Bernnadette Stanis, also billed as Bern Nadette Stanis (born Bernadette Stanislaus, December 22, 1953),TV in the USA, "Good Times" (1974-1979)
/ref> is an American actress and author. Stanis is best known for her role as Thelma Evans, the only daughter of Florida and James Evans Sr. on the

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainmen ...

sitcom A sitcom, a portmanteau of situation comedy, or situational comedy, is a genre of comedy centered on a fixed set of characters who mostly carry over from episode to episode. Sitcoms can be contrasted with sketch comedy, where a troupe may use ne ...

Good Times ''Good Times'' is an American television sitcom that aired for six seasons on CBS, from February 8, 1974, to August 1, 1979. Created by Eric Monte and Mike Evans and developed by executive producer Norman Lear, it was television's first African ...

'' which originally ran from 1974 to 1979. Stanis is the author of four books: ''Situations 101: Relationships, The Good, The Bad & The Ugly''; ''For Men Only''; ''Situations 101: Finances''; and ''The Last Night''.

Early life

One of five children, Stanis was born and raised in the Brownsville section of

Brooklyn, New York City Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, behi ...

. Her paternal grandparents were from

Carriacou Carriacou is an island of the Grenadine Islands. It is a dependency of Grenada, and is located in the south-eastern Caribbean Sea, northeast of the island Grenada and the north coast of South America. The name is derived from the Carib lang ...

in the

Grenadine Islands The Grenadines is a chain of small islands that lie on a line between the larger islands of Saint Vincent and Grenada in the Lesser Antilles. Nine are inhabited and open to the public (or ten, if the offshore island of Young Island is counted): ...

. She attended

Erasmus Hall High School Erasmus Hall High School was a four-year public high school located at 899–925 Flatbush Avenue between Church and Snyder Avenues in the Flatbush neighborhood of the New York City borough of Brooklyn. It was founded in 1786 as Erasmus Hall Ac ...

and later attended the

Juilliard School The Juilliard School ( ) is a private performing arts conservatory in New York City. Established in 1905, the school trains about 850 undergraduate and graduate students in dance, drama, and music. It is widely regarded as one of the most el ...

. As a teen, Stanis entered

Miss Black America The Miss Black America beauty contest is a competition for young African-American women. The pageant has garnered the support of artists, activists and performers including Stevie Wonder, Curtis Mayfield, and Oprah Winfrey. After 40 years, in 200 ...

pageants, and went on to become Miss Brooklyn, a title with which she became first runner-up in the

Miss New York The Miss New York scholarship competition selects the representative for the state of New York in the Miss America scholarship competition. In the fall of 2018, the Miss America Organization terminated the Miss New York organization's license ...

state pageant.

Career

Stanis played the role of Thelma Ann Evans on the

''Good Times'' from February 1974 to August 1979. After the series ended, she made appearances on television shows including ''

The Cosby Show ''The Cosby Show'' is an American television sitcom co-created by and starring Bill Cosby, which aired Thursday nights for eight seasons on NBC between September 20, 1984, until April 30, 1992. The show focuses on an upper middle-class African- ...

'' and ''

What's Happening Now!! ''What's Happening Now!!'' is an American sitcom sequel to the original ABC 1976–79 sitcom '' What's Happening!!'' focusing on its main characters as adults. It aired in first-run broadcast syndication from September 7, 1985 until March 26, 19 ...

''. She and former co-star

Jimmie Walker James Carter Walker Jr. (born June 25, 1947) is an American actor and comedian. Walker portrayed James Evans Jr. ("J.J."), the older son of Florida and James Evans Sr., on the CBS television series ''Good Times'', which ran from 1974 to 1979, ...

lent their voices to a radio spot for

AT&T AT&T Inc. is an American multinational telecommunications holding company headquartered at Whitacre Tower in Downtown Dallas, Texas. It is the world's largest telecommunications company by revenue and the third largest provider of mobile tel ...

, and Stanis went on to do a

Nationwide Insurance Nationwide Mutual Insurance Company and affiliated companies, commonly shortened to Nationwide, is a group of large U.S. insurance and financial services companies based in Columbus, Ohio. The company also operates regional headquarters in Scotts ...

commercial. Stanis has been featured in promotions for the TV One network, and in a "Thelma" promotion that aired September 19, 2009, alongside actress

Anna Maria Horsford Anna Maria Horsford is an American actress, known for her performances in television comedies. Horsford is best known for her roles as Thelma Frye on the NBC sitcom ''Amen'' (1986–91), and as Dee Baxter on the WB sitcom ''The Wayans Bros.'' (1 ...

in the "Battle of the Thelmas" that aired their weddings from their respective TV series. (Horsford portrayed "Thelma Frye" in the TV series ''

Amen Amen ( he, אָמֵן, ; grc, ἀμήν, ; syc, ܐܡܝܢ, ; ar, آمين, ) is an Abrahamic declaration of affirmation which is first found in the Hebrew Bible, and subsequently found in the New Testament. It is used in Jews, Jewish, Christia ...

''.) During the "Way Black Then" promotions in February 2010 in honor of

Black History Month Black History Month is an annual observance originating in the United States, where it is also known as African-American History Month. It has received official recognition from governments in the United States and Canada, and more recently ...

, she and Walker appeared on the program ''Color TV'' to share their memories and thoughts on ''Good Times''. She later appeared on the TV One show ''Life After''. In July 2016, Stanis appeared on an episode of Centric's ''Being'', discussing her life and career.

Personal life

Stanis has been married four times. Her first marriage was to high-school sweetheart Thomas Fauntleroy from June 1974 until 1978, then to Brooklyn nightclub owner Darnell Johnson in January 1979. Stanis' third marriage was to mechanical engineer Terrence Redd. Stanis gave birth to their daughter Dior Ravel circa April 1982. The couple later divorced. Her fourth husband is Kevin Fontana; an article in 2012 said they had been married 31 years, Additional on December 23, 2016. but other sources (cited above) state that Stanis was married to Redd circa 1981. Stanis also has a second child, daughter Brittany Rose. Stanis currently lives in

Atlanta, Georgia Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...

with her children.

Filmography

Television

Film

Music video

Bibliography

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Stanis, Bernnadette 1953 births African-American actresses American television actresses Juilliard School alumni People from Brownsville, Brooklyn 20th-century African-American people 20th-century American actresses Living people Erasmus Hall High School alumni 20th-century African-American women 21st-century African-American people 21st-century African-American women