Lynn Whitfield

15 Feb 1953 (71 years old) in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, USA

Lynn Whitfield (née Smith, born February 15, 1953) is an American actress. She 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), Stepmom (1998), Head of State (2003), The Cheetah Girls (2003), The Cheetah Girls 2 (2006), Madea's Family Reunion (2006), The Women (2008), Nappily Ever After (2018), and Vacation Friends (2021). From 2016 to 2020, she starred as Lady Mae Greenleaf on OWN's dramatic series Greenleaf, for which she won critical acclaim and garnered two NAACP Image Awards and a Gracie Award. She has won a total of seven NAACP Image Awards.

Known For

Credits

  • 2024 · Albany Road as Paula Henderson
  • 2023 · The Retirement Plan as Drisdale
  • 2022 · We Need a Little Christmas as Irene
  • 2021 · Vacation Friends as Suzanne
  • 2021 · Woman in Motion as Self
  • 2020 · Tales from the Hood 3 as Marie Benoît
  • 2019 · Tamron Hall as Self - Guest
  • 2018 · Solace as Irene
  • 2018 · Nappily Ever After as Paulette Jones
  • 2018 · The Resident as Josephine Okeke
  • 2017 · Espionage Tonight as Sydney Greenstreet
  • 2016 · Greenleaf as Lady Mae Greenleaf
  • 2016 · Prayer Never Fails as Loral Brown
  • 2014 · Lap Dance as Momma Pearl
  • 2014 · 30 Days in Atlanta as Clara
  • 2014 · How to Get Away with Murder as Mary Walker
  • 2014 · My Other Mother as Mary Jo
  • 2014 · Chasing Life as Karen Callahan
  • 2014 · The Ugly Duckling as Narrator (voice)
  • 2013 · The Last Letter as Lorraine
  • 2013 · The Dempsey Sisters as Olivia Norman
  • 2013 · And Then There Was You as Sophia Brent
  • 2013 · Act Like You Love Me as Harriett Lofton
  • 2013 · Fatal Attraction as Narrator (voice)
  • 2013 · King's Faith as Vanessa
  • 2013 · 24 Hour Love as Cynthia
  • 2013 · Lonely Boy as Dr. Christine Nolan
  • 2012 · The Redemption of a Dog as Francine
  • 2012 · Somebody's Child as Constance
  • 2012 · Battlefield America as Ms. Parker
  • 2011 · All Things Fall Apart as Bee
  • 2011 · Mama, I Want to Sing! as Lillian Winter
  • 2009 · FlashForward as Anastasia Markham
  • 2009 · The Rebound as Laura Reilly
  • 2009 · PoliWood as Self
  • 2008 · The Women as Glenda Hill
  • 2008 · Kings of the Evening as Gracie
  • 2006 · Shark as
  • 2006 · The Cheetah Girls 2 as Dorothea Garibaldi
  • 2006 · Confessions as Dr. Page
  • 2006 · Madea's Family Reunion as Victoria
  • 2005 · The Tyra Banks Show as
  • 2004 · Redemption: The Stan Tookie Williams Story as Barbara Becnel
  • 2003 · The Cheetah Girls as Dorothea Garibaldi
  • 2003 · Head of State as Debra Lassiter
  • 2002 · Without a Trace as Paula Van Doren
  • 2002 · A Time for Dancing as Linda Derricks, the Dance Teacher
  • 2001 · A Girl Thing as Nia Morgan
  • 2000 · Boston Public as Louanna Harper
  • 2000 · Strong Medicine as Dr. Marshall
  • 1999 · Intimate Portrait: Josephine Baker as Herself
  • 1999 · Love Songs as Jean Simpson
  • 1999 · Dangerous Evidence as Lori Jackson
  • 1999 · Deep in My Heart as Corrine Burrell
  • 1999 · The Color of Courage as Minnie McGhee
  • 1998 · Stepmom as Dr. P. Sweikert
  • 1998 · The Wedding as Corinne Coles
  • 1997 · Eve's Bayou as Roz Batiste
  • 1997 · The Planet of Junior Brown as Mrs. Brown
  • 1997 · Gone Fishin' as Angie
  • 1996 · Promised Land as Dr. Serena Hall
  • 1996 · Saturday Night Special as
  • 1996 · A Thin Line Between Love and Hate as Brandi
  • 1996 · Sophie and the Moonhanger as Sophie
  • 1994 · Touched by an Angel as Dr. Serena Hall
  • 1994 · In the Army Now as Sgt. Ladd
  • 1994 · Thicker Than Blood: The Larry McLinden Story as Bobbie Mallory
  • 1994 · State of Emergency as Dehlia Johnson
  • 1994 · The Cosby Mysteries as
  • 1993 · Taking the Heat as Carolyn Hunter
  • 1992 · Martin as Ellen
  • 1992 · Stompin' at the Savoy as Esther
  • 1991 · A Triumph of the Heart: The Ricky Bell Story as
  • 1991 · The Josephine Baker Story as Josephine Baker
  • 1990 · Zora is My Name! as
  • 1989 · Snoops as Denise Kendall
  • 1989 · The Women of Brewster Place as Ciel
  • 1988 · The George McKenna Story as Bobbie Maxwell
  • 1988 · HeartBeat as Dr. Cory Banks
  • 1987 · Jaws: The Revenge as Louisa
  • 1987 · The Making of Jaws The Revenge as Self
  • 1987 · Dead Aim as Sheila Freeman
  • 1986 · John Henry as Pollie Ann
  • 1986 · Johnnie Mae Gibson: FBI as Johnnie Mae Gibson
  • 1986 · Matlock as
  • 1985 · Tall Tales & Legends as Pollie Ann
  • 1985 · Silverado as Rae
  • 1985 · The Slugger's Wife as Tina Alvarado
  • 1984 · Miami Vice as
  • 1983 · Trauma Center as
  • 1983 · Doctor Detroit as Thelma Cleland
  • 1982 · Matt Houston as Val
  • 1982 · Cagney & Lacey as
  • 1982 · For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide / When the Rainbow Is Enuf as Woman in bath
  • 1981 · Hill Street Blues as
  • 1981 · Hill Street Blues as Jill Thomas
  • 1944 · Golden Globe Awards as Self - Nomine