Lynn witfield biography

All All. Sign In. Lynn Butler-Smith. With roots leading back to Louisiana southern aristocracy, lovely leading lady Lynn Whitfield was born in , the eldest of four children and a third-generation BFA graduate from Howard University. Her dentist father was instrumental in developing Lynn's initial interest in acting as he was a prime figure in forming community theater in her native Baton Rouge.

Lynn whitfield date of birth

First garnering attention on the stage by studying and performing with the Black Repertory Company in Washington, D. Lynn eventually became a force to be reckoned with intelligent and principled roles on quality film and TV as well Lynn's Hollywood career unfolded under a talent development program at Columbia Pictures in It was TV, however, that garnered her the most attention, working her way into top lead and co-star roles.

Rollins Jr. In addition, she found some steadier work on series TV playing classy professionals, including two for ABC a doctor in Heartbeat and a news anchorwoman in Equal Justice The peak of her acclaimed career arguably came in the form of highly popular but deeply troubled Follies Bergere headliner-turned civil rights activist Josephine Baker.

In the HBO biopic The Josephine Baker Story , Lynn played the legendary entertainer with Emmy-winning gusto, a role that stretched her to the limits as she played the role from age 18 to She also earned excellent reviews for her supporting work in Eve's Bayou , a role that drew on her Louisiana heritage. She kept up the momentum with an unsympathetic role in the Oprah Winfrey miniseries The Wedding , where she again had to cover a long life span, this time from 19 to Into the millennium, Lynn has continued to find prolific work both on film and TV.

Divorced from Vantile Whitfield in the late 70s, Lynn later married British director Brian Gibson in , by whom she has a daughter, Grace. They parted ways in