Biography
Lynn Whitfield (née Smith; born February 15, 1953) is an American actress. She began her acting career in television and theatre before progressing to supporting roles in film. She won a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Limited Series or Movie and received a Golden Globe Award nomination for her breakout performance as Josephine Baker in the HBO biographical film The Josephine Baker Story (1991). In the 1990s, Whitfield played leading roles in a number of made-for-televisi...
Known For
Complete Filmography

Albany Road
2024
as Paula Henderson
On her way to the most important meeting of her career, severe weather forces a New York executive to share a rental car with her former nemesis, her ...

The Retirement Plan
2023
as Drisdale
When Ashley and her young daughter Sarah get caught up in a criminal enterprise that puts their lives at risk, she turns to the only person who can he...

We Need a Little Christmas
2022
as Irene
Julie is adjusting to being a single mother to a grieving child while facing her first Christmas without her husband when she develops an unexpected f...

Vacation Friends
2021
as Suzanne
When a straight-laced couple that has fun with a rowdy couple on vacation in Mexico return to the States, they discover that the crazy couple they met...

Woman in Motion
2021
as Self
Nichelle Nichols' daunting task to launch a national blitz for NASA, recruiting 8,000 of the nation's best and brightest, including the trailblazing a...

Tales from the Hood 3
2020
as Marie Benoît
Following the franchise's cult classic roots, this new anthology featuring Tony Todd and Lynn Whitfield will scare and thrill with its horrifying twis...

Solace
2018
as Irene
Following the death of her father, a 17-year-old girl is sent to live with her estranged family and finds comfort in a questionable friendship with a ...

Nappily Ever After
2018
as Paulette Jones
After an accident at the hair salon, Violet realizes she's not living life to the fullest. A soulful barber helps her put the pieces back together.

Espionage Tonight
2017
as Sydney Greenstreet
In a reality TV show created by the U.S. government about spies, audiences go on fake undercover missions, but fact cannot be easily distinguished fro...

Prayer Never Fails
2016
as Loral Brown
When a high school basketball coach is fired for praying with one of his players, he follows God's calling and hires an agnostic, gambling lawyer to f...

Lap Dance
2014
as Momma Pearl
An aspiring actress makes a pact with her fiancé to take a job as an exotic dancer to care for her cancer stricken father. Once the pact the couple ma...

30 Days in Atlanta
2014
as Clara
Akpos wins a 30-day holiday for two to Atlanta, Georgia. He takes his cousin (Richard), an IT specialist on the all- expense paid trip. Akpos flung hi...

My Other Mother
2014
as Mary Jo
When gruff and independent Candy meets her angry and stubborn birth mother, can the two open their hearts to each other?

The Ugly Duckling
2014
as Narrator (voice)
By Hans Christian Andersen; Illustrated by Jerry Pinkney; Narrated by Lynn Whitfield Only a mother could love this ugliest of ducklings who is teased...

The Last Letter
2013
as Lorraine
Catharine Wright struggles with a debilitating sleep disorder. Her husband Michael struggles to cope when their new born son lay in the wake.

The Dempsey Sisters
2013
as Olivia Norman
Three siblings return to their musical roots, agreeing to let their brother manage their family band.

And Then There Was You
2013
as Sophia Brent
Natalie and Joshua appear to be the picture-perfect couple, but looks can be deceiving. When Natalie discovers her husband has led a secret life, she ...

And Then There Was You
2013
Thanks, Producer
Natalie and Joshua appear to be the picture-perfect couple, but looks can be deceiving. When Natalie discovers her husband has led a secret life, she ...

Act Like You Love Me
2013
as Harriett Lofton
Kelly Lofton is a young, successful dentist who has all the material things a woman could ask for. However, Kelly has struggled to find time for love ...

King's Faith
2013
as Vanessa
After Brendan King's life spiraled to rock bottom, the teen found hope in a new relationship with Christ while serving time in a juvenile penitentiary...

24 Hour Love
2013
as Cynthia
The greatest feeling in the world is when you learn to love! Follow the stories of seven everyday people as they experience laughter, life and matters...

Lonely Boy
2013
as Dr. Christine Nolan
While seeking answers to a past he cannot remember, a schizophrenic must find the strength to control his mental illness as he tries to build relation...

The Redemption of a Dog
2012
as Francine

Somebody's Child
2012
as Constance
A woman (Lynn Whitfield) dying of kidney disease learns that God works in mysterious ways after convincing her son (Michael Jai White) to help a repen...

Battlefield America
2012
as Ms. Parker
A young businessman hires an instructor to turn a group of misfit kids into a team on the underground dance competition circuit.

All Things Fall Apart
2011
as Bee
50 Cent stars as gifted college running back Deon in this touching drama. Deon's world turns upside down when an unexpected crisis jeopardizes his pro...

Mama, I Want to Sing!
2011
as Lillian Winter
Preacher's daughter Amara Winter sings in the church choir before being discovered by a well-established musician. She soon rises to international fam...

The Rebound
2009
as Laura Reilly
Upon discovering her husband's infidelity, Sandy leaves the suburbs and moves into the city. There, she befriends Aram, a guy whose wife only married ...

PoliWood
2009
as Self
An in-depth look at the Democratic and Republican national conventions held during the 2008 U.S. Presidential election year.

The Women
2008
as Glenda Hill
The story centers on a group of gossipy, high-society women who spend their days at the beauty salon and haunting fashion shows. The sweet, happily-we...

Kings of the Evening
2008
as Gracie
Homer Hobbs, home after two years in jail, discovers that life on the outside can be crueler than the back-breaking injustice of the chain gang...

The Cheetah Girls 2
2006
as Dorothea Garibaldi
Best friends Galleria, Chanel, Dorinda, and Aqua, A.K.A. the girl band "The Cheetahs," get the opportunity of a lifetime when they strut their way to ...

Confessions
2006
as Dr. Page
Confessions of a Call Girl is a revealing story of a women's struggle for balance as she battles a secret addiction while fighting to save her family ...

Madea's Family Reunion
2006
as Victoria
Southern matriarch Madea has a lot on her plate. Her nieces, Vanessa and Lisa, have relationship troubles - Vanessa moves into Madea's house with her ...

Redemption: The Stan Tookie Williams Story
2004
as Barbara Becnel
Redemption tells the story of Stan "Tookie" Williams, founder of the Crips L.A. street gang. Story follows his fall into gang-banging, his prison term...

The Cheetah Girls
2003
as Dorothea Garibaldi
A four-member teen girl group named the Cheetah Girls go to a Manhattan High School for the Performing Arts and try to become the first freshmen to wi...

Head of State
2003
as Debra Lassiter
When a presidential candidate dies unexpectedly in the middle of the campaign, the Democratic party unexpectedly picks a Washington, D.C. alderman as ...

A Time for Dancing
2002
as Linda Derricks, the Dance Teacher
Their love of dance, and their friendship, is challenged for two high school girls when one is diagnosed with cancer.

A Girl Thing
2001
as Nia Morgan
A Girl Thing is a mini-series that revolves around a New York city street, a coffee house and a shrinks office. Dr. Beth Noonan is the therapist to on...

Intimate Portrait: Josephine Baker
1999
as Herself
From world-renowned performer of the Jazz Age, to WWII spy, to civil rights activist – a look into the iconic life and legacy of Josephine Baker, narr...

Love Songs
1999
as Jean Simpson
Louis Gossett, Jr, Robert Townsend and Andre Braugher come together to each direct a short story, all of which are interconnected through themes of lo...

Dangerous Evidence: The Lori Jackson Story
1999
as Lori Jackson
The Lori Jackson Story - A civil rights campaigner, Lori Jackson, champions the the cause of a black marine convicted of rape, as she thinks he is in...

Deep in My Heart
1999
as Corrine Burrell
A black woma is reunited with her white birth mother after being given up for adoption.
The Color of Courage
1999
as Minnie McGhee
Based on the landmark civil rights case Sipes vs. McGhee, The Color of Courage chronicles the friendship between a white woman and a black woman whose...

Stepmom
1998
as Dr. P. Sweikert
Jackie is a divorced mother of two. Isabel is the career minded girlfriend of Jackie’s ex-husband Luke, forced into the role of unwelcome stepmother t...

The Wedding
1998
as Corinne Coles
Shelby Coles (Halle Berry) is engaged to marry talented white jazz musician Meade Howell, but the pair face opposition from both Meade's family, who o...

Eve's Bayou
1997
as Roz Batiste
Summer heats up in rural Louisiana beside Eve’s Bayou, 1962, as the Batiste family tries to survive the secrets they’ve kept and the betrayals they’ve...

The Planet of Junior Brown
1997
as Mrs. Brown
Powerful story about love, struggle and passion of an over protective mother and her piano prodigy.

Gone Fishin'
1997
as Angie
Two fishing fanatics get in trouble when their fishing boat gets stolen while on a trip.

A Thin Line Between Love and Hate
1996
as Brandi
Nightclub manager Darnell Wright is a perpetual playboy who is almost as devoted to his job as he is to the pursuit of beautiful women. After he sets ...

Sophie and the Moonhanger
1996
as Sophie
A woman pits herself against her husband and his Ku Klux Klan member friends when she learns that they are planning an attack against her black maid a...

In the Army Now
1994
as Sgt. Ladd
Bones Conway and Jack Kaufman, two misguided youths, join the reserves to make some easy money for their entrepreneurial dreams. Unfortunately, no soo...

Thicker Than Blood: The Larry McLinden Story
1994
as Bobbie Mallory
When a couple breaks up after four years together, the man is told that the son he has raised as his own isn't his biological one. He must fight to ke...

State of Emergency
1994
as Dehlia Johnson
Medical drama about a major hospital whose emergency room regularly faces an overload of patients. One of the doctors finds it necessary to adopt an u...

Taking the Heat
1993
as Carolyn Hunter
When Michael Norell witnesses a murder, he doesn't want to testify but he is forced to by the police. A cop is ordered to bring him to the court, but ...

Stompin' at the Savoy
1992
as Esther
As the Harlem Renaissance flourishes in jazzy New York City, Pauline, Esther and Alice struggle to survive. By day, they toil at dreary jobs, dreaming...
A Triumph of the Heart: The Ricky Bell Story
1991
Ricky Bell, an all-pro running back with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, who died of a rare muscle disease in the prime of his career. The plot centers on B...

The Josephine Baker Story
1991
as Josephine Baker
Biography of the African-American who became a major performer in the Paris cabarets of the 1920s and 1930s. The film follows her life beginning as a ...

Zora is My Name!
1990
A celebration of the life of Zora Neale Hurston, who was born at the turn of the 20th Century and grew to be an important voice with her written portr...

The Women of Brewster Place
1989
as Ciel
A multigenerational story of the lives of several black women who call an inner-city tenement home.

The George McKenna Story
1988
as Bobbie Maxwell
Washington plays a school principal in a tough inner city Los Angeles high school out to rid it of drugs, gangs, low moral of teachers, and restore ed...

Jaws: The Revenge
1987
as Louisa
After another deadly shark attack, Ellen Brody decides she has had enough of New England's Amity Island and moves to the Caribbean to join her son, Mi...

The Making of Jaws The Revenge
1987
as Self
A behind the scenes look on Jaws The Revenge with interviews from the cast and crew.

Dead Aim
1987
as Sheila Freeman
Ed Marinaro is Malcolm "Mace" Douglas, a street-tough detective who's out for justice-no matter what the cost. While investigating the mysterious suic...

John Henry
1986
as Pollie Ann
The story follow legendary railroad worker John Henry during the late 19th century.

Johnnie Mae Gibson: FBI
1986
as Johnnie Mae Gibson
A police officer is called by F.B.I. to infiltrate into gang of arms smugglers.

Silverado
1985
as Rae
Four unwitting heroes cross paths on their journey to the sleepy town of Silverado. Little do they know the town where their family and friends reside...

The Slugger's Wife
1985
as Tina Alvarado
Darryl Palmer is a major league baseball player who meets and pursues an attractive singer. After some setbacks, the two are married and sent on an em...

Doctor Detroit
1983
as Thelma Cleland
A shy but gentle man named Clifford Skridlow is a professor of comparative literature at the financially-strapped fictional Monroe College in Chicago....

For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide / When the Rainbow Is Enuf
1982
as Woman in bath
The powerful tales of seven diverse African-American women are woven together in this 1982 performance of Ntozake Shange's Obie Award-winning landmark...
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Plot TBA. Described as a horror thriller film.