cable Television" | Redemption: The Stan Tookie Williams Story | Won |
| 2005 | NAACP Image Awards | "Outstanding Actress in a Television Movie, Mini-Series or Dramatic Special" | Redemption: The Stan Tookie Williams Story | Won |
| 2006 | Black Movie Awards | "Outstanding Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role" | Madea's Family Reunion | Nominated |
References [edit]
- ^ 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
External links [edit]
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