lynn whitfield

Lynn Whitfield was born in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, in 1953. Her father, a dentist, played a significant role in fostering her early interest in acting through community theater in her hometown. Whitfield is a third-generation Bachelor of Fine Arts graduate from Howard University and has African American and Native American (Cherokee) ancestry.

Her career began on the stage with the Black Repertory Company in Washington, D.C., where she studied and performed. She moved to New York, appearing in off-Broadway productions such as “The Great Macdaddy” and “Showdown.” Her performance in the 1977 Los Angeles production of “For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide…When the Rainbow Is Enuf” alongside Alfre Woodard brought her initial acclaim. In 1979, Whitfield’s Hollywood career advanced through a talent development program at Columbia Pictures.

Whitfield’s film debut was in “Doctor Detroit” (1983), followed by supporting roles in films like “Silverado” (1985), “The Slugger’s Wife” (1985), and “Jaws: The Revenge” (1987). Her television work provided prominent opportunities, including roles in “Hill Street Blues” and the 1982 PBS version of “For Colored Girls…” Significant early television roles include “The George McKenna Story” (1986), co-starring with Denzel Washington, “Johnnie Mae Gibson: FBI” (1986), and Oprah Winfrey’s miniseries “The Women of Brewster Place” (1989). She also secured steady roles in series television, playing a doctor in “Heartbeat” (1988) and a news anchorwoman in “Equal Justice” (1990). The peak of her acclaimed career arrived with her portrayal of Josephine Baker in the HBO biopic “The Josephine Baker Story” (1991), for which she received an Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress.