Lynn Whitfield
Acting • Born 1953-02-15
Biography
Lynn Whitfield (née Smith; born February 15, 1953) is an American actress. She began her acting career in television and theatre before progressing to supporting roles in film. She won a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Limited Series or Movie and received a Golden Globe Award nomination for her breakout performance as Josephine Baker in the HBO biographical film The Josephine Baker Story (1991). In the 1990s, Whitfield played leading roles in a number of made-for-television movies and had several starring roles in theatrical films, including A Thin Line Between Love and Hate (1996), Gone Fishin' (1997), Eve's Bayou (1997), Stepmom (1998), Head of State (2003), Madea's Family Reunion (2006), and The Women (2008). Whitfield also starred in a number of movies in the 2000s and 2010s. From 2016 to 2020, she starred as Lady Mae Greenleaf in the Oprah Winfrey Network dramatic series Greenleaf, for which she won critical acclaim and garnered two NAACP Image Awards and a Gracie Award. She later appeared in the films Nappily Ever After (2018), Vacation Friends (2021), and The Retirement Plan (2023). Whitfield has won a total of seven NAACP Image Awards. Description above from the Wikipedia article Lynn Whitfield, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.
Filmography
104 credits
Jaws: The Revenge
Movie • 1987
Louisa
The Women of Brewster Place
Movie • 1989
Ciel
Doctor Detroit
Movie • 1983
Thelma Cleland
The Ugly Duckling
Movie • 2014
Narrator (voice)
The Rebound
Movie • 2009
Laura Reilly
Silverado
Movie • 1985
Rae
Redemption: The Stan Tookie Williams Story
Movie • 2004
Barbara Becnel
The Cheetah Girls
Movie • 2003
Dorothea Garibaldi
Gone Fishin'
Movie • 1997
Angie
Head of State
Movie • 2003
Debra Lassiter
In the Army Now
Movie • 1994
Sgt. Ladd
A Thin Line Between Love and Hate
Movie • 1996
Brandi
The George McKenna Story
Movie • 1988
Bobbie Maxwell
Thicker Than Blood: The Larry McLinden Story
Movie • 1994
Bobbie Mallory
All Things Fall Apart
Movie • 2011
Bee
Eve's Bayou
Movie • 1997
Roz Batiste
A Time for Dancing
Movie • 2002
Linda Derricks, the Dance Teacher
Zora is My Name!
Movie • 1990
Madea's Family Reunion
Movie • 2006
Victoria
John Henry
Movie • 1986
Pollie Ann
Mama, I Want to Sing!
Movie • 2011
Lillian Winter
The Josephine Baker Story
Movie • 1991
Josephine Baker
Deep in My Heart
Movie • 1999
Corrine Burrell
Kings of the Evening
Movie • 2008
Gracie
King's Faith
Movie • 2013
Vanessa
The Retirement Plan
Movie • 2023
Drisdale
The Color of Courage
Movie • 1999
Minnie McGhee
State of Emergency
Movie • 1994
Dehlia Johnson
Lonely Boy
Movie • 2013
Dr. Christine Nolan
A Triumph of the Heart: The Ricky Bell Story
Movie • 1991
24 Hour Love
Movie • 2013
Cynthia
Somebody's Child
Movie • 2012
Constance
Dangerous Evidence: The Lori Jackson Story
Movie • 1999
Lori Jackson
The Last Letter
Movie • 2013
Lorraine
The Making of Jaws The Revenge
Movie • 1987
Self
The Redemption of a Dog
Movie • 2012
Francine
Dead Aim
Movie • 1987
Sheila Freeman
And Then There Was You
Movie • 2013
Sophia Brent
Taking the Heat
Movie • 1993
Carolyn Hunter
The Dempsey Sisters
Movie • 2013
Olivia Norman
The Wedding
Movie • 1998
Corinne Coles
Act Like You Love Me
Movie • 2013
Harriett Lofton
We Need a Little Christmas
Movie • 2022
Irene
The Planet of Junior Brown
Movie • 1997
Mrs. Brown
The Slugger's Wife
Movie • 1985
Tina Alvarado
My Other Mother
Movie • 2014
Mary Jo
Albany Road
Movie • 2024
Paula Henderson
Prayer Never Fails
Movie • 2016
Loral Brown
Battlefield America
Movie • 2012
Ms. Parker
Sophie and the Moonhanger
Movie • 1996
Sophie
For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide / When the Rainbow Is Enuf
Movie • 1982
Woman in bath
The Cheetah Girls 2
Movie • 2006
Dorothea Garibaldi
Espionage Tonight
Movie • 2017
Sydney Greenstreet
Nappily Ever After
Movie • 2018
Paulette Jones
Solace
Movie • 2018
Irene
30 Days in Atlanta
Movie • 2014
Clara
Johnnie Mae Gibson: FBI
Movie • 1986
Johnnie Mae Gibson
The Women
Movie • 2008
Glenda Hill
Lap Dance
Movie • 2014
Momma Pearl
Confessions
Movie • 2006
Dr. Page
Stepmom
Movie • 1998
Dr. P. Sweikert
Stompin' at the Savoy
Movie • 1992
Esther
Love Songs
Movie • 1999
Jean Simpson
Intimate Portrait: Josephine Baker
Movie • 1999
Herself
Tales from the Hood 3
Movie • 2020
Marie Benoît
Woman in Motion
Movie • 2021
Self
Vacation Friends
Movie • 2021
Suzanne
PoliWood
Movie • 2009
Self
Help
Movie
Boston Public
TV • 2000
Louanna Harper
Martin
TV • 1992
Ellen
Shark
TV • 2006
Anita Astin
Matlock
TV • 1986
Angela Page
Miami Vice
TV • 1984
Odette Ribaud
The Tyra Banks Show
TV • 2005
Tamron Hall
TV • 2019
Self - Guest
Hill Street Blues
TV • 1981
Without a Trace
TV • 2002
Paula Van Doren
Cagney & Lacey
TV • 1982
Saturday Night Special
TV • 1996
The Cosby Mysteries
TV • 1994
FlashForward
TV • 2009
Anastasia Markham
Trauma Center
TV • 1983
HeartBeat
TV • 1988
Dr. Cory Banks
How to Get Away with Murder
TV • 2014
Mary Walker
Chasing Life
TV • 2014
Karen Callahan
Greenleaf
TV • 2016
Lady Mae Greenleaf
Hill Street Blues
TV • 1981
Jill Thomas
Matt Houston
TV • 1982
Val
Promised Land
TV • 1996
Dr. Serena Hall
Fatal Attraction
TV • 2013
Narrator (voice)
Tall Tales & Legends
TV • 1985
Pollie Ann
The Resident
TV • 2018
Josephine Okeke
Strong Medicine
TV • 2000
Dr. Marshall
Touched by an Angel
TV • 1994
Dr. Serena Hall
Golden Globe Awards
TV • 1944
Self - Nominee
Snoops
TV • 1989
Denise Kendall
St. Denis Medical
TV • 2024
Barb
The Chi
TV • 2018
Alicia
Sherri
TV • 2022
Self - Guest
Eyes of Wakanda
TV • 2025
Older Noni (voice)
The Women of Brewster Place
TV • 1989
Ciel
A Girl Thing
TV • 2001
Nia Morgan
St. Elsewhere
TV • 1982
Annie Callan