Loretta Devine

Loretta Devine
Devine in 2010
Born	(1949-08-21) August 21, 1949 (age 76) Houston, Texas, U.S.
Education	University of Houston (BA) Brandeis University (MFA)
Occupation	Actress
Years active	1977–present
Spouse	Glenn Marshall Tyler ​ ​ (m. 1967)​
Children	2
Awards	Full list

Loretta Devine (born August 21, 1949) is an American actress. She is known for numerous roles across stage and screen. Her most high profile roles include Lorrell Robinson in the original Broadway production of Dreamgirls (1981), Gloria Matthews in the film Waiting to Exhale (1995), and her recurring role as Adele Webber on the medical drama Grey's Anatomy , for which she won a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series. Devine also played Juanita Sims in the film adaptation of For Colored Girls (2010).

Early life

Loretta Devine was born in Houston, Texas, on August 21, 1949 to James Devine and Eunice (Toliver). ^[1] She grew up in the Acres Homes area of Houston, where her mother was a single mother to six children. ^[2] She was very active on the pep squad, and performed in talent shows at George Washington Carver High School. ^[3]

Loretta Devine is a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated. She was initiated into the Epsilon Lambda Chapter at the University of Houston.

In 1971, Devine graduated from the University of Houston with a Bachelor of Arts in Speech and Drama. ^[3] In 1976, she received a Master of Fine Arts in Theater from Brandeis University. ^[4]

Career

Stage work

Devine has worked extensively on Broadway. Her Broadway debut was in 1978 in a musical called A Broadway Musical , which closed after 14 previews and only one performance on December 21, 1978. She captured attention in her second Broadway show, called Comin' Uptown, which featured Gregory Hines. ^[5]

She rose to stardom in Dreamgirls , a smash 1981 Broadway musical loosely based on the history of The Supremes, in which she originated the role of Lorrell Robinson (a fictional character based on Mary Wilson). The story of Dreamgirls was created during workshops that were carried out in six-week workshops over the period of three years, which Devine, Sheryl Lee Ralph, and Jennifer Holliday developed via improv. ^[5] She also received raves in the 1995 Apollo revival of The Wiz as Glinda the Good Witch of the South.^{[ citation needed ]} In May 2024, she starred in The Preacher’s Wife, a musical that began its run in Atlanta at The Alliance Theatre and is based on the previous films.^{[ citation needed ]}

Film

While rehearsing for Dreamgirls with a little girl in 1981, Devine was cast in Jessie Maple's Will , the first independent feature-length film directed by an African-American woman. ^[6] For her featured role in the low-budget film, Devine earned $500. ^[6]

Minor roles for Devine followed in films such as Little Nikita and Stanley & Iris .

In 1995, she landed a major role as Gloria Matthews in Waiting to Exhale , opposite Whitney Houston, Gregory Hines, and Angela Bassett. The role earned her an NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture, as did her next film, The Preacher's Wife , her second film with Houston and Hines. She later co-starred opposite Alfre Woodard in Down in the Delta (1998) and Funny Valentines (1999).

She has a cameo performance in the film version of Dreamgirls .

Television and continued film successes

Devine played roles as a repertory character in the play The Colored Museum with Vickilyn Reynolds. Devine and Reynolds both went on to play sisters in the short-lived TV series Sugar and Spice . During the period between the play and the series, Devine appeared in the first season of the TV series A Different World as Stevie Rallen, a dormitory director at the fictional Hillman College.

From 2000 to 2004, Devine starred as high school teacher Marla Hendricks on the Fox drama series Boston Public . Devine won three more Image Awards for her work in the series. She also continued to work in film, playing prominent roles in Urban Legend , Urban Legends: Final Cut , and I Am Sam . Devine earned yet another Image Award nomination and an Independent Spirit Award nomination for her work in the 2004 film Woman Thou Art Loosed . She also appeared in the 2005 film Crash . In 2007, she appeared in This Christmas , and in the next year had a series regular role on the ABC comedy-drama Eli Stone . Devine also was part of the ensemble casts of two Tyler Perry-directed films For Colored Girls and Madea's Big Happy Family . In 2008, she was featured prominently on George Michael's remake of the song "Feeling Good." She also appeared in First Sunday , Beverly Hills Chihuahua and Jumping the Broom . ^[5]

Devine had a recurring role in the Shonda Rhimes drama series Grey's Anatomy as Dr. Richard Webber's first wife, Adele. ^[7] In 2011 she won a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series for her performance. She was nominated for a second time for her performance in 2012. ^[8] Devine also won Gracie Allen Award for Outstanding Female Actor in a Feature Role for Grey's Anatomy in 2012. ^[9]

In 2011, she also starred on the short-lived ABC Family comedy State of Georgia . In 2012, she was part of Being Mary Jane cast. She also voiced the character Hallie, on the Disney Junior series Doc McStuffins . Later that year she began starring in the Lifetime series The Client List , playing the role of Georgia Cummings, the owner of the massage parlor where the lead character Riley Parks works. The series was canceled after two seasons. ^[10] Devine also played Cynthia Carmichael on the NBC sitcom The Carmichael Show . ^{[11] [12]} Devine starred on the Netflix series, Family Reunion , with Richard Roundtree and Tia Mowry-Hardrict.

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1981	Will	Will's Wife
1983	Anna to the Infinite Power	Ms. Everett Benson
1988	Little Nikita	Verna McLaughlin
	Sticky Fingers	Diane Cooley
1990	Stanley & Iris	Bertha Simmons
1991	Caged Fear	Judy
	Livin' Large	Nadine Biggs
1992	Class Act	Ms. Brown
1993	Amos & Andrew	Ula
1994	The Hard Truth	Rose Maxwell
1995	Waiting to Exhale	Gloria Matthews
1996	The Preacher's Wife	Beverly
1997	The Price of Kissing	Jackee Blaine
	Hoodlum	Pigfoot Mary
	Lover Girl	Leticia
1998	Love Kills	Sylvia Finkelstein
	Down in the Delta	Zenia
	Urban Legend	Reese Wilson
	Operation Splitsville	Principal
	Alyson's Closet	Raul's Mother (voice)	Short
1999	Funny Valentines	Dearie B.
	The Breaks	Floria
	Lillie	Michelle
2000	Punks	Aretha Stone
	Urban Legends: Final Cut	Reese Wilson
	What Women Want	Florence "Flo" Glover
2001	Kingdom Come	Marguerite Slocumb
	I Am Sam	Margaret Calgrove
2002	Book of Love	Mary Baker
	Baby of the Family	Delores Evans
2004	Woman Thou Art Loosed	Cassey Jordan
	Crash	Shaniqua Johnson
2005	King's Ransom	Miss Gladys
2006	Dirty Laundry	Evelyn
	Dreamgirls	Gladys Brooks
2007	Cougar Club	Dolly
	This Christmas	Shirley Ann "Ma'Dere" Whitfield
2008	First Sunday	Sister Doris
	Beverly Hills Chihuahua	Delta (voice)
2009	Spring Breakdown	Dr. Marguerite Tyson
	My Son, My Son, What Have Ye Done?	Miss Willheima Roberts
2010	Death at a Funeral	Cynthia
	Lottery Ticket	Grandma Dorothy Carson
	For Colored Girls	Juanita Sims/Green
	Beverly Hills Chihuahua 2	Delta (voice)	Video
2011	Madea's Big Happy Family	Shirley
	Jumping the Broom	Pamela Taylor
	Politics of Love	Shirlee Gupta
2012	In the Hive	Mrs. Inez
2013	The Get Away	Ms. Crawford	Short
	Khumba	Mama Veronica aka Mama V (voice)
	A Very Larry Christmas	Mrs. Claus
2014	Comeback Dad	Malinda
	Welcome to Me	Barb Vaughn
	The Sound and the Fury	Dilsey
	You're Not You	Marilyn Jo
2015	Back to School Mom	Meghan Graham
	1440 and Counting	Mrs. Nickel	Short
	For the Love of Ruth	Naomi
2016	Norm of the North	Tamecia (voice)
	Caged No More	Aggie James
	Grandma’s House	Grandma Margie
	36 Hour Layover	Mrs. Carey
2017	My Other Home	Mabel Marbury
	Naked	Carol
	Violets	Marcy	Short
2018	Sierra Burgess Is a Loser	Ms. April Thomson
2019	The Trap	Mama Jay
	First Day Back	Superintendent Lola Greene	Short
	Postmarked	Hattie	Short
2020	The Last Starship	Dorothy	Short
	Spell	Eloise
	Always and Forever	Elda
	The McHenry Trial - Don't Judge a Kid by Their Hoodie	Doris McHenry	Short
2021	Queen Bees	Sally Heart
	The Starling	Velma
2022	Mack & Rita	Sharon
	Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Rodrick Rules	Irene
2023	A Snowy Day in Oakland	Jeanette
2024	Bull Street	Mrs. Big-Gal
	Rock the Boat 2	-
	Lost & Found in Cleveland	Joy Morris

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1986	The Core of the Apple	Herself	Episode: "Manhattan Afrodreams"
1987	CBS Summer Playhouse	Cheryl	Episode: "Sirens"
1987–88	A Different World	Stevie Rallen	Main cast (season 1)
1988	The Murder of Mary Phagan	Annie Maude Carter	2 episodes
	Amen	Lydia Cummings	Episode: "Court of Love"
1989	Parent Trap III	Thelma Pardrige	TV movie
	Heart and Soul	Tonia Harris	TV movie
1990	Murphy Brown	Nurse Diana Hawking	Episode: "The Bitch's Back"
	Sugar and Spice	Loretta Fontaine	Main cast
	Cop Rock	Juror Devine	Episode: "Marital Blitz" & "No Noose Is Good Noose"
1991	Great Performances	Janine Wills	Episode: "The Colored Museum"
	Reasonable Doubts	Valerie Hall	Episode: "Hard Bargains"
1992	Love & War	Donna	Episode: "For John"
1992–93	Roc	Cynthia Raine	Recurring cast (season 2)
1993	Out All Night	Crystal	Episode: "The Way We Were"
	Family Album	June	Episode: "Salon, Farewell, Auf Wiedersehn, Goodbye"
	The American Clock	Irene Mack Shaw	TV movie
1995	Picket Fences	Marla Melrose	Episode: "Close Encounters"
	Ned and Stacey	Mrs. Sally Duncan	Episode: "Reality Check"
1996	Rebound: The Legend of Earl 'The Goat' Manigault	Miss Mary Johnson	TV movie
1997	Touched by an Angel	Tonya Hawkins	Episode: "Amazing Grace: Part 1"
	Promised Land	Tonya Hawkins	Episode: "Amazing Grace: Part 2"
	Happily Ever After: Fairy Tales for Every Child	Mother (voice)	Episode: "The Golden Goose"
	Clover	Everleen Moore	TV movie
	Don King: Only in America	Connie Harper	TV movie
1998	E! Behind the Scenes	Herself	Episode: "Urban Legend"
1999	Moesha	Gwen "Stephanie" "Steph" Watkins	Episode: "It Takes Two"
	Clueless	Phyllis Holiday	Episode: "Graduation"
	Jackie's Back	Snookie Tate	TV movie
	Introducing Dorothy Dandridge	Ruby Dandridge	TV movie
1999–2001	The PJs	Muriel Stubbs (née Warren) (voice)	Main cast
2000	Family Law	Gloria Rivers	Episode: "Playing God"
	Ally McBeal	Nora Mills	Episode: "I Will Survive"
	Freedom Song	Evelyn Walker	TV movie
	Best Actress	Connie Travers	TV movie
2001	Intimate Portrait	Herself	Episode: "Lela Rochon"
	Hollywood Squares	Herself/Panelist	Recurring guest
2000–04	Boston Public	Marla Hendricks	Main cast
2003	Pyramid	Herself/Celebrity Contestant	Episode: "Nov 4, 2003"
	Half & Half	Erika Duke	Episode: "The Big Phat Mouth Episode: Part 1 & 2"
2004–05	Wild Card	M. Pearl McGuire	Main cast (season 2)
2005	Supernatural	Missouri Moseley	Episode: "Home"
2005–06	Girlfriends	Judge Vashti Jackson	Episode: "Trial and Errors" & "...Ain't Nothing Over There"
2005–13	Grey's Anatomy	Adele Webber	Recurring cast (season 2-4 & 7-8), guest (season 5-6 & 9)
2006	Boston Legal	Annabelle Carruthers	Episode: "The Nutcrackers"
	Life Is Not a Fairy Tale	Addie Collins	TV movie
2006–07	Everybody Hates Chris	Maxine	Guest (season 1), Recurring cast (season 2)
2007	Boston Legal	Judge Victoria Thomson	Episode: "Oral Contracts"
2008–09	Eli Stone	Patti Dellacroix	Main cast
2009	Cold Case	Chandra Patterson '09	Episode: "Soul"
2010	Party Down	Diane Ellison	Episode: "James Ellison Funeral"
2011	Glee	Sister Mary Constance	Episode: "Original Song"
	State of Georgia	Honey Dupree	Main cast
2012	RuPaul's Drag Race	Herself	Episode: "Snatch Game"
	Shake It Up	Judge Marsha Elliott	Episode: "Judge It Up"
	The Game	Grandma Donna Mack	Episode: "There's No Place Like Home"
	The Cleveland Show	Shirley (voice)	Episode: "Mama Drama"
2012–13	The Client List	Georgia Cummings-Clemens	Main cast
2012–20	Doc McStuffins	Nurse Hallie Hippo (voice)	Main cast
2013	Teachers	Doris	TV movie
2014	Psych	Melba Birdson	Episode: "1967: A Psych Odyssey"
	Sullivan & Son	Rose	Episode: "Hank Goes Black"
	Turbo Fast	Lydia	Episode: "Zoo Lander/Balloonatics"
2014–15	Sirens	Rosemary St. Claire	Recurring cast (season 1), guest (season 2)
2015	Being Mary Jane	CeCe Robinson	Recurring cast (season 3)
2015–17	The Carmichael Show	Cynthia Carmichael	Main cast
2016	Hollywood Game Night	Herself/Celebrity Player	Episode: "Sealed with a Kesha"
	Nubbin & Friends	Mrs. Sandy Johnson	Episode: "The Letter "A""
2017	The Lost Souls Cafe	Geneva	TV movie
	Supernatural	Missouri Moseley	Episode: "Patience"
2018	Behind the Movement	Jo Ann Robinson	TV movie
	Jingle Belle	Emory Simons	TV movie
	Dear White People	Sorbet	Episode: "Volume 2: Chapter VII"
	Living Biblically	Estelle Williams	Episode: "Never Let Loyalty Love You"
	Love Is	Rose Marie	Recurring cast
2019	A Black Lady Sketch Show	Pastor Rosetta Daniels	Episode: "Your Boss Knows You Don't Have Eyebrows"
	Black-ish	Lynette Mae	Recurring cast (season 6)
	A Sweet Christmas Romance	Mrs. Rose	TV movie
	A Family Reunion Christmas	Amelia 'M'Dear' McKellan	TV movie
2019–22	Family Reunion	Amelia 'M'Dear' McKellan	Main cast
2020	Cherish the Day	Herself	Episode: "Catharsis"
	Game On: A Comedy Crossover Event	Amelia 'M'Dear' McKellan	Episode: "Family Reunion: Remember the Family's Feud?"
	Connecting	Dayleen	Recurring cast
2020–22	P-Valley	Earnestine Sayles	Main cast (season 1), recurring cast (season 2)
2021	Teenage Euthanasia	God (voice)	Episode: "First Date with the Second Coming"
	Christmas in Harmony	Mama	TV movie
	Christmas Déjà Vu	Crystal	TV movie
2021–23	The Loud House	Gayle McBride (voice)	Recurring cast (season 5-6), guest (season 7)
2022	Days of Our Lives: Beyond Salem	Angela	Main cast (season 2)
	Eureka!	Wanda (voice)	Recurring cast
	RuPaul's Secret Celebrity Drag Race	Herself/Fabulosity	Episode: "I'm Coming Out: First Time in Drag!"
	All I Didn't Want for Christmas	Lorraine	TV movie
2023	Days of Our Lives	Angela	2 episodes
	Doc McStuffins: The Doc and Bella Are In!	Nurse Hallie Hippo (voice)	Recurring cast
	God-ly	Clotho	Episode: "King of the Castle P1"
	Young Love	Gigi Young (voice)	Recurring cast
	Kingdom Business	Darlene	Recurring cast (season 2)
2024	Everybody Still Hates Chris	Maxine (voice)	Episode: "Everybody Still Hates Cheat Codes"
	Doctor Odyssey	Jill Manafort	Episode: "Quackers" [13]
	Terry McMillan Presents: Tempted by Love	Miss Mimi	TV movie

Music videos

Year	Song	Artist
2004	"What If"	Ruben Studdard

Video game

Year	Title	Role
2015	King's Quest	Muriel Hobblepot

Theater

Year	Musical	Role	Location
1977	Hair	Dionne	Samuel J. Friedman Theatre
	Langston Hughes	Soloist	AMAS Repertory Theatre
	Karma	-	Richard Allen Center
	Verandah	Gloria	New Dramatists
	Seasons Reasons	Soloists	Henry Street Settlement Playhouse
1978	Godsong	Minister	La MaMa Experimental Theatre Club
	A Broadway Musical	Yenta Lady	Lunt-Fontanne Theatre
	Miss Truth	Loretta	Apollo Theatre
	Bones	-	Circle in the Square Theatre
	The Wiz	Glinda the Good Witch of the South	Henry Street Settlement Playhouse
	The Blacks	Virtue	Richard Allen Center
1979	Comin' Uptown	Young Mary	Winter Garden Theatre
1980	Lion and the Jewel	Jewel	Lincoln Center
	Dementos	Precious	New York City Center
1981	Dreamgirls	Lorell Robinson	Imperial Theatre
1983	The Casting of Kevin Christian	-	Shepherd Street Art Gallery
1984	Gotta Getaway!	Mermaid	Radio City Music Hall
1985	Long Time Since Yesterday	Janeen Earl-Taylor	Henry Street Settlement Playhouse
1986	Big Deal	Lilly	Broadway Theatre
	The Colored Museum	Lala, Wigs, and Model	Public Theaters/Susan Stein Shiva Theater
1990	Spunk	Delia	Mark Taper Forum
	Woman from the Town	Cissy	-
	A Midsummer Night's Dream	Cissy	-
	The Hot Mikado	Cissy	-
1991	Lady Day at Emerson's Bar and Grill	Billie Holiday	Old Globe Theatre, San Diego, CA, then Little Theatre, Phoenix, AZ, 1991
	Rabbit Foot	Holly Day	Los Angeles Theatre Center
	East Texas Hot Links	Charlesetta	The Met
	Rodgers, Hart, Hammerstein Tribute	Soloist	Embassy Theatre
	Big Moments on Broadway	Soloist	Kennedy Center Opera House
1995	The Wiz	Glinda the Good Witch of the South	Apollo Revival

Awards and nominations

Year	Awards	Category	Title	Outcome
1995	Helen Hayes Award	Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Resident Musical	Hot Mikado	Nominated
1996	NAACP Image Awards	Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture	Waiting to Exhale	Won
1997	NAACP Image Awards	Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture	The Preacher's Wife	Won
2001	NAACP Image Awards	Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series	Boston Public	Won
	NAACP Image Awards	Outstanding Actress in a Television Movie, Mini-Series or Dramatic Special	Freedom Song	Won
2002	NAACP Image Awards	Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture	Kingdom Come	Nominated
2003	NAACP Image Awards	Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series	Boston Public	Won
2003	Satellite Awards	Best Supporting Actress – Television Series Drama	Boston Public	Nominated
2004	NAACP Image Awards	Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series	Boston Public	Won
2004	Satellite Awards	Best Supporting Actress – Television Series Drama	Boston Public	Nominated
2005	NAACP Image Awards	Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture	Woman Thou Art Loosed	Nominated
2005	Independent Spirit Awards	Best Supporting Female	Woman Thou Art Loosed	Nominated
2007	NAACP Image Awards	Outstanding Actress in a Television Movie, Mini-Series or Dramatic Special	Life Is Not a Fairy Tale	Nominated
2008	NAACP Image Awards	Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture	This Christmas	Nominated
2009	NAACP Image Awards	Outstanding Actress in a Drama Series	Eli Stone	Nominated
2011	Primetime Emmy Awards	Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series	Grey's Anatomy	Won
2012	Gracie Allen Awards	Outstanding Actress in a Featured Role	Grey's Anatomy	Won
2012	NAACP Image Awards	Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series	Grey's Anatomy	Nominated
2012	Primetime Emmy Awards	Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series	Grey's Anatomy	Nominated
2012	Critics' Choice Television Awards	Best Guest Performer in a Drama Series	Grey's Anatomy	Nominated
2013	NAACP Image Awards	Outstanding Actress in a Motion Picture	In the Hive	Nominated
		Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series	Grey's Anatomy	Won
		Outstanding Performance in a Youth/Children's Series or Special	Doc McStuffins	Won
2022	Children's and Family Emmy Awards	Outstanding Lead Performance	Family Reunion	Nominated

See also

• History of the African-Americans in Houston

References

1. McCann, Bob (2009). Encyclopedia of African American Actresses in Film and Television. McFarland. p. 99. ISBN   978-0-7864-5804-2. Archived from the original on August 24, 2023. Retrieved March 22, 2023.
2. Loewenstein, Melinda (August 19, 2011). "Emmy Nominee Loretta Devine Reflects on a Divine Career". Backstage . Archived from the original on August 15, 2016. Retrieved August 5, 2016.
3. Kelly, Chris (February 26, 2013). "Devine Calling". Modern Luxury – Houston. Archived from the original on October 9, 2018. Retrieved August 5, 2016.
4. Pease, Theresa (Summer 2011). "Achieving Devinity: Even if you don't know this Brandeis actress' name, you'll recognize her face". Brandeis Magazine. Brandeis University. Archived from the original on December 19, 2016. Retrieved August 5, 2016.
5. Smiley, Tavis (May 4, 2011). "Actress Loretta Devine". Tavis Smiley . PBS. Archived from the original (Video interview) on August 24, 2023. Retrieved August 5, 2016.
6. Oxendine, Alece (July 31, 2013). "Remembering Jessie Maple And Her Landmark 1981 Feature-Length Film, 'Will'". Indie Wire. indiewire.com. Archived from the original on August 24, 2023. Retrieved February 18, 2017.
7. Braxton, Greg (April 17, 2008). "Devine counts many blessings". Los Angeles Times . Archived from the original on August 24, 2023. Retrieved August 5, 2016.
8. "| Academy of Television Arts & Sciences". Emmys.com. Archived from the original on August 31, 2013. Retrieved January 12, 2014.
9. "2012 Gracie Awards". thegracies.org. Archived from the original on October 4, 2012. Retrieved October 28, 2012.
10. "The Client List: canceled, no season three | canceled + renewed TV shows". TV Series Finale. November 2013. Retrieved January 12, 2014.
11. Wells, Veronica (August 25, 2015). "Loretta Devine Talks New Show, Waiting To Exhale & More". MadameNoire . Archived from the original on May 18, 2021. Retrieved August 5, 2016.
12. Raqiyah, Mays (August 26, 2015). "Loretta Devine Tackles Topical Comedy on 'The Carmichael Show' [Interview]". Ebony . Archived from the original on August 15, 2016. Retrieved August 5, 2016..
13. Sloop, Hope (November 22, 2024). "'Doctor Odyssey' Episode 8: "Quackers" Puts A Rubber Ducky In The Stomach and a Bun In The Oven". www.decider.com. Decider. Retrieved November 26, 2024.

External links

• Loretta Devine at IMDb
• Loretta Devine at the Internet Broadway Database
• Loretta Devine at the Internet Off-Broadway Database (archived)