Yvette Freeman | |
---|---|
Born | Wilmington, Delaware, U.S. |
Occupation | Actress |
Years active | 1979–present |
Yvette Freeman is an American actress, singer and director. Predominantly active as a stage actress, she made her Broadway debut in 1979 in the original production of Ain't Misbehavin' . She won the Obie Award for Distinguished Performance by an Actress for her portrayal of Dinah Washington in the 1998 Off-Broadway play Dinah Was. On television, she is best known for her roles as Haleh Adams in the NBC medical drama series ER , Evelyn Smalley in the TV series Working , and Irma Lerman in Orange Is the New Black .
Freeman was born and raised in Wilmington, Delaware. She later moved to New York City to pursue a career in graphic design. There she turned to acting on stage productions, before appearing in The Wiz and Ain't Misbehavin' . [1] At the same time, she also worked as a singer in nightclubs and performed in cabaret. [1] In 1990, Freeman relocated to Los Angeles, and began appearing on television, [1] in shows like Tales from the Crypt , Knots Landing , and L.A. Law .
Freeman is best known for her role as Haleh Adams, a registered nurse, on the NBC medical drama series ER . She played the role from 1994 to the series finale in 2009, appearing in 184 episodes total. She was one of the longest-serving recurring characters on the show, having appeared in every season since 1994, with her first appearance in the two-hour pilot episode. From 1997 to 1999, she was also a regular on the NBC sitcom Working , while still appearing in ER. In 2002, during ER summer hiatus, she lost 120 pounds and now speaks as a positive advocate for weight loss. [2] [3]
In 1999, Freeman released her debut album, A Tribute to Dinah Washington , after performing in the Off-Broadway production of Dinah Was [1] [4] She won the Obie Award for Distinguished Performance by an Actress in 1998. [5] In 2012, she played Ma Rainey, the Mother of the Blues in the Huntington Theatre Company production of August Wilson's Ma Rainey's Black Bottom . [6]
In 2000s, Freeman had recurring roles on the daytime soap operas Days of Our Lives and The Bold and the Beautiful , and guest starred on Judging Amy , Boston Public , and CSI: Crime Scene Investigation . In 2014, Freeman was cast as Irma, one of "The Golden Girls", in the Netflix comedy-drama series, Orange Is the New Black . [7] Along with cast, Freeman received Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series. [8]
Year | Title | Role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
1991 | Switch | Mae the Maid | |
Dead Again | Nurse | ||
1992 | Just My Imagination | Mrs. DeWitt | TV movie |
1995 | Children of the Corn III: Urban Harvest | Samantha | |
Angus | Science Teacher | ||
1996 | Norma Jean & Marilyn | Hazel Washington | TV movie |
2002 | The Adventures of Tom Thumb and Thumbelina | Leola (voice) | Video |
Hung-Up | Aida | Short | |
2003 | Remember | - | Short |
2005 | Planting Melvin | Wanda Shepard | |
2009 | The Revenant | Scientological Nurse | |
2010 | Five Star Day | Social Worker | |
2011 | Hope | Librarian | Short |
2017 | The Last Word | Housekeeper | |
2020 | Blindfire | Gayle Hughes | |
2021 | The Starling | Mrs. Oberhoffer |
Year | Title | Role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
1990 | Alien Nation | Helen | Episode: "The Touch" |
Ann Jillian | Gloria | Episode: "It's a Mall World After All" | |
Dragnet | Witness | Episode: "The Torch" | |
Doctor Doctor | Mrs. Cratchit | Episode: "Malpractice Makes Imperfect" | |
Over My Dead Body | Nurse Hunter | Episode: "Carrie Christmas and a Nappie New Year" | |
1991 | Equal Justice | Clerk | Episode: "Courting Disaster" |
Tales from the Crypt | Jury Forewoman | Episode: "The Trap" | |
Step by Step | Doris | Episode: "Yo-Yo's Wedding" | |
1992 | Knots Landing | Gwen | Episode: "The Price" |
1992-93 | Down the Shore | The Woman/Sheriff | Episode: "My Left Feet" & "Jail Bait" |
1993 | Camp Wilder | Teacher | Episode: "Career Day" |
Life Goes On | Nurse #1 | Episode: "Bedfellows" | |
Sisters | Nightmare Host #3 | Episode: "Sleepless in Winnetka" | |
1994 | Hangin' with Mr. Cooper | Feather | Episode: "Pros and Convicts" |
L.A. Law | Anelda Hightower | Episode: "Finish Line" | |
1994-2009 | ER | Nurse Haleh Adams | Recurring cast |
1995 | The John Larroquette Show | Mrs. Wilson | Episode: "Night Moves" |
1996 | Living Single | Ms. Peabody | Episode: "The Engagement: Part 2" |
1997 | NYPD Blue | Sister Sun Ray | Episode: "Tom and Geri" |
1997-99 | Working | Evelyn Smalley | Main cast |
2000 | Judging Amy | Claire Reeves | Episode: "The Burden of Perspective" |
2000-01 | Boston Public | Gladys Crenshaw | Episodes: "Chapter Eight" and "Chapter Eleven" |
2001 | That's Life | Lawyer | Episode: "No Good Deed" |
The Tick | Thelma | Episode: "The License" | |
2002 | Presidio Med | - | Episode: "Good Question" |
2007 | Saving Grace | Toby McKees | Episode: "This Is Way Too Normal for You" |
2008-10 | Days of Our Lives | Nurse Lesley | Regular Cast |
2010 | Pretty Little Liars | School Administrator | Episode: "The Perfect Storm" |
2009-12 | The Bold and the Beautiful | Dr. Lewis | Regular Cast |
2014 | CSI: Crime Scene Investigation | Cynthia Hughes | Episode: "The Twin Paradox" |
2014-15 | Orange Is the New Black | Irma Lerman | Recurring cast: Season 2, guest: Season 3 |
2019 | A Black Lady Sketch Show | Denise Garrett | Episode: "Why Are Her Pies Wet, Lord?" |
2020 | Deputy | Mrs. Murphy | Episode: "Deputy Down" |
Amazing Stories | Sterling's Grandma | Episode: "The Heat" | |
2023 | Will Trent | Bonnie | Episode: "Manhunt" |
Katherine Kiernan Maria Mulgrew is an American actress and author. She is best known for her roles as Captain Kathryn Janeway in Star Trek: Voyager and Red in Orange Is the New Black. She first came to attention in the role of Mary Ryan in the daytime soap opera Ryan's Hope.
Nell Carter was an American actress and singer.
Bonnie Blair Brown is an American theater, film and television actress. She has had a number of high-profile roles, including in the play Copenhagen on Broadway, the leading actress in the films Altered States (1980), Continental Divide (1981) and Strapless (1989), as well as a run as the title character in the comedy-drama television series The Days and Nights of Molly Dodd, which ran from 1987 to 1991. Her later roles include Nina Sharp on the Fox television series Fringe and Judy King on the Netflix series Orange Is the New Black.
Mary Eileen McDonnell is an American film, stage, and television actress. She received Academy Award nominations for her roles as Stands With A Fist in Dances With Wolves and May-Alice Culhane in Passion Fish. McDonnell is well known for her performances as President Laura Roslin in Battlestar Galactica, First Lady Marilyn Whitmore in Independence Day, and Rose in Donnie Darko. She was featured as Captain Sharon Raydor during seasons 5–7 of the TNT series The Closer and starred as Commander Sharon Raydor in the spin-off series Major Crimes on the same network. In 2023, she played Madeleine Usher in the miniseries The Fall of the House of Usher on Netflix.
Phylicia Rashad is an American actress. She was most recently dean of the College of Fine Arts at Howard University before her three-year contract ended in May 2024. She is best known for her role as Clair Huxtable on the sitcom The Cosby Show (1984–1992) which earned her two Primetime Emmy Award nominations in 1985 and 1986. She also played Ruth Lucas on Cosby (1996–2000).
Nancy Lou Marchand was an American actress. She began her career in theater in 1951. She was most famous for her television portrayals of Margaret Pynchon on Lou Grant – for which she won four Emmy Awards – and Livia Soprano on The Sopranos, for which she won a Golden Globe Award.
S. Epatha Merkerson is an American actress. She has received accolades for her work, including an Emmy Award, a Golden Globe Award, a Screen Actors Guild Award, four NAACP Image Awards, two Obie Awards, and two Tony Award nominations. She is known for her portrayal of NYPD Lieutenant Anita Van Buren on the NBC police procedural drama series Law & Order, a role she played from 1993 to 2010, appearing in 388 episodes of the series. She is also known for playing Reba the Mail Lady on Pee-wee's Playhouse and Sharon Goodwin in the NBC medical drama Chicago Med since the series premiered in November 2015.
Adriane Lenox is an American actress, best known for her performances in Broadway theatre. Her performance in the play Doubt: A Parable garnered her the Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Play in 2005. She received another Tony Award nomination for After Midnight in 2014.
Frances Hussey Sternhagen was an American actress. She was known as a character actress who appeared on- and off-Broadway, in movies, and on television for over six decades. Sternhagen received numerous accolades including two Tony Awards, a Drama Desk Award and a Saturn Award, as well as nominations for three Primetime Emmy Awards.
Hattie Winston is an American film, television and Broadway actress. She is known for her roles as Margaret Wyborn on Becker, Lucy Carmichael in Rugrats, The Rugrats Movie, and the spin off series All Grown Up! and as a cast member of the PBS children's series The Electric Company.
Sharon Delores Clarke is an English actress and singer. She is a three-time Olivier Award winner, and is best known to television audiences for her role as Lola Griffin in the medical drama Holby City, and as Grace O'Brien in Doctor Who. Clarke has also played lead roles in many West End musicals, and originated the roles of the Killer Queen in We Will Rock You and Oda Mae Brown in Ghost the Musical.
André Robin De Shields is an American actor, singer, dancer, director, and choreographer. He has received numerous accolades including an Emmy Award, Grammy Award, and Tony Award.
Leland Palmer is an American actress, dancer, and singer who has appeared on stage, in motion pictures, and on television. She appeared on Broadway in Bajour (1964), A Joyful Noise (1966) Hello, Dolly!, Applause, and Pippin (1972). Palmer received two Tony Award nominations: in 1967 for featured actress in a musical, and in 1973 for actress in a musical.
Adina Elizabeth Porter is an American actress. She is best known for her roles as Lettie Mae Thornton on the HBO fantasy horror series True Blood (2008–2014), Kendra James on the HBO drama series The Newsroom (2012–2014), Indra on the CW science fiction drama series The 100 (2014–2020) and Sheriff Susan Peterkin on the Netflix teen drama series Outer Banks. She received further recognition for her roles as Sally Freeman, Lee Harris, Beverly Hope, Dinah Stevens, and Chief Burleson on the first, sixth, seventh, eighth, and tenth seasons of the FX anthology series American Horror Story (2011–present).
Viola Davis is an American actress and film producer. Her accolades include both the Triple Crown of Acting and EGOT. Time named her one of the 100 most influential people in the world in 2012 and 2017. The New York Times ranked her ninth on its list of the greatest actors of the 21st century (2020). Davis will receive the Cecil B. DeMille Award in 2025.
Lillias White is an American actress and singer. She is particularly known for her performances in Broadway musicals. In 1989 she won an Obie Award for her performance in the Off-Broadway musical Romance in Hard Times. In 1997 she won the Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Musical and Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Featured Actress in a Musical for portraying Sonja in Cy Coleman's The Life. She was nominated for a Tony Award again in 2010 for her work as Funmilayo in Fela Kuti's Fela!.
Charlaine "Charlayne" Woodard is an American playwright and actress. She is a two-time Obie Award winner as well as a Tony Award and Drama Desk nominee. She was a series regular on the hit FX TV series Pose. She played the title role in the Showtime movie Run For The Dream: The Gail Devers’ Story. Starring as Cindy in the ABC Movie of the Week, Woodard was the first black Cinderella portrayed on TV or film. She is in Marvel Studios' miniseries Secret Invasion as Priscilla Fury, which premiered on June 21, 2023.
Taylor Jane Schilling is an American actress. She is best known for her role as Piper Chapman on the Netflix original comedy-drama series Orange Is the New Black (2013–2019), for which she received a nomination for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series and two Golden Globe Award nominations for Best Actress – Television Series Musical or Comedy and Best Actress – Television Series Drama. She made her film debut in the 2007 drama Dark Matter. She also starred as Nurse Veronica Flanagan Callahan in the short-lived NBC medical drama Mercy (2009–2010). Her other films include Atlas Shrugged: Part I (2011), the romantic drama The Lucky One (2012), the comedy Take Me (2017), and the science-fiction thriller The Titan (2018).
Elizabeth Rodriguez is an American actress. She began her career appearing in films Fresh (1994), Dead Presidents (1995), I Think I Do (1997) and Blow (2001). She played Detective Gina Calabrese in the 2006 film adaptation of Miami Vice.
Marylouise Burke is an American actress. Her roles have included the 2004 Alexander Payne film Sideways, in which she played Phyliis, the mother of the lead character. On stage, she has appeared off-Broadway in Fuddy Meers in 1999, winning the Drama Desk Award for Featured Actress in a Play, and in Kimberly Akimbo in 2003, receiving a Drama Desk Award, Outstanding Actress in a Play nomination. She also played the role of Jack's mother in the 2002 Broadway revival of Into the Woods.