Age: 74
Birthplace: Atlanta, Georgia, US
LaTanya Richardson (born October 21, 1949), often listed as LaTanya Richardson Jackson, is an American actress and producer. She was born in Atlanta, Georgia. While a student at Atlanta's Spelman College (the second oldest college for black women in the world) in 1974, she met actor Samuel L. Jackson, then at all-male Morehouse College, who would later become her husband. She and Jackson married in 1980. They have one child, freelance film and TV producer Zoe, born 1982. After her daughter's birth, Richardson stopped working regularly, because, she said: “We’d vowed to be an intact revolutionary black family. But it was very, very hard.”
To date, Richardson's biggest role in a motion picture was in the 2003 musical The Fighting Temptations in which she appears as the main villain Paulina Pritchett, a character who gets off on pointing out the sins of others while totally disregarding her own. In 2014, Richardson was nominated for the Tony Award for Best Lead Actress in a Play for her 2013 performance in A Raisin in the Sun as Lena Younger, a role she took over at the last minute when Diahann Carroll dropped out due to health concerns. This was her second appearance on Broadway after her debut in the 2009 revival of Joe Turner's Come and Gone.
Year | Title | Role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
1991 | Hangin' with the Homeboys | Caseworker | |
1991 | Super, TheThe Super | Judge Smith | |
1991 | Fried Green Tomatoes | Janeen | |
1992 | Juice | Steel's Mother | |
1992 | Malcolm X | Lorraine | |
1992 | Lorenzo's Oil | Nurse Ruth | |
1993 | Sleepless in Seattle | Harriet | |
1994 | Last Laugh, TheThe Last Laugh | Elaine | Short film |
1994 | When a Man Loves a Woman | Dr. Gina Mendez | |
1995 | Losing Isaiah | Caroline Jones | |
1996 | Lone Star | Priscilla Worth | |
1997 | Loved | Attorney Rose Jackson | |
1997 | Julian Po | Darlene | |
1998 | U.S. Marshals | Deputy Marshal Savannah Cooper | |
1998 | Secrets | Short film | |
2003 | Fighting Temptations, TheThe Fighting Temptations | Paulina Pritchett | |
2006 | Freedomland | Marie | |
2007 | All About Us | Cousin Bernice | |
2007 | Blackout | Mrs. Thompson | |
2009 | Mother and Child | Carol |
Year | Title | Role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
1989 | Man Called Hawk, AA Man Called Hawk | Doris Gilbert | Episode: "Life After Death" |
1991 | Law & Order | Lorraine | Episode: "Life Choice" |
1992 | Law & Order | Anne Houston | Episode: "Sisters of Mercy" |
1992 | Nightman, TheThe Nightman | Emily | TV film |
1992 | Frannie's Turn | Vivian | Episodes: "Pilot", "Frannie and the Kitchen Sink" |
1992 | One Life to Live | Rodi | TV series |
1993 | Civil Wars | Episode: "Hit the Road, Jack" | |
1993 | Shameful Secrets | Louise Levy | TV film |
1993 | Cheers | Moderator | Episode: "Woody Gets an Election" |
1994 | Midnight Run for Your Life | Det. Dixon | TV film |
1994 | Party of Five | Jane Gideon | Episode: "Private Lives" |
1994 | Earth 2 | Alex Wentworth | Episode: "A Memory Play" |
1995 | Chicago Hope | Mrs. Parnett | Episode: "Cutting Edges" |
1995 | NYPD Blue | Sister Cecilia | Episode: "Heavin' Can Wait" |
1996 | Deliverance of Elaine, TheThe Deliverance of Elaine | Edna | TV film |
1997 | Homicide: Life on the Street | Lynette Thompson | Episode: "Betrayal" |
1998 | Any Day Now | Mrs. Walker | Episode: "Call Him Johnny" |
1998-1999 | Ally McBeal | Attorney Yvette Rose | Episodes: "Story of Love", "Let's Dance" |
1999 | Introducing Dorothy Dandridge | Auntie | TV film |
1999 | Judging Amy | Lena Railsback | Episode: "Pilot" |
1999 | Once and Again | Counselor | Episode: "Boy Meets Girl" |
2000 | Hairstory | TV film | |
2001 | Within These Walls | Melinda Donovan | TV film |
2001-2002 | 100 Centre Street | Atallah Sims | Recurring role (8 episodes) |
2003 | Boston Public | Sheila | Episode: "Chapter 62" |
2011 | Harry's Law | Noreen | Episode: "In the Ghetto" |
2012 | Damages | Judge Jaclynn Ellis | Episode: "You Want to End This Once and for All?" |
2013 | Watsons Go to Birmingham, TheThe Watsons Go to Birmingham | Grandma Sands | TV film |
2014 | Blue Bloods | Lt. Dee Ann Carver | Recurring role, Season 5 |
2015 | Show Me a Hero | Norma O’Neal | TV miniseries |