Alfre Woodard

Alfre Ette Woodard was born on 8 November 1952. She was born and brought up in Tulsa, Oklahoma in a middle-class family. The roots of her passion for acting belong to Bishop Kelley High School, Tulsa where her teachers encouraged her to participate in school plays.

To nurture this growing passion she graduated from Boston University having studied fine arts and theater. Although she had performed for the Broadway shows in Washington; two years after graduation, she was blessed with work on the Los Angeles stage that got her an identity- ‘For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide When the Rainbow Is Enuf’ (1977).

A year later she got a non-lead role in her first film titled ‘Remember My Name’. It was in a telemovie titled ‘The Trial of the Moke’ in which Alfre played her first lead in 1978. The actress, who was once told that there were no film roles for black actors, today has won herself a Golden Globe for ‘Miss Evers’ Boys’ with three nominations and four Primetime Emmy Awards for ‘L.A. Law’, ‘Hill Street Blues’, ‘Miss Evers’ Boys’ and ‘ The Practice The Practice is an American legal drama that focus >> Read More... ’ with eighteen nominations! ‘Miss Evers’ Boys’ is the one TV film that has won Alfre the maximum awards and nominations in her career.

It was filmed based on a true story of a medical experiment carried out on African Americans by the US government in the late 1930s. Apart from these, she has won a lot of recognition, (better late than never), for some lucky roles in well-received TV series such as ‘Desperate Housewives’- a popular American comedy-drama revolving around the lives of five women in a town called Fairview.

Another film that won her a good deal of recognition was the 2013 release titled ’12 Years A Slave’ based on the book having the same title by Solomon Northup. Presently, Alfre is living a happy life with her husband Roderick Spencer, who is a writer and two adopted kids named Mavis and Duncan in California. She has given her life not only to her passion for acting but also for the service of humanity.

She has founded an organization dedicated towards the welfare of the Africans which aims to combat AIDS and help towards the promotion of democracy in South Africa. She is a forward-thinking woman and an active supporter of the LGBT rights as well as same-sex marriage. Her humanitarian efforts were also rewarded when she was featured in the People Magazine as one of the Most Beautiful People in America.