Aloma Wright

Aloma Wright
Born	New York, U.S
Other names	Aloma Lesley Wright
Occupation	Actress
Years active	1995–present

Aloma Wright (born 10 March 1950) is an American actress. Her television roles include Laverne Roberts on the NBC/ABC comedy series Scrubs (2001–2009), Maxine Landis on the NBC daytime drama series Days of Our Lives (2008–2015), Mildred Clemons on the ABC drama series Private Practice (2011–2013), Gretchen Bodinski on the USA Network drama series Suits (2015–2019), and Viola in Tyler Perry's Young Dylan .

Early life

Wright was born in New York and raised in California. She attended the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in New York City. ^[1]

Career

Wright began her acting career on stage, before appearing in films like Stuart Saves His Family , Devil in the Flesh , and Shadow Hours , and television shows such as Suddenly Susan , Dangerous Minds , Frasier , Friends , Malcolm in the Middle , Ally McBeal , Girlfriends , and Judging Amy . She also had a recurring role in the Fox series Power Rangers in Space in 1998. She was in the Steve Harvey show as Lovita’s aunt. She also had a recurring role as Ms. Shirley on the series The Soul Man .

In 2001, Wright was cast as Laverne Roberts in the NBC comedy series, Scrubs . After six seasons, her character was killed off in "My Long Goodbye". She returned in season seven playing a new character, Nurse Shirley. She later returned to play Nurse Roberts in the season 8 finale, "My Finale", as JD is looking back on all the people in his life. In 2000s, Wright also guest starred on NYPD Blue , Cold Case , NCIS , and Mad Men . She also had supporting parts in films such as Bring It On , The Brothers , Mr. Deeds and Johnson Family Vacation .

In 2008, Wright began appearing as nurse Maxine Landis in the NBC daytime soap opera, Days of Our Lives . ^[2] From 2012 to 2013, Wright also had the recurring role as Mildred Clemons in the Shonda Rhimes' series, Private Practice , and in 2015 appeared in an episode of Scandal . In 2015, she joined the cast of USA Network legal series Suits for season five as Louis Litt’s new secretary, Gretchen Bodinski. ^{[3] [4]} She appeared on the show in a recurring basis until the series finale aired in 2019. In 2020, she was cast as Viola, the title character's grandmother in the Nickelodeon sitcom Young Dylan created by Tyler Perry. ^[5]

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1995	Stuart Saves His Family	Autograph Seeker
1998	Dearly Devoted	Secretary	Video
	About Sarah	Claudia Avery	TV movie
	I Married a Monster	Desk Clerk	TV movie
1999	Trippin'	Louise Reed
2000	Sonic Impact	Travel Agent
	Shadow Hours	Nurse Johnson
	Bring It On	Pauletta
2001	Kingdom Come	Veda
	Motocrossed	Barbara Rollins	TV movie
	The Brothers	Helen Palmer
	When Billie Beat Bobby	Convalescent Home Nurse	TV movie
	Patient Diversity: Beyond the Vital Signs	Mrs. Humpherys	Short
2002	Mr. Deeds	Coretta Keeling
	Try Seventeen	Alicia
2003	Deliver Us from Eva	Reverend Washington
2004	Johnson Family Vacation	Glorietta Johnson
2005	Thank You for Smoking	Gizelle (voice)
	The Gospel	Ernestine
	Ralph & Stanley	Receptionist	Short
	Family Reunion	Bernadine Porter
2006	Grad Night	Principal Wheeler
2007	Love... & Other 4 Letter Words	Nana
	Lord Help Us	Melvina Thomas	Video
	Universal Remote	Judge Vintage
	Ben 10: Race Against Time	Mrs. Dalton	TV movie
2008	After School	Ma Dear
2009	Redemption	Harriet	Short
	Janky Promoters	Ms. Ann
	Hurricane in the Rose Garden	Miriam Egba	Video
	Touched	Miss Esther
2010	My American Nurse 2	Madam Mississippi
	My Girlfriend's Back	Cynthia
2011	Okoto the Messenger	Mrs. Joy Nkuku
2012	Dinner Date	Elle	Short
	Sistaah Friend	Super Shero of Wisdom	Short
2014	More to Love	Aunt Fran
	Clarissa's Gift	Mrs. Bessie Wells	Short
2016	Diva Diaries	Auntie Nana
2019	Baking Christmas	Patty	TV movie
2020	The Christmas Edition	Edna	TV movie
2021	7 Sharp	Gammy	Short
	Our Christmas Journey	Robin	TV movie

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1995	Night Stand with Dick Dietrick	Blanche	Episode: "Mama's Boys"
1996	Suddenly Susan	Rachel	Episode: "Suddenly Susan Unplugged"
	Dangerous Minds	James's Grandmother	Episode: "Family Ties" & "Jumped"
1998	Mike Hammer, Private Eye	Nanny Morgan	Episode: "A New Leaf: Part 2"
	Power Rangers in Space	Adelle Ferguson	Recurring Cast
1999	The Steve Harvey Show	Tulabett	Episode: "Working Homegirl"
	Frasier	Maria	Episode: "To Tell the Truth"
	Friends	The Saleswoman	Episode: "The One with the Cop"
	Silk Stalkings	Clerk	Episode: "Dance Fever"
	The Drew Carey Show	Security Officer	Episode: "Good Vibrations"
1999-00	Ally McBeal	Judge Aloma Harris	Guest Cast: Season 3-4
2000	Malcolm in the Middle	Nurse	Episode: "Home Alone 4"
	Cover Me	Receptionist	Episode: "Our Mr. Brooks"
	The Invisible Man	Nurse Cathy	Episode: "It Hurts When You Do This"
	Girlfriends	Laurie's Mother	Episode: "The Remains of the Date"
	Providence	Orderly	Episode: "Rescue Me"
	The Trouble with Normal	Church Secretary	Episode: "Clairanoia"
2000-01	Judging Amy	Judge Roberta Pattison	Guest Cast: Season 1-2
	The Parkers	Shirley West	Guest Cast: Season 1 & 3
2001	Mysterious Ways	Peggy's Mom	Episode: "Wonderful"
	18 Wheels of Justice	Miss Lopez	Episode: "Dream Girls"
2001-09	Scrubs	Nurse Laverne Roberts/Shirley	Recurring Cast: Season 1–7, Guest: Season 8
2002	The Guardian	Grandma Annie	Episode: "Solidarity"
	The Drew Carey Show	Mrs. Taylor	Episode: "Never Been to Spain"
	Even Stevens	Mother Wexler	Episode: "Dirty Work"
	The Practice	Corrections Officer	Episode: "Convictions"
2004	NYPD Blue	Florence George	Episode: "Chatty Chatty Bang Bang"
	Crossing Jordan	Desk Nurse	Episode: "You're Not Alone"
	The Bernie Mac Show	-	Episode: "Mac Overdrive"
	Cold Case	Della Lincoln	Episode: "The Badlands"
	Kevin Hill	Nana Bea	Episode: "Full Metal Jessie"
2005	Committed	Constance James	Episode: "The Mother Episode"
2006	NCIS	Nurse Ethel Washington	Episode: "Hiatus (Part #1)"
2007	The Bill Engvall Show	Dotty	Episode: "Have You Seen My Muffins, Man?"
2007-15	Days of Our Lives	Maxine Landis	Regular Cast
2008	Mad Men	Viola	Episode: "The Inheritance"
2009-11	Tyler Perry's House of Payne	Eunice	Guest Cast: Season 5 & 7
2010	Zeke and Luther	Nurse	Episode: "Zeke Jumps the Shark"
2011	Harry's Law	Nancy Jones	Episode: "Last Dance"
	9ine	Nana Goodall	Recurring Cast
	The Celibate Nympho Chronicles	Mabaleen	Recurring Cast
	Parenthood	Natalie	Episode: "Nora"
2012-13	Private Practice	Mildred Clemons	Recurring Cast: Season 5-6
2013	The Rev	Sister Johnson	Recurring Cast
2014	Growing Up Fisher	Tricia	Episode: "Desk/Job"
	The Middle	Cashier	Episode: "The Optimist"
2015	Scandal	Tina Wilson	Episode: "The Lawn Chair"
	Ward of the State	Evelyn	Episode: "Pilot"
2015-16	The Soul Man	Shirley	Guest: Season 4, Recurring Cast: Season 5
2015-19	Suits	Gretchen Bodinski	Recurring Cast: Season 5-9
2016	Masters of Sex	County Clerk	Episode: "The Eyes of God"
2017	The Carmichael Show	Aunt Clarice	Episode: "Lesbian Wedding"
2017-18	The Guest Book	Emma	Recurring Cast: Season 1, Guest: Season 2
2018	Champions	Sister Timothy	Episode: "Matt Bomer Poster"
	Lucifer	Party Bus Driver	Episode: "All Hands on Decker"
	Claws	Ms. Wallace	Episode: "Double Dutch"
2019	Forky Asks a Question	Officer Rib Tickles (voice)	Episode: "What Is a Pet?"
2020	Raven's Home	Ms. Pearl	Episode: "What About Your Friends?"
2020–23	Tyler Perry's Young Dylan	Viola Wilson	Main Cast: Season 1, Recurring Cast: Season 2 & 4, Guest: Season 3

References

1. "Aloma Wright Playing Maxine Landis on Days of Our Lives - Soaps.com". Archived from the original on 6 July 2015. Retrieved 5 July 2015.
2. "Aloma Wright on second chances, DAYS, and her new Christmas film". November 23, 2014.
3. Dowling, Amber (June 30, 2015). "Suits Casts Scrubs Alum as Donna's Replacement". The Hollywood Reporter . Retrieved July 5, 2015.
4. Gelman, Vlada (June 30, 2015). "Suits Season 5 Cast — Aloma Wright as Louis Litt's New Secretary". TVLine . Retrieved July 5, 2015.
5. Denise Petski (January 23, 2020). "Tyler Perry's Young Dylan Nickelodeon Series Sets Cast". Deadline Hollywood . Retrieved July 7, 2020.

External links

• Aloma Wright at IMDb