Angela Bassett
From Harpo's Juke Joint
| Angela Bassett | ||
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| Born: | August 16, 1958 New York City, NY | |
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| Website: | Angie B News! | |
| Fanlisting: | ::Angela Bassett:: | |
| Discuss Angela Bassett | ||
Angela Bassett is an American Academy Award and Emmy-nominated actress. She is frequently hailed as one of the greatest black actresses of all time, having performed on stage, screen and television. Bassett is married to fellow actor and Yale alum Courtney B. Vance.
In 2000, Bassett received an honorary Ph.D. from Howard University.
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Biography
Early life
Angela and her sister D'Nette moved to St. Petersberg, Florida when Bassett was young. She was raised by her mother Betty, a divorced social worker. Betty emphasized the importance of education regularly, and Bassett had that to go on when it came time to play the stern but loving Tanya Anderson in Akeelah and the Bee. "That's aspects of my mom. She had high expectations. She'd go to your school with her steno pad and take notes from the teachers."[1]
Bassett describes herself as a shy child, stating that she earned her confidence through recitals at school and church.
Bassett was the first black student at Boca Ciega High School to be inducted into the National Honor Society. She earned a full scholarship to Yale University, where she earned a B.A. in African-American studies in 1980. She would go on to receive a Master's in Fine Arts degree from the Yale School of Drama in 1983. It was there that she would meet her future husband, Courtney, who would earn his MFA in 1986.
Career
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Newsweek magazine and the Monster's Ball controversy
Shortly after Halle Berry became the first black actress to win a Best Actress Academy Award, Bassett did an interview with Newsweek magazine that was criticized due to Bassett's disparaging remarks about the character Leticia, calling the role "demeaning".
"I wasn't going to be a prostitute on film," she says. (Not literally a prostitute -- the character is a waitress who has an affair with her convict husband's executioner.) "I couldn't do that because it's such a stereotype about black women and sexuality." She says, "Film is forever. It's about putting something out there you can be proud of 10 years later. I mean, Meryl Streep won Oscars without all that."
Bassett added that she had nothing against Berry, and cried when Berry mentioned her Angela's name in her acceptance speech. But media outlets began to report that Bassett slammed Halle. [2]. Producer Lee Daniels claims he never offered Angela the role to begin with.[3]
Personal life
Bassett married Courtney B. Vance in 1997. On 27 January 2006, the couple's first children, named Slater Josiah and Bronwyn Golden, were born via a surrogate mother.
Filmography
Awards & Nominations
The Black Reel Awards
- 2000 - Nominee, Theatrical - Best Supporting Actress for Music of the Heart
- 2001 - Nominee, Theatrical - Best Actress for Boseman and Lena
- 2002 - Winner, Network/Cable - Best Actress for Ruby's Bucket of Blood (TV)
- 2003 - Winner, Theatrical - Best Actress for Sunshine State
- 2003 - Winner, Network/Cable - Best Actress for The Rosa Parks Story (TV)
- 2005 - Nominee, Best Actress, Musical or Comedy for Mr. 3000
The Daytime Emmy Awards
- 1996 - Nominee, Outstanding Performer in a Children's Series for Storytime (TV)
- 2002 - Nominee, Outstanding Children's Special for Our America (TV)
The Emmy Awards
- 2002 - Nominee, Outstanding Lead Actress in a Miniseries or a Movie for The Rosa Parks Story (TV)
The Golden Globe Awards
- 1994 - Winner, Best Actress in a Motion Picture (Musical or Comedy) - "What's Love...?"
The NAACP Image Awards
- 1994 - Winner, Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture for Malcolm X
- Winner, Outstanding Lead Actress in a Motion Picture for What's Love...?
- 1995 - Winner, Outstanding Lead Actress in a Motion Picture for Waiting to Exhale
- 1998 - Nominee, Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture for Contact
- 1999 - Winner, Outstanding Lead Actress in a Motion Picture for How Stella Got Her Groove Back
- 2000 - Winner, Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture for Music of the Heart
- 2001 - Nominee, Outstanding Actress in a Motion Picture for Boseman and Lena
- 2002 - Winner, Outstanding Actress in a Television Movie, Mini-Series for Special - Ruby's Bucket of Blood (TV)
- Winner, Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture for The Score
- 2003 - Winner, Outstanding Actress in a Television Movie, Mini-Series or Dramatic Special for The Rosa Parks Story (TV)
- Winner, Outstanding Actress in a Motion Picture for Sunshine State
- 2005 - Nominee, Outstanding Actress in a Motion Picture for Mr. 3000
The Screen Actors Guild Award
- 2001 - Nominee, Best Actress in a Television Movie or Miniseries - Ruby's Bucket of Blood
Special Honors
- 1994 - Golden Apple Awards Female Discovery of The Yea
- 1996 - Recipient of the Women in Film Crystal Award
- 1996 - Entertainer of the Year, National Association of Black Owned Broadcasters Pioneer Award
- 2002 - Recipient of the Lena Horne Award for Outstanding Career Achievement, Soul Train Lady Of Soul Award
Miscellanous
- 1994 - Nominee, MTV Movie Awards, Best Female Performance for What's Love...?
- 1995 - Winner, Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films Saturn Award for Best Actress - Strange Days
- 1998 - Winner, Acapulco Black Film Festival Award for Best Actress - How Stella Got Her Groove Back
- 2004 - Nominee, BET Comedy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Theatrical Film - Mr. 3000
Trivia
- First role was an unnamed prostitute in the 1986 miniseries Doubletake.
- Passed on the lead role in Eve's Bayou[4]
- Has been in three films with fellow Oscar nominee Laurence Fishburne: Boyz N the Hood (1991), What's Love Got to Do with It? (1993), and Akeelah and the Bee (2006).
- Bassett is the first (and as of 2006, the only) black recipient of the Golden Globe award for Best Actress in a Musical or Comedy, as Tina Turner in What's Love...?.
- Bassett's performance as Tina Turned is #95 on Premiere Magazine's list 100 Greatest Film Performances of all time.
- Bassett holds the record for most NAACP Image Award nominees and wins (12 nominations, 9 wins); she has won the Outstanding Actress in a Motion Picture award four times, second only to Whoopi Goldberg, who has won five.
Notes
- ↑ Pastorek, Whitney. Spotlight on...Angela Bassett, Entertainment Weekly, 21 April 2006.
- ↑ Susman, Gary, "Halle No", EW.com, 24 June 2002
- ↑ IMDb.com Studio Briefing, 28 June 2002
- ↑ Wilkerson, Isabel. "Angela at the crossroads: the dynamic Ms. Bassett reveals her frustrations with her career, her hopes for the future and her fight to maintain her dignity in a less-than-accepting industry", Essence, 3 January 2003.
External Links
Cagle, Jess. Faces to watch: Angela Bassett, Entertainment Weekly, 31 January 1992.
| Blacks and the Academy Awards (actresses) | |
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| Winners: Halle Berry · Whoopi Goldberg · Hattie McDaniel · Jennifer Hudson
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| Nominees: Margaret Avery · Angela Bassett · Diahann Carroll · Dorothy Dandridge · Marianne Jean-Baptiste · Juanita Moore · Queen Latifah · Sophie Okonedo · Beah Richards · Diana Ross · Cicely Tyson · Ethyl Waters · Oprah Winfrey · Alfre Woodard | |
