Jacqueline Yvonne Harry (born August 14, 1956) is an American actress, comedian, and television personality. She is known for her starring roles as Sandra Clark, the nemesis of Mary Jenkins (played by

Marla Gibbs Marla Gibbs (born Margaret Theresa Bradley; June 14, 1931) is an American actress, singer, comedian, writer and television producer, whose career spans six decades. Gibbs is known for her role as George Jefferson's maid, Florence Johnston, in th ...

), on the

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...

TV series '' 227'' (1985–1990), and as Lisa Landry on 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 ...

The WB The WB Television Network (for Warner Bros., or the "Frog Network", for its former mascot, Michigan J. Frog) was an American television network launched on broadcast television on January 11, 1995, as a joint venture between the Warner Bros. ...

sitcom '' Sister, Sister'' (1994–1999). She is noted for being the first African-American to win a

Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series This is a list of winners and nominees of the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series. In early Primetime Emmy Award ceremonies, the supporting categories were not always genre-, or even gender-, specific. Begi ...

. She also starred in the 1992 film ''

Ladybugs Coccinellidae () is a widespread family of small beetles ranging in size from . They are commonly known as ladybugs in North America and ladybirds in Great Britain. Some entomologists prefer the names ladybird beetles or lady beetles as they ...

'', opposite Rodney Dangerfield. Since March 2021, she has played

Paulina Price '' Days of Our Lives'' is an American television soap opera that was first broadcast on November 8, 1965. The following is a list of characters that first appear in the show during the 2020s, by order of first appearance. All characters were int ...

on the NBC soap opera, '' Days of Our Lives''.

Biography

Early life and education

Harry was born in

Winston-Salem, North Carolina Winston-Salem is a city and the county seat of Forsyth County, North Carolina, United States. In the 2020 census, the population was 249,545, making it the second-largest municipality in the Piedmont Triad region, the 5th most populous city in ...

, in 1956 to an

Afro-Trinidadian Afro-Trinidadians and Tobagonians (or just Afro-Trinbagonians) are people from Trinidad and Tobago who are of West African descent. Social interpretations of race in Trinidad and Tobago are often used to dictate who is of West African descent ...

mother and African American father and raised in

Harlem, New York Harlem is a neighborhood in Upper Manhattan, New York City. It is bounded roughly by the Hudson River on the west; the Harlem River and 155th Street (Manhattan), 155th Street on the north; Fifth Avenue on the east; and 110th Street (Manhattan), ...

. She began studying acting at the

High School of the Performing Arts The High School of Performing Arts (informally known as "PA") was a Public school (government funded), public Alternative school, alternative high school established in 1947 and located at 120 West 46th Street in the borough of Manhattan, New Y ...

in midtown Manhattan in New York City. Harry graduated from

Long Island University Long Island University (LIU) is a private university with two main campuses, LIU Post and LIU Brooklyn, in the U.S. state of New York. It offers more than 500 academic programs at its main campuses, online, and at multiple non-residential. LIU ...

with a

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...

degree in education and worked as a teacher of American history at

Brooklyn Technical High School Brooklyn Technical High School, commonly called Brooklyn Tech and administratively designated High School 430, is an elite public high school in New York City that specializes in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. It is one of t ...

for two years before beginning a career on the New York stage.

Career

Theater

In 1978, Harry made her Broadway debut in '' A Broadway Musical''. Throughout the 1980s she starred in numerous productions both on and off Broadway and in national touring productions. In 1994, Harry made her return to the theater by starring as

Billie Holiday Billie Holiday (born Eleanora Fagan; April 7, 1915 – July 17, 1959) was an American jazz and swing music singer. Nicknamed "Lady Day" by her friend and music partner, Lester Young, Holiday had an innovative influence on jazz music and pop s ...

in the play ''

Lady Day at Emerson's Bar and Grill ''Lady Day at Emerson's Bar and Grill'' is a musical with music by Lanie Robertson, recounting some events in the life of Billie Holiday. The play premiered in 1986 at the Alliance Theatre in Atlanta, Georgia, and soon played Off-Broadway. The p ...

''. Following that stage production, she fulfilled the role of "madam who runs a bordello" in the Broadway musical ''

The Boys from Syracuse ''The Boys from Syracuse'' is a musical with music by Richard Rodgers and lyrics by Lorenz Hart, based on William Shakespeare's play ''The Comedy of Errors'', as adapted by librettist George Abbott. The score includes swing and other contemp ...

''. In the mid 2000s, she appeared in stage productions of ''

The Sunshine Boys ''The Sunshine Boys'' is an original two-act play written by Neil Simon that premiered December 20, 1972 on Broadway starring Jack Albertson as Willie Clark and Sam Levene as Al Lewis and later adapted for film and television. Plot The pla ...

'', ''

Damn Yankees ''Damn Yankees'' is a 1955 musical comedy with a book by George Abbott and Douglass Wallop, music and lyrics by Richard Adler and Jerry Ross. The story is a modern retelling of the Faust legend set during the 1950s in Washington, D.C., dur ...

'', and '' A Christmas Carol''. She also toured nationally in JD Lawrence's '' The Clean Up Woman''.

Television

Harry made her television acting debut in 1983 on '' Another World'' as Lily Mason, a role she continued until 1986. In 1984, she made her motion pictures debuts with bit parts in ''

Moscow on the Hudson ''Moscow on the Hudson'' is a 1984 American romantic comedy-drama film written and directed by Paul Mazursky which stars Robin Williams as a Soviet circus musician who defects while on a visit to the United States. It co-stars María Conchita ...

'' and '' The Cotton Club''. In 1985, Harry began a co-starring role as Sandra Clark on the

sitcom '' 227''. Her mother, Flossie, celebrated her getting the role but died before the show started airing. During the series' run, Harry and Marla Gibbs began feuding privately over who was the series' lead. They have since reconciled and collaborated on a number of projects. Her performance on ''227'' inspired NBC producers to create a television pilot for her entitled '' Jackée''. Although the pilot episode was a success with audiences, the series did not last and the episode is now shown as an episode of ''227''. After leaving ''227'' in 1989, Harry starred opposite

Oprah Winfrey Oprah Gail Winfrey (; born Orpah Gail Winfrey; January 29, 1954), or simply Oprah, is an American talk show host, television producer, actress, author, and philanthropist. She is best known for her talk show, ''The Oprah Winfrey Show'', br ...

in '' The Women of Brewster Place'', an adaptation of Gloria Naylor's novel of the same name. In 1990, she headlined an NBC comedy pilot from Witt/Thomas titled ''We'll Take Manhattan''; it aired as a summer special that year, but did not make it to series. In late 1991, she joined the cast of ''

The Royal Family A royal family is the immediate family of kings/queens, emirs/emiras, sultans/ sultanas, or raja/ rani and sometimes their extended family. The term imperial family appropriately describes the family of an emperor or empress, and the term ...

'' after the star, Redd Foxx, unexpectedly died. She starred opposite two-time ''227'' guest-star

Della Reese Delloreese Patricia Early (July 6, 1931 – November 19, 2017), known professionally as Della Reese, was an American jazz and gospel singer, actress, and ordained minister whose career spanned seven decades. She began her long career as a s ...

, but the series faltered in the ratings and was not renewed for a second season. In 1992, she starred as the assistant coach in ''

''. Harry served as a guest panelist on the 2000 revival of '' To Tell the Truth'' and appeared on the second season of VH1's '' Celebrity Fit Club 2'' in 2005. From 1994 until 1999, Harry played Lisa Landry, the adoptive mother of

Tia Mowry Tia Mowry is an American actress. She first gained recognition for her starring role as Tia Landry in the sitcom '' Sister, Sister'' (1994–1999), opposite her twin sister Tamera Mowry. The sisters then starred together in the Disney Channel Or ...

's character, on the sitcom '' Sister, Sister''. She had a recurring role as Vanessa on the

UPN The United Paramount Network (UPN) was an American broadcast television network that launched on January 16, 1995. It was originally owned by Chris-Craft Industries' United Television. Viacom (through its Paramount Television unit, which pr ...

The CW ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...

series ''

Everybody Hates Chris ''Everybody Hates Chris'' is an American television semi-autobiographical sitcom that is inspired by the memories of the teenage years of comedian Chris Rock. The show is set from 1982 to 1987, although Rock himself was actually a teenager from ...

'' and had a recurring role on the BET Series '' Let's Stay Together''. From 2012 to 2015, she starred in

Byron Allen Byron Allen Folks (born April 22, 1961) is the founder of the U.S. entertainment company Entertainment Studios which includes The Weather Channel. He is also a television producer, philanthropist, and comedian in his younger years. Notable s ...

's sitcom '' The First Family''. In 2013, she appeared in the pilot episode of the Disney sitcom ''

Girl Meets World ''Girl Meets World'' is an American comedy television series created by Michael Jacobs and April Kelly that premiered on Disney Channel on June 27, 2014. The series ran for three seasons, consisting of 72 episodes, and concluded on January 20 ...

'', as well as the episodes "Girl Meets Crazy Hat" and "Girl Meets Demolition". That same year, she also joined Gibbs in the movie ''Forbidden Woman''. In 2014, she made a guest appearance on ''

Instant Mom ''Instant Mom'' is an American sitcom produced for the NickMom block on the Nick Jr. channel. It was developed by Howard Michael Gould and stars Tia Mowry as a stepmother of three children alongside her husband. The series first aired on Septe ...

'' as her character Lisa Landry. She appeared in the '' 2 Broke Girls'' episode "And the Sax Problem" in 2016, as Earl's (

Garrett Morris Garrett Isaac Morris (born February 1, 1937) is an American actor, comedian and singer. He was part of the original cast of the sketch comedy program ''Saturday Night Live'', appearing from 1975 to 1980, and played Jimmy on ''The Jeffersons'' ...

) ex-girlfriend. On December 8, 2020, during an appearance on ''

Today Today (archaically to-day) may refer to: * Day of the present, the time that is perceived directly, often called ''now'' * Current era, present * The current calendar date Arts, entertainment, and media Films * ''Today'' (1930 film), a 1930 ...

'', Harry announced that she was set to join the cast of the soap opera '' Days of Our Lives''. Harry was cast as

, the aunt of established character Lani Price-Grant (

Sal Stowers Saleisha Lashawn Stowers (born January 20, 1986) is an American actress and model. She was cycle 9’s winner ''America's Next Top Model''. She portrayed the role of Lani Price on NBC's soap opera ''Days of Our Lives''. Early life Stowers was ...

). When the series was renewed for two additional seasons in 2021, Harry was placed on contract with the series. On July 25, 2021, she appeared on '' Celebrity Family Feud''.

Personal life

Harry has one child and was once married to arranger and conductor

Jerry Jemmott Gerald Stenhouse Jemmott (born March 22, 1946, in the Morrisania section of the Bronx, New York City) is an American bass guitarist. Jemmott was one of the chief session bass guitarists of the late 1960s and early 1970s, working with many of th ...

. In 1996, Harry married Elgin Charles Williams; they later divorced in 2003. During their marriage, Harry and Williams adopted a son, Frank, in 1997.

Filmography

Film/Movie

Television

Awards and nominations

References

External links

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Harry, Jackee 1956 births 20th-century American actresses 21st-century American actresses Actresses from North Carolina American people of Trinidad and Tobago descent African-American actresses African-American television directors American musical theatre actresses American soap opera actresses American television actresses American television directors American women comedians American women television directors LIU Post alumni Outstanding Performance by a Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series Primetime Emmy Award winners Living people Participants in American reality television series Actors from Winston-Salem, North Carolina Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School alumni People from Harlem 20th-century African-American women singers 21st-century African-American women 21st-century African-American people