This page uses content from the Lynne Thigpen biography page on the English version of Wikipedia and is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. This list of authors can be seen in the page history. Rotten Tomatoes disclaims any and all warranties as to the accuracy or reliability of the content.

Lynne Thigpen (December 22, 1948 – March 12, 2003) was an American actress.

She was born Cherlynne Theresa Thigpen in Joliet, Illinois, and obtained a degree in teaching. She taught high school English briefly in Joliet, while studying theatre and dance at the University of Illinois, then, in 1971, moved to New York City.

Career

Theater

Thigpen had a long and prolific theater career, appearing initially in musicals such as Godspell, The Night that Made America Famous, The Magic Show, Working, and Tintypes.

Her crowning theater achievement was her appearance in the Wendy Wasserstein play "An American Daughter". She won a Tony Award in 1997 for her portrayal of Dr. Judith Kaufman.

Film

Her first film was Godspell in 1973. She appeared in a number of featured roles in films over the year, including appearances in "Streets of Fire", "Tootsie", "Running On Empty", "Lean on Me", "Hello Again", and "The Insider". Her last film appearance was in the 2003 comedy Anger Management, starring Jack Nicholson. Few people know that she was also the DJ in "The Warriors".

Broadcast Media

Thigpen may be best known for her role in the children’s geography TV show Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego?. In the series, she played the role of "The Chief" of the ACME Detective Agency, a role that involved both education and comedy, and, on occasion, musical performance. She also appeared on another children's show, Bear in the Big Blue House, and voiced the character of Luna.

She appeared on many primetime series; her last role was a contract role as Ella Farmer, a statistics clerk for the Washington, D.C. police department, on The District. She was also prominently featured in a storyline on the daytime drama All My Children as Grace Keeler. She had recurring roles on Gimme A Break!, L.A. Law, Law & Order, The Days and Nights of Molly Dodd, and thirtysomething.

She appeared in radio skits of the Garrison Keillor program A Prairie Home Companion. Thigpen's dusky voice was also heard on over 20 books on tape. The books were often works with socially relevant themes. [1]

Death

Thigpen was found unconscious at her home in Marina del Rey, California, by a friend; she died of cerebral hemorrhage. She had been complaining of headaches for several days, and was 54 years old. She had not been seriously ill, and her death was a surprise and shock. Drugs and foul play were ruled out by the coroner's autopsy, which found "acute cardiac dysfunction, non-traumatic systemic and spontaneous intraventricular hemorrhage and hemorrhage in the brain" as well as an enlarged heart.

Posthumous efforts

• When Thigpen died, The District also had a funeral for Thigpen's character as well. (The show was cancelled a short time later, but can be seen in reruns on the USA and A&E networks.)
• Thigpen's untimely death also led to the three-year hiatus of Bear in the Big Blue House. A planned film version was also put on hold. According to Tara Mooney ('Shadow'), who was interviewed by Ray D'Arcy on Ireland's Today FM in 2005, "the crew's hearts just weren't in it anymore" after Thigpen's death.
• Friends have established a non-profit foundation in her name to help young actresses and actors learn how to survive and succeed in New York Theater, to mentor the next generation of Broadway stars.
• An elementary school in Joliet, Illinois is named for her.[2]

Credits

Stage

• Godspell: 1973
• The Night That Made America Famous: 1975
• The Magic Show: 1976
• Working
• But Never Jam Today
• Tintypes: 1980-81
• August Wilson's Fences: 1988
• Athol Fugard's Boesman and Lena: Obie award, 1992
• A Month of Sundays
• Wendy Wasserstein's An American Daughter:1996-7 (Tony Award 1997)
• Jar the Floor

Radio

• The Garrison Keillor Show

Screen

• Godspell (1973)
• The Warriors (1979) (She appears as the radio announcer, only her lips are seen.)
• Tootsie (1982)
• Lean on Me (1989)
• Article 99 (1992)
• Bob Roberts (1992)
• Blankman (1994)
• Random Hearts (1999)
• The Insider (1999)
• Bicentennial Man (1999)
• Shaft (2000)
• Novocaine (2001)
• Anger Management (2003)

Television

• Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego? as The Chief
• Where in Time is Carmen Sandiego? as The Chief
• The District (as Chief Jack Mannion's Director of Administration, Ella Farmer)
• All My Children: as nurse Grace Keefer
• thirtysomething
• L.A. Law
• Law & Order (occasional as Judge Ida Boucher)

Software

• Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego? v.3.0 as The Chief
• Where in the U.S.A. is Carmen Sandiego? v.3.0 as The Chief
• Where in Time is Carmen Sandiego? v.3.0 as The Chief

Voice

• All God's Children Need Traveling Shoes, by Maya Angelou
• Bear in the Big Blue House as Luna
• The Bluest Eye, by Toni Morrison
• House of Dies Drear by Virginia Hamilton
• Jazz, by Toni Morrison
• One Better, by Rosalyn McMillan
• Paradise, by Toni Morrison
• People of the Century, by Time magazine editors
• Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry, by Mildred D. Taylor
• Song of Solomon, by Toni Morrison
• Sula, by Toni Morrison
• Tar Baby, by Toni Morrison
• Their Eyes Were Watching God, by Zora Neale Hurston
• The Trials of Nikki Hill, by Christopher Darden and Dick Lochte
• Zeely, by Virginia Hamilton
• The Women of Brewster Place, by Gloria Naylor
• 2000X: Tales of the Next Millennia, science fiction collection

Awards (nominations)

Los Angeles Drama Critics award

• 1987 for August Wilson's "Fences,"

Obie Award

• 1992 for Athol Fugard's "Boesman and Lena"
• 2000 for "Jar the Floor"

Tony Award

• 1997 "Best Supporting Actress" for "An American Daughter"

NAACP Image Awards

• 1997 Outstanding Actress in a Daytime Drama Series for All My Children
• 1996 Outstanding Performance in an Educational/Informational Youth or Children's Series/Special for Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego?

AudioFile Awards

• Golden Voices for the year 2000

Daytime Emmy Awards

• 2004 Outstanding Performer in a Children's Series for Bear in the Big Blue House
• This nomination was posthumous

External links

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