L. Scott Caldwell

L. Scott Caldwell
L. Scott Caldwell
	Caldwell in 2007
Born	Laverne Scott; 1950 (age 73–74); Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
Other names	Scotty Caldwell
Occupation	Actress
Years active	1974–present
Children	1

L. Scott Caldwell (born Laverne Scott, 1950)^[1] is an American actress perhaps best known for her roles as Deputy U.S. Marshall Erin Poole in The Fugitive (1993) and Rose on the television series Lost.

Early life[edit]

Born the middle child in Chicago, Illinois, to working-class parents, Laverne Scott grew up in the Woodlawn neighborhood on the South Side. At a high enrollment elementary school, she attended the morning session, and her older siblings went to school in the afternoon. When the school released her at noon she was escorted to a neighborhood theater where she was minded by a friend of her mother. While attending Hyde Park High School, she joined the drama club.

Her class went to see a performance of A Day of Absence, featuring Douglas Turner Ward, a co-founder of The Negro Ensemble Company. It was the first time she saw professional black actors on stage. After graduating high school in 1967, she attended Northwestern University. She left after one year and went to work full-time as an operator at Illinois Bell. She got married and had a son. She transferred her credits to Loyola University-Chicago and earned a bachelor's degree in Theater Arts and Communications.

Career[edit]

Caldwell planned on a teaching career and taught at Chicago High School of the Performing Arts. She also worked a year for the Chicago Council on Fine Arts as an artist-in-residence. While in Chicago Caldwell performed in local theatrical productions at the Body Politic, Court Theater, and Eleventh Street Theater. She went to New York in 1978 to audition for Uta Hagen's school HB Studio. While waiting to audition she saw an ad for The Negro Ensemble Company. After her audition at Hagen's school, she took the subway to the NEC.

Caldwell was initially rebuffed by the person who interviewed her but she insisted on meeting with Ward. She used the three pieces she performed at her audition for Hagen. She was accepted by both Hagen and Ward. During her first season at NEC Caldwell performed in several plays. One of those plays, Home, by Samm Art Williams, took her to Broadway's Cort Theatre in 1980. The play was critically acclaimed and earned a Tony Award nomination for Charles Brown. After Home closed Caldwell worked in several regional theater productions including Boesman and Lena at Milwaukee Repertory Theatre and A Raisin in the Sun at Studio Arena Theatre in Buffalo, New York.

In December 1984, while working in A Play of Giants, Caldwell was struck by a car while hailing a cab on Columbus Avenue in New York. She suffered a severe back injury and was unable to work for nearly two years. Her first audition after her recovery was for August Wilson's Joe Turner's Come and Gone. Her performance as Bertha Holly earned her a 1988 Tony Award. Soon after winning the Tony, she moved to southern California to work in television and film. She has been extremely busy, working in several cities in the U.S., Canada, and South Africa, and continues to work in theater. She returned to Broadway in 1997 as the lead in Neil Simon's short-lived Proposals. After Proposals closed Caldwell performed the role of Leah, Little Augie's sister, in New York City Center's "Encores! Great American Musicals in Concert" production of St. Louis Woman.

In 2006, she made her Goodman Theatre debut in Regina Taylor's The Dreams of Sarah Breedlove. In 2011, she took on the role of Lena Younger in the Ebony Repertory Theatre production of the Lorraine Hansberry classic A Raisin in the Sun. The play was directed by Phylicia Rashad. Caldwell, along with the entire cast, was nominated for the LA Stage Alliance 2011 Ovation Award for her work as Lena, for which she won the 2011 Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle Award.

Caldwell is an active member of Unite For Strength, the Screen Actors Guild coalition in favor of joining with AFTRA. On September 19, 2008, she won a seat as an alternate on the national board of directors and the Hollywood division board of directors. Caldwell was elected to a second one-year term on September 24, 2009. She served on the Seniors, Legislative, Women, Holiday Host, Honors and Tributes, and EEOC committees. In September 2010, she was elected to a one-year term on the national board of directors. She served as the national chair of the Women's committee. In 2011, Caldwell was othe SAG national board of directors ballot for a fourth consecutive year. She won a three-year term on the national and Hollywood boards. She would serve as national chair of Women, and Healthcare Safetynet committees.

In 2016, she was part of the PBS Civil War drama series Mercy Street.^[2]

Personal life[edit]

In her early twenties, Scott married John Caldwell and had a son, Ominara. She was divorced in the early 1980s and was married again (on her birthday) in 2004 to artist/photographer/director Dasal Banks. Banks suffered from cancer and died in May 2005. Caldwell completed her husband's final film, My Brothers and Me, a documentary created to raise awareness about prostate cancer among black men.

Caldwell gives lectures and appears on panels concerning African American actors. In 2007, she participated in tributes to August Wilson at Goodman Theatre in conjunction with Congo Square Theatre Company in Chicago, and at St. Louis Black Repertory Company. In June 2008, she participated in the NAACP Theatre Awards Festival Actors on Acting panel. In June 2009, Caldwell moderated a panel of actors, directors, and casting directors discussing African American Images in Hollywood. In February 2010, she directed a staged reading of Standing On My Sisters' Shoulders for the Los Angeles chapter of Actors Equity Association.

Credits[edit]

Film[edit]

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1983	Without a Trace	Janet Smith
1984	Exterminator 2	Patron
1991	Us Against the Wall	Sandy Wilkes
1991	Dutch	Homeless Woman
1993	The Fugitive	Deputy US Marshal Erin Poole
1993	Extreme Justice	Devlin
1995	Soweto Green	Cora Tshabalala
	Waiting to Exhale	Bernadine's Divorce Attorney
	The Net	Court Appointed Attorney
	Devil in a Blue Dress	Hattie Mae Parsons
1999	Mystery, Alaska	Judge McGibbons
2002	Dragonfly	Nurse
2006	Gridiron Gang	Bobbi Porter
2009	Powder Blue	Nurse Gomez
2010	Like Dandelion Dust	Allyson Bower
2010	Lisa Trotter	Lisa Trotter
2011	The Lamp	Miss Esther
2015	Division 19	Michelle Jacobs
	That Gal...Who Was In That Thing: That Guy 2	Herself	Documentary
	The Perfect Guy	Evelyn
	Concussion	Mrs. Waters
2017	The Case for Christ	Alfie Davis
2021	Bingo Hell	Dolores

Television[edit]

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1982	All My Children	Nurse	1 episode
1983	American Playhouse	Edith	Episode: "The Files on Jill Hatch: Part II"
1988	The Cosby Show	Elizabeth	Episode: "Out of Brooklyn"
	God Bless the Child	Althea Watkins	TV movie
	TV 101	Mrs. Hines	Episode: "Home"
1989	Alien Nation	Lyddie Tuggles	TV movie
	L.A. Law	Wanda Havens	Episode: "Leave it to Geezer"
	Tour of Duty	Selma Binion	Episode: "Promised Land"
	Hunter	Gloria Tessel	Episode: "Last Run"
1990	Dangerous Passion	Ruby	TV movie
	Doogie Howser, M.D.	Mrs. Alexander	Episode: "Use a Slurpy, Go to Jail"
	The Outsiders	Barbra Richards	Episode: "Pilot"
1991	Love, Lies and Murder	Judge Starkey	Episodes: 1.1 & 1.2
	Equal Justice	Mrs. Ida Bolton	Episode: "The Big Game and Other Crimes"
	Thirtysomething	Alice	Episode: "Hopeless"
	Baby of the Bride	Unknown	TV movie
1992	The Heights	Joanne	Episode: "No Place Like Home"
1993	The Switch	Mrs. Linson	TV movie
	Darkness Before Dawn	Unknown	TV movie
	Reasonable Doubts	Eleanor Gilbert	Episode: "Sister, Can You Spare a Dime?"
	For the Love of My Child: The Anissa Ayala Story	Rita	TV movie
	Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman	Carol Sherman	Episode: "The Green, Green Glow of Home"
1994	Melrose Place	Judge Maxine Marco	Episode: "With This Ball and Chain"
1995	Grace Under Fire	Carol Briscoe	Episode: "Sticks and Stones"
1995	Down Came a Blackbird	Cerises	TV movie
1996	Twilight Man	Detective Lou Shannon	TV movie
	The Pretender	Gwen Porter	Episode: "Pilot"
	Dying to Be Perfect: The Ellen Hart Pena Story	Dr. Wallace	TV movie
1997	Murder One	Anna Mae Brown	Episode: "Chapter Eleven, Year Two"
1997	Weapons of Mass Distraction	Senator Condon	TV movie
1998	Any Day Now	Mrs. Opal Lee	Episode: "Making Music with the Wrong Man"
1998	Promised Land	Jury Forewoman	Episode: "Jury Duty"
1999	The Last Man on Planet Earth	Ester	TV movie
	JAG	Mrs. Flora Springs	Episode: "Nobody's Child"
	Chicago Hope	Bonnie Medina	Episode: "A Goy and His Dog"
	Intimate Betrayal	Detective Sheila Monroe	TV movie
1999–2000	Judging Amy	Tanya Miller	7 episodes
2000	City of Angels	Angela Patterson	Episodes: "Deliver the Male", "Assume the Position", "The Prince and the Porker"
2001	The Division	Detective Reese	Episode: "The Fear Factor"
	Kate Brasher	Mrs. Rumel	Episode: "Simon"
	The Practice	Parole Board Chairwoman Susan Moton	Episode: "Killing Time"
	Passions	Clinic Counselor	Episode: #1.630
2002	The Court	Anne Marie	Episode: "Due Process"
2003	Queens Supreme	Judge Rose Barnea	13 episodes
2003	Nip/Tuck	Dr. Reed	Episode: "Montana/Sassy/Justicce"
2004–2006	ER	Dr. Rabb	Episodes: "NICU", "Graduation Day"
2004–2010	Lost	Rose Nadler	23 episodes
2006	Cold Case	Alice Stallworth	Episode: "Sandhogs"
2006	Ghost Whisperer	Liz Nelson	Episode: "The Ghost Within"
2007	Jozi-H	Dr. Laura Shields	Episode: "Love in the Time of Aids"
	State of Mind	Mrs. Williams	Episode: "Lost & Found"
	Saving Grace	Dee Reynolds	Episode: "Everything's Got a Shelf Life"
	Without a Trace	Reverend Anna Washington	Episode: "Baggage"
2008–2013	The Secret Life of the American Teenager	Margaret Shakur	32 episodes
2009–2013	Southland	Enid Adams	7 episodes
2011	Grey's Anatomy	Allison Cobb	Episode: "Don't Deceive Me (Please Don't Go)"
2011	CSI: Crime Scene Investigation	Nora Parkes	Episode: "In a Dark, Dark House"
2012	My America	Narrator	Episode: "Bellagio"
2012	Private Practice	Jillian McCray	Episode: "The Next Episode"
2013	Low Winter Sun	Violet Geddes	5 episodes
2013	Criminal Minds	Tina Johnson	Episode: "Strange Fruit"
2015	Madam Secretary	Afeni Rahim	Episode: "You Say You Want a Revolution"
2016–2017	Mercy Street	Belinda	11 episodes
2017	Brooklyn Nine-Nine	Judge Laverne Holt	Episode: "Your Honor"
	How to Get Away with Murder	Jasmine Bromelle	5 episodes
	The Last Tycoon	Lucille	Episodes: "More Stars Than There Are in Heaven", "Eine Kleine Reichmusik"
	The Trustee	Odelle Jones	TV movie
2017–2021	Insecure	Carol Carter	8 episodes
2018	Dynasty	Granny	Episode: "Trashy Little Tramp"
2018–2020	Chilling Adventures of Sabrina	Nana Ruth	Episodes: "Chapter Seven", "Chapter Ten", "Chapter Twenty-One", "Chapter Thirty-One"
2018–2019	A Million Little Things	Renee Howard	Episodes: "Goodnight", "Austin", "The Game of Your Life"
2018–2021	Queen Sugar	Willa Mae Desonier	Episodes: "Late-April 2020", "Study War No More"
2019	Law & Order: Special Victims Unit	Jo Anderson	Episode: "Diss"
2019–2021	All Rise	Roxy Robinson	7 episodes
2020	Sacred Lies	Dalia	Episodes: "Chapter Ten: With the Dancing Lions", "Chapter Nine: Bloodline"
	Lucifer	Lily Rose	Episode: "It Never Ends Well for the Chicken"
	Love in the Time of Corona	Nanda	Episodes: "Love and Protest", "Seriously Now", "#RelationshipGoals", "The Course of Love"
2021	One of Us Is Lying	Nonny	Episode: "Pilot"
2021–2022	Our Kind of People	Olivia Sturgess Dupont	8 episodes
2023	The Good Doctor	Evelyn Allen	Episode: "Hard Heart"
TBA	Bad Monkey	YaYa	Upcoming series

Theatre[edit]

2017 Gem of the Ocean as Aunt Ester Tyler
2014 What I Learned In Paris as Eve Madison
2014 The Wife's Story as She
2011 A Raisin in the Sun as Lena Younger
2011 The Circle as Donna
2009 Reverse Transcription Staged Reading as Ottoline
2006 The Dreams of Sarah Breedlove as Sarah Breedlove / Madam C.J. Walker
2000–2005 Going to St. Ives (radio broadcast and recording) as May N'Kame
1998 St. Louis Woman as Leah
1997 Proposals as Clemma Diggins
1997 Macbeth as Lady Macbeth
1995 American Medea as Medea
1991 The Piano Lesson as Berniece
1990 From the Mississippi Delta as Miss Rosebud / Brother Pastor
1987–1988 Joe Turner's Come and Gone as Bertha Holly
1987 A Month of Sundays as Understudy Mrs. Baker
1986 Elegies for the Fallen Staged Reading
1984 A Play of Giants as Ambassador
1983 About Heaven & Earth as Black Woman, The Redeemer / Raimy, Nightline
1982 A Raisin in the Sun as Ruth Younger
1982 Colored Peoples Time as Catherine / Addie / Nadine / Ida
1982 Boesman and Lena as Lena
1980–1981 Home as Pattie Mae Wells / Woman One (Broadway debut)
1979 A Season to Unravel as Afrodite
1979 Plays From Africa – Everyman & The Imprisonment of Obatala
1979 Old Phantoms as Ruth
1978 Daughters of the Mock as Gail
1977 The Thesmophoriazousae as Sosie (Chicago – Court Theatre)
1975 The Other Cinderella (Chicago – Club Misty)
1974 No Place to Be Somebody: A Black-Black Comedy as Cora Beasley (Loyola University student production)
A Raisin in the Sun as Travis Younger (Hyde Park High School student production)

Director[edit]

2009 My Brothers and Me Documentary
2010 Standing On My Sisters' Shoulders Staged Reading

Commercials[edit]

1989 The United Negro College Fund – Little Brother as Mother
1992 McDonald's – Grapevine as Calvin's Mother

Radio[edit]

1982 WBAI – Reena by Paule Marshall as The Narrator

Awards and nominations[edit]

Awards

2011 Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle Award for Lead Performance and Ensemble Performance – A Raisin in the Sun
2006 BTAA Award for Best leading actress in a play – The Dreams of Sarah Breedlove
2005 Obie Award for Performance in a play – Going to St. Ives
1998 Helen Hayes Award for Supporting actress in a non-resident production – Proposals
1997 Drama-Logue Award for Performance in a play – Proposals
1990 Drama-Logue Award for Ensemble performance – From The Mississippi Delta
1988 Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Play – Joe Turner's Come and Gone

Nominations

2011 Ovation Award for Best Acting Ensemble in a Play – A Raisin in the Sun
2007 Gemini Award (Canadian television) for Best actress in a guest performance – Jozi-H
2005 Outer Critics Circle Award for Outstanding actress in a play – Going to St. Ives
1998 FANY (FAns of NY Theatre) Award for Outstanding actress in a play – Proposals

References[edit]

^ Hill, Anthony D. (2018). Historical Dictionary of African American Theater. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield. p. 89. ISBN 9781538117286.
^ Zwecker, Bill (January 15, 2016). "Veteran actress on Mercy Street". Chicago.suntimes. Retrieved October 2, 2016.

External links[edit]

L. Scott Caldwell at the Internet Broadway Database
L. Scott Caldwell at IMDb
L. Scott Caldwell at AllMovie

[1] Hill, Anthony D. (2018). Historical Dictionary of African American Theater. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield. p. 89. ISBN 9781538117286.

[2] Zwecker, Bill (January 15, 2016). "Veteran actress on Mercy Street". Chicago.suntimes. Retrieved October 2, 2016.

[1]

[2]

v t e Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Play
1947–1975	Patricia Neal (1947) Shirley Booth (1949) Maureen Stapleton (1951) Marian Winters (1952) Beatrice Straight (1953) Jo Van Fleet (1954) Patricia Jessel (1955) Una Merkel (1956) Peggy Cass (1957) Anne Bancroft (1958) Julie Newmar (1959) Anne Revere (1960) Colleen Dewhurst (1961) Elizabeth Ashley (1962) Sandy Dennis (1963) Barbara Loden (1964) Alice Ghostley (1965) Zoe Caldwell (1966) Marian Seldes (1967) Zena Walker (1968) Jane Alexander (1969) Blythe Danner (1970) Rae Allen (1971) Elizabeth Wilson (1972) Leora Dana (1973) Frances Sternhagen (1974) Rita Moreno (1975)
1976–2000	Shirley Knight (1976) Trazana Beverley (1977) Ann Wedgeworth (1978) Joan Hickson (1979) Dinah Manoff (1980) Swoosie Kurtz (1981) Amanda Plummer (1982) Judith Ivey (1983) Christine Baranski (1984) Judith Ivey (1985) Swoosie Kurtz (1986) Mary Alice (1987) L. Scott Caldwell (1988) Christine Baranski (1989) Margaret Tyzack (1990) Irene Worth (1991) Bríd Brennan (1992) Debra Monk (1993) Jane Adams (1994) Frances Sternhagen (1995) Audra McDonald (1996) Lynne Thigpen (1997) Anna Manahan (1998) Elizabeth Franz (1999) Blair Brown (2000)
2001–present	Viola Davis (2001) Katie Finneran (2002) Michele Pawk (2003) Audra McDonald (2004) Adriane Lenox (2005) Frances de la Tour (2006) Jennifer Ehle (2007) Rondi Reed (2008) Angela Lansbury (2009) Scarlett Johansson (2010) Ellen Barkin (2011) Judith Light (2012) Judith Light (2013) Sophie Okonedo (2014) Annaleigh Ashford (2015) Jayne Houdyshell (2016) Cynthia Nixon (2017) Laurie Metcalf (2018) Celia Keenan-Bolger (2019) Lois Smith (2020/21) Phylicia Rashad (2022) Miriam Silverman (2023)

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