Brooklyn Sudano is an American actress and director. She starred as Vanessa Scott in the

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...

comedy series ''

My Wife and Kids ''My Wife and Kids'' is an American sitcom that ran on ABC from March 28, 2001, to May 17, 2005. The series was produced by Touchstone Television. It starred Damon Wayans as Michael Kyle, the patriarch of an African-American family. Wayans and ve ...

'' and later played the leading role in the 2006 drama film ''

Rain Rain is water droplets that have condensed from atmospheric water vapor and then fall under gravity. Rain is a major component of the water cycle and is responsible for depositing most of the fresh water on the Earth. It provides water f ...

''. Sudano has appeared in films such as '' Alone in the Dark II'' (2008), ''

Turn the Beat Around "Turn the Beat Around" is a disco song written by Gerald Jackson and Peter Jackson, and performed by American actress and singer Vicki Sue Robinson in 1976 (see 1976 in music), originally appearing on her debut album, '' Never Gonna Let You Go'' ...

'' (2010) and '' With This Ring'' (2015), and starred in the

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an Television in the United States, American English-language Commercial broadcasting, commercial television network, broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Enterta ...

action series, '' Taken'' (2017). Sudano is the daughter of

Grammy Award The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pres ...

-winning singer

Donna Summer LaDonna Adrian Gaines (December 31, 1948May 17, 2012), known professionally as Donna Summer, was an American singer and songwriter. She gained prominence during the disco era of the 1970s and became known as the " Queen of Disco", while her mus ...

and songwriter

Bruce Sudano Bruce Charles Sudano (born September 26, 1948) is an American singer-songwriter, noted for creating songs for artists such as Michael Jackson, Dolly Parton, Reba McEntire and his late wife, the Grammy Award-winning singer Donna Summer. Sudano is t ...

, and the older sister of

Amanda Sudano Amanda Grace Sudano Ramirez (born August 11, 1982) is an American singer-songwriter and model. She is a member of the musical duo Johnnyswim. Early life Sudano was born in Los Angeles, California, to singer Donna Summer and songwriter Bruce ...

of the music duo

Johnnyswim Johnnyswim is an American Folk music, folk, Soul music, soul, blues, Pop music, pop music duo, consisting of singer-songwriters Amanda Sudano and Abner Ramirez. The duo formed in 2005 in Nashville, Tennessee, United States. Origin Ramirez traine ...

. Sudano directed the documentary film, '' Love to Love You, Donna Summer'', which premiered in 2023.

Early life

Sudano was born in Los Angeles, California, to African American singer

and Italian American songwriter

. She was named after her father's hometown of

Brooklyn 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, be ...

, New York City. Her younger sister (by 19 months) is singer and songwriter

. She has an older half-sister, Mimi Sommer, from her mother's first marriage to Helmut Sommer. As a baby, she was featured in her mother's song "Brooklyn" on the record ''

I'm a Rainbow ''I'm a Rainbow'' is the ninth studio album recorded by Donna Summer. The album was recorded in 1981 and scheduled to be released on October 5 but was shelved. It would not be released until fifteen years later on August 20, 1996. There was no of ...

''. Sudano spent the early part of her childhood on a 56-acre ranch in

Thousand Oaks, California Thousand Oaks is the second-largest city in Ventura County, California, United States. It is in the northwestern part of Greater Los Angeles, approximately from the city of Los Angeles and from Downtown Los Angeles, Downtown. It is named af ...

until her family moved to

Connecticut Connecticut () is the southernmost state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. Its cap ...

when she was 10 years old. When she was 14, her family relocated to

Nashville Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the seat of Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the most populous city in the state, 21st most-populous city in the U.S., and the ...

Tennessee Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked state in the Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the 36th-largest by area and the 15th-most populous of the 50 states. It is bordered by Kentucky to th ...

. Here, Sudano gravitated toward the arts. She also sang in the gospel choir at church. Sudano and her sisters spent summers touring and singing backing vocals for their famous mother. In her leisure, she studied dance and wrote songs. She attended high school at

Christ Presbyterian Academy Christ Presbyterian Academy (CPA) is a private, coeducational, college-preparatory school for grades preschool through 12 in Nashville, Tennessee, United States. The school provides education through a Christian worldview. CPA is affiliated with C ...

where she appeared in all the theater productions. Sometimes Sudano accompanied her parents while they toured around the world, continuing her studies with tutors. A distinguished student, she was

valedictorian Valedictorian is an academic title for the highest-performing student of a graduating class of an academic institution. The valedictorian is commonly determined by a numerical formula, generally an academic institution's grade point average (GPA ...

at her graduation. Upon graduation, Sudano was accepted at

Brown Brown is a color. It can be considered a composite color, but it is mainly a darker shade of orange. In the CMYK color model used in printing or painting, brown is usually made by combining the colors orange and black. In the RGB color model used ...

Duke Duke is a male title either of a monarch ruling over a duchy, or of a member of royalty, or nobility. As rulers, dukes are ranked below emperors, kings, grand princes, grand dukes, and sovereign princes. As royalty or nobility, they are ran ...

and

Georgetown University Georgetown University is a private university, private research university in the Georgetown (Washington, D.C.), Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, D.C. Founded by Bishop John Carroll (archbishop of Baltimore), John Carroll in 1789 as Georg ...

. However, she chose to remain close to home and attended

Vanderbilt University Vanderbilt University (informally Vandy or VU) is a private research university in Nashville, Tennessee. Founded in 1873, it was named in honor of shipping and rail magnate Cornelius Vanderbilt, who provided the school its initial $1-million ...

. Sudano eventually left Vanderbilt to study at the

Lee Strasberg Theatre and Film Institute The Lee Strasberg Theatre & Film Institute (originally the Lee Strasberg Theatre Institute) is an acting school founded in 1969 by actor, director, and acting teacher Lee Strasberg. The Institute is located in Union Square on East 15th Street, a ...

in New York.

Career

While studying acting in New York, Sudano was spotted by a modelling agent and signed to the

Ford Modeling Agency Ford Models, originally the Ford Modeling Agency, is an American international modeling agency based in New York City. It was established in 1946 by Eileen Ford and her husband Gerard W. Ford. Company Ford Models was started in 1946 by Eileen ...

. She appeared in numerous advertising campaigns in print and television, including

Clairol Clairol is the American personal care-product division of company Wella, specializing in hair coloring and hair care. Clairol was founded in 1931 by Americans Joan Gelb and her husband Lawrence M. Gelb, with business partner and lifelong friend ...

Clean & Clear Clean & Clear is an American brand of dermatology products owned by Johnson & Johnson. Most products aim towards young women and men, but some treat a wider range of conditions, such as the "SOFT" line. Clean & Clear is currently available in 46 c ...

and

K-Mart Kmart Corporation ( , doing business as Kmart and stylized as kmart) is an American retail company that owns a chain of big box department stores. The company is headquartered in Hoffman Estates, Illinois, United States. The company was inco ...

. In 2003, Sudano replaced

Meagan Good Meagan Monique Good is an American actress. She first gained critical attention for her role in the film ''Eve's Bayou'' (1997), prior to landing the role of Nina in the Nickelodeon sitcom ''Cousin Skeeter'' (1998–2001). Good received further ...

as Vanessa Scott on ''

''. Vanessa is Junior's girlfriend and later wife, who first appears in the season finale of season 3 (played by Good). Sudano continued as a regular cast member throughout the rest of the series' five-year run. In 2006, Sudano made her big screen debut with the leading role in the

film adaptation A film adaptation is the transfer of a work or story, in whole or in part, to a feature film. Although often considered a type of derivative work, film adaptation has been conceptualized recently by academic scholars such as Robert Stam as a dial ...

V. C. Andrews Cleo Virginia Andrews (June 6, 1923 – December 19, 1986), better known as V. C. Andrews or Virginia C. Andrews, was an American novelist. Profile Andrews's novels combine Gothic horror and family saga, revolving around family secrets and forb ...

' novel ''Rain''. She appeared in the horror films ''

Somebody Help Me "Somebody Help Me" is a single by The Spencer Davis Group, which was released in 1966. As with "Keep on Running", it was composed by Jackie Edwards. Chart performance "Somebody Help Me" became the band's second consecutive and last number-on ...

'' (2007) and '' Alone in the Dark II'' (2008) and well as the MTV romantic drama film, ''

'' in 2010. In 2015, she co-starred opposite

Regina Hall Regina Lee Hall (born December 12, 1970) is an American actress. She rose to prominence for her role as Brenda Meeks in the comedy horror ''Scary Movie'' film series (2000–2006). She has since appeared in the television series '' Ally McBeal' ...

, Jill Scott and

Eve Eve (; ; ar, حَوَّاء, Ḥawwāʾ; el, Εὕα, Heúa; la, Eva, Heva; Syriac: romanized: ) is a figure in the Book of Genesis in the Hebrew Bible. According to the origin story, "Creation myths are symbolic stories describing how the ...

in the romantic comedy-drama, '' With This Ring''. On television, Sudano guest starred on '' Cuts'', ''

CSI: NY ''CSI: NY'' (''Crime Scene Investigation: New York'', stylized as ''CSI: NY/Crime Scene Investigation'') is an American police procedural television series that ran on CBS from September 22, 2004, to February 22, 2013, for a total of nine seaso ...

'', '' $#*! My Dad Says'', ''

Body of Proof ''Body of Proof'' is an American medical/crime comedy-drama television series that ran on ABC from March 29, 2011, to May 28, 2013, and starred Dana Delany as medical examiner Dr. Megan Hunt. The series was created by Christopher Murphey and p ...

'' and ''

Ballers ''Ballers'' is an American sports comedy drama television series created by Stephen Levinson and starring Dwayne Johnson as Spencer Strasmore, a retired NFL player who must navigate his new career of choice as the financial manager of other NFL ...

''. In 2016, she played the role of Christy Epping in the

Hulu Hulu () is an American subscription streaming service majority-owned by The Walt Disney Company, with Comcast's NBCUniversal holding a minority stake. It was launched on October 29, 2007 and it offers a library of films and television serie ...

miniseries ''

11.22.63 ''11.22.63'' is an American science fiction thriller miniseries based on the 2011 novel ''11/22/63'' by Stephen King, and consisting of eight episodes, in which a time traveler attempts to stop the assassination of John F. Kennedy. The series ...

''. In 2017, Sudano starred in the first season of NBC's action series, '' Taken''. In 2021, she began starring as Angela Prescott in the Freeform thriller series, '' Cruel Summer''. Alongside

Roger Ross Williams Roger Ross Williams (born September 16, 1962) is an American director, producer and writer and the first African American director to win an Academy Award (Oscar), with his short film ''Music by Prudence''; this film won the Academy Award for Bes ...

, Sudano directed the 2023 documentary film, '' Love to Love You, Donna Summer'' about her mother, Donna Summer. It had its world premiere at the

73rd Berlin International Film Festival The 73rd annual Berlin International Film Festival, usually called the Berlinale (), took place from 16 to 26 February 2023. It was the first completely in-person Berlinale since the 70th in 2020. The festival has added a new award for best te ...

Personal life

Sudano married her longtime boyfriend, Mike McGlaflin, on October 8, 2006. The couple's wedding inspired Bruce Sudano's song "It's Her Wedding Day". Sudano and McGlaflin have a daughter, and reside in the Los Angeles area.

Filmography

Film

Television

References

External links

*
Rain: An Interview with Brooklyn SudanoArtist Direct
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sundano, Brooklyn Living people 1981 births Actresses from Tennessee American film actresses American people of Italian descent American television actresses Lee Strasberg Theatre and Film Institute alumni Donna Summer African-American actresses Actresses from Los Angeles Singers from Los Angeles Singers from Nashville, Tennessee 21st-century American singers 21st-century American women singers African-American women singers