Alfre Woodard (born November 8, 1952 in Tulsa, Oklahoma) is an American actress, producer, and activist.
In 1977, she appeared in the original cast of For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide When the Rainbow Is Enuf, which she quickly followed up on with roles in film and television. She's a one-time Academy Award nominee (for her role in Cross Creek) and four-time Emmy Award winner (for parts on Hill Street Blues, L.A. Law, the Made-for-TV Movie Miss Evers' Boys, and The Practice).
Selected filmography:
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Film roles
- Cross Creek (1983) as Geechee
- Scrooged (1988) as Grace Cooley
- Grand Canyon (1991) as Jane
- Passion Fish (1992) as Chantelle
- Heart and Souls (1993) as Penny Washington
- Blue Chips (1994) as Lavada McRae
- How to Make an American Quilt (1995) as Marianna Neale
- Star Trek: First Contact (1996) as Lily Sloane
- The Brave Little Toaster to the Rescue (1997)note as Maisie (voice only)
- Down in the Delta (1998) as Loretta Sinclair
- Mumford (1999) as Lily
- Lost Souls (2000) as Dr. Allen (cameo)
- Dinosaur (2000) as Plio (voice only)
- The Wild Thornberrys Movie (2002) as Akela (voice only)
- The Core (2003) as Talma "Stick" Stickley
- Radio (2003) as Principal Daniels
- The Forgotten (2004) as Detective Anne Pope
- Beauty Shop (2005) as Miss Josephine
- Take the Lead (2006) as Principal Augustine James
- The Family That Preys (2008) as Alice Pratt
- Steel Magnolias (2012) as Ouiser
- 12 Years a Slave (2013) as Mistress Harriet Shaw
- Annabelle (2014) as Evelyn
- Captain America: Civil War (2016) as Miriam Sharpe
- The Lion King (2019) as Sarabi (voice only)
Television roles
- Hill Street Blues (1983) as Doris Robson
- St. Elsewhere (1985 — 1988) as Dr. Roxanne Turner
- Homicide: Life on the Street (1998)
- Gulliver's Travels (1996) as Queen of Brobdingnag
- Desperate Housewives (2005 — 2006) as Betty Applewhite
- My Own Worst Enemy (2008) as Mavis Heller
- True Blood (2010 — 2012) as Ruby Jean Reynolds
- Black Panther (2010) as Dondi Reese, Queen Mother (voice only)
- Memphis Beat (2010 — 2011) as Lt. Tanya Rice
- The Last Ship (2014 — 2015) as Amy Granderson
- State of Affairs (2014 — 2015) as President Constance Payton
- Luke Cage (2016 — 2018) as Mariah Dillard
- A Series of Unfortunate Events (2017) as Aunt Josephine
- See (2019 — 2022) as Paris
- Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur (2023 — present) as Mimi (voice only)
