Early life

Horsford was born in Harlem to Victor Agatha, an investment real estate broker and Lillian (née Richardson), who emigrated from Antigua and Barbuda in the 1940s. According to a DNA analysis, she has maternal ancestry from the Limba people of Sierra Leone.

Career

Though she is known today for her work in front of the cameras, her first major role in television was as a producer for the PBS show, Soul!, hosted by Ellis Haizlip, which aired between 1967 and 1973. Horsford made guest appearances on such sitcoms as The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, Sparks, Moesha, The Bernie Mac Show, The Shield, Girlfriends, and Everybody Hates Chris. She had main roles on the sitcoms The Wayans Bros. as "Dee Baxter" and "Thelma Frye" on Amen. She appeared on the drama Judging Amy. More recently, she was seen in the first season of Grey's Anatomy. She returned to the big screen in the 2013 film A Madea Christmas.

Horsford currently has a recurring role as Vivienne Avant on daytime's The Bold and the Beautiful. For the role, she was nominated for Outstanding Special Guest Performer in a Drama Series in the 43rd Daytime Emmy Awards.

Political and social causes

On October 29, 2011, Horsford was awarded the title of Ambassador of Tourism of Antigua.

Select filmography

Films

• An Almost Perfect Affair (1979)
• Times Square (1980)
• The Fan (1981)
• Bill (1981; Television Movie)
• Love Child (1982)
• Crackers (1984)
• St. Elmo's Fire (film) (1985)
• Stone Pillow (1985; Television Movie)
• Nobody's Child (1986; Television Movie)
• A Case of Deadly Force (1986; Television Movie)
• Permanent Wave (1986; short film)
• Heartburn (1986)
• Street Smart (1987)
• Presumed Innocent (1990)
• A Killer Among Us (1990; Television Movie)
• Mr. Jones (1993)
• Friday (1995)
• Once Upon a Time...When We Were Colored (1995)
• Dear God (1996)
• Set It Off (1996)
• One Fine Day (1996)
• Dancing In September (2000)
• Nutty Professor II: The Klumps (2000)
• Lockdown (2000)
• Along Came a Spider (2001)
• How High (2001)
• Minority Report (2002)
• Friday After Next (2002)
• Gridiron Gang (2006)
• Broken Bridges (2006)
• Trade (2007)
• I Tried (2007)
• Our Family Wedding (2010)
• Wigger (2010)
• Living Loaded (2012) (Television Movie)
• A Madea's Christmas (2013)

Television

• NBC Special Treat (1978)
• Guiding Light (1979)
• ABC Afterschool Specials (1981-84)
• American Playhouse (1985)
• Amen (1986-91; co-starring role)
• The Bronx Zoo (1987)
• Baby Talk (1991)
• L.A. Law (1991)
• The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air (1992)
• Rhythm & Blues (1992-93; recurring role)
• The Wayans Bros (1995-99; leading role)
• Sparks (1996)
• L.A. Doctors (1998)
• The Wild Thornberrys (1999)
• Judging Amy (1999)
• Moesha (2000)
• The Chronicle (2002)
• The Bernie Mac Show (2004)
• The District (2004)
• Method & Red (2004; leading role)
• Heist (2006)
• Entourage (2005-06)
• Grey's Anatomy (2005-07)
• The Shield (2005-08; recurring role)
• Las Vegas (2008)
• Everybody Hates Chris (2008)
• Cold Case (2009)
• American Dad! (2010)
• Let's Stay Together (2011)
• Reed Between the Lines (2011; leading role)
• Key and Peele (2012)
• New Girl (2012)
• The League (2012)
• It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia (2015)
• The Soul Man (2015)
• The Bold and The Beautiful (2015-)

[ Source: Wikipedia ]