By Carmenlita Castillo
FROM WIKIPEDIA COMMONS
Alfre Woodard (/ˈælfri ˈwʊdərd/ AL-free WUUD-ərd; born November 8, 1952) is an American actress. Known for portraying strong-willed and dignified roles on stage and screen, she has received various accolades, including four Emmy Awards, a Golden Globe Award, and three Screen Actors Guild Awards as well as nominations for an Academy Award, BAFTA Award, and two Grammy Awards. In 2020, The New York Times ranked her as one of “The 25 Greatest Actors of the 21st Century”. She is a board member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
Woodard began her acting career in theater. After her breakthrough role in the Off-Broadway play For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide / When the Rainbow Is Enuf (1977). She received an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress nomination for her role in Cross Creek (1983). She earned a BAFTA Award for Best Actress nomination for her role in Clemency (2019). Woodard’s notable films include Grand Canyon (1991), Passion Fish (1992), Heart and Souls (1993), Crooklyn (1994), How to Make an American Quilt (1995), Primal Fear (1996), Star Trek: First Contact (1996), Down in the Delta (1998), 12 Years a Slave (2013), and Juanita (2019). She voiced Sarabi in The Lion King (2019).
Woodard gained prominence for her television role as Dr. Roxanne Turner in the NBC medical drama St. Elsewhere, for which she was nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series in 1986, and for Guest Actress in 1988. She’s received four Primetime Emmy Awards for her roles in the NBC drama series Hill Street Blues in 1984, the NBC series L.A. Law in 1987, the HBO film Miss Evers’ Boys (1997), and The Practice in 2003. From 2005 to 2006, Woodard starred as Betty Applewhite in the ABC comedy-drama series Desperate Housewives. In the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), she portrayed “Black” Mariah Stokes-Dillard in the Netflix series Luke Cage (2016–2018).
She is also known for her work as a political activist and producer. Woodard is a founder of Artists for a New South Africa, an organization devoted to advancing democracy and equality in that country.
Woodard was born in Tulsa, Oklahoma, to Constance, a homemaker, and Marion H. Woodard, an entrepreneur and interior designer. She is the youngest of three children and was a cheerleader in high school. Woodard attended Bishop Kelley High School, a private Catholic school in Tulsa, graduating from there in 1970. She studied drama at Boston University, from which she graduated. In 2004, she received an honorary doctoral degree in fine arts (DFA) from Boston University.
TODAY’S ALMANAC
Question of the Day
Allow about 5 hours of defrosting time for every one pound of turkey. That could be several days for a big turkey, so plan accordingly.
Advice of the Day
Home Hint of the Day
Word of the Day
Puzzle of the Day
Born
- Edmond Halley (English astronomer) –
- John Dickinson (lawyer) –
- Milton Bradley (manufacturer) –
- Bram Stoker (author) –
- Dorothy Day (reformer) –
- Margaret Mitchell (novelist) –
- Patti Page (singer) –
- Bonnie Raitt (singer) –
- Alfre Woodard (actress) –
- Gordon Ramsay (chef) –
- Courtney Thorne-Smith (actress) –
- Parker Posey (actress) –
Died
- John Milton (poet) –
- Norman Rockwell (artist) –
- Bil Keane (cartoonist; creator of comic strip Family Circus) –
- Alex Trebek (game show host) –
Events
- Abraham Lincoln reelected as U.S. president –
- Montana was admitted to the Union as the 41st state –
- X-rays discovered by German physicist Wilhelm Roentgen –
- William M. Frost’s electric insect destroyer patented –
- John F. Kennedy became the first Catholic to be elected president of the U.S. –
- The Royal Canadian Mint was ordered to change the 12-sided nickel back to a round shape –
- Home Box Office (HBO) broadcasted its first movie, Somethimes a Great Notion. –
- George H. W. Bush was elected president of the U.S. –
Weather
- First storm warning by US Signal Corps weather service issued for Great Lakes area by Prof. Increase Lapham of Milwaukee –
- One million Thanksgiving turkeys were smothered in two feet of snow in a South Dakota storm –
- Tropical Storm Gordon started today and slammed into Florida and Haiti as it was growing into a full-fledged hurricane –
COURTESY www.almanac.com
