Marion Ramsey (May 10, 1947 – January 7, 2021) was an American actress and singer. She was a regular on the series '' Cos'' but is best known for her role as the soft-spoken Officer Laverne Hooks in the ''

Police Academy A police academy, also known as a law enforcement training center, police college, or police university, is a training school for police cadets, designed to prepare them for the law enforcement agency they will be joining upon graduation, or othe ...

'' films. Later she appeared in the films ''Recipe for Disaster'' and ''

Return to Babylon ''Return to Babylon'' is a 2013 black-and-white silent film about the silent film era. It was directed by Alex Monty Canawati. It stars an ensemble cast of Jennifer Tilly, María Conchita Alonso, Ione Skye, Debi Mazar, Laura Harring, and Tippi ...

'', and in the television films for

SyFy Syfy (formerly Sci-Fi Channel, later shortened to Sci Fi; stylized as SYFY) is an American basic cable channel owned by the NBCUniversal Television and Streaming division of Comcast's NBCUniversal through NBCUniversal Cable Entertainment. Lau ...

, such as ''

Lavalantula ''Lavalantula'' is an American 2015 science fiction comedy horror thriller television film that takes place after a series of volcanic eruptions in Los Angeles unleashes a swarm of gigantic, lava-breathing tarantulas from which the film draws ...

'' and ''

2 Lava 2 Lantula! ''Lavalantula'' is an American 2015 science fiction comedy horror thriller television film that takes place after a series of volcanic eruptions in Los Angeles unleashes a swarm of gigantic, lava-breathing tarantulas from which the film draw ...

''.

Biography

Born in Philadelphia, Ramsey's entertainment career started on stage. She co-starred in Broadway shows, including productions of ''

Eubie! ''Eubie!'' Is a revue featuring the music of jazz/swing composer Eubie Blake, with lyrics by Noble Sissle, Andy Razaf, Johnny Brandon, F. E. Miller, and Jim Europe. As with most revues, the show features no book, but instead showcases 23 of Eubie ...

'' and ''Grind'', and toured the US in the musical '' Hello Dolly''. Her first television part was a guest role on the series ''

The Jeffersons ''The Jeffersons'' is an American sitcom television series that was broadcast on CBS from January 18, 1975, to July 2, 1985, lasting 11 seasons and a total of List of The Jeffersons episodes, 253 episodes. ''The Jeffersons'' is one of the longe ...

'', and was a regular on '' Cos'', the Bill Cosby sketch comedy series. In 1976, Her career in TV and film took off after she appeared as a guest on the hit sitcom ''The Jeffersons''. Ramsey was deeply committed to AIDS awareness and lent her voice for charitable causes, performing in "Divas Simply Singing," an annual fundraising event. Later in her career, she had guest appearances on

Adult Swim Adult Swim (AS; stylized as

dult swim Dult is a village in Batala in Gurdaspur district of Punjab State, India. It is located from sub district headquarter, from district headquarter and from Sri Hargobindpur. The village is administrated by Sarpanch an elected representati ...

and often abbreviated as s is an American adult-oriented night-time cable television Television channel, channel that shares channel space with the basic cable network Cartoon Network and is programme ...

shows ''

Robot Chicken ''Robot Chicken'' is an American adult animated stop motion sketch comedy television series, created and executive produced for Adult Swim by Seth Green and Matthew Senreich along with co-head writers Douglas Goldstein and Tom Root. The writers, ...

'' and ''Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job!''. In 2015, she reunited with ''Police Academy'' stars

Steve Guttenberg Steven Robert Guttenberg (born August 24, 1958) is an American actor, author, businessman, producer, and director. He is known for his lead roles in Hollywood films of the 1980s and 1990s, including '' Cocoon'', ''Police Academy'', ''Three Men a ...

and

Michael Winslow Michael Leslie Winslow (born September 6, 1958) is an American actor, comedian and beatboxer billed as The Man of 10,000 Sound Effects for his ability to make realistic sounds using only his voice. He is best known for his roles in all seven ''Po ...

in the Syfy camp film ''

'' and its sequel ''2 Lava 2 Lantula!'' the following year. Her final acting role was in the 2018 indie film ''When I Sing''. Ramsey had three brothers. She died at her

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

home on January 7, 2021, after a short illness.

Filmography

Work as a musician

Ramsey was a singer and songwriter who wrote songs with

Haras Fyre Haras Fyre (born January 5, 1953), also known professionally as Patrick Grant, is an American singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist. After writing songs for Sister Sledge and Ben E. King early in his career in a songwriting duo with his ...

(composer of " Supernatural Thing," "

This Time I'll Be Sweeter "This Time I'll Be Sweeter" is a soul ballad written by Haras Fyre (professionally known as Pat Grant) and Gwen Guthrie. Early versions The first release of "This Time I'll Be Sweeter" was as the B-side of the May 1975 Arista Records single r ...

," "Satan's Daughter" for

Gary Glitter Paul Francis Gadd (born 8 May 1944), best known by his stage name Gary Glitter, is an English former singer, songwriter, and record producer. He achieved success during the glam rock era of the 1970s and 1980s, and his career ended after he w ...

, and others).

References

External links

* * * American film actresses 1947 births 2021 deaths 20th-century American actresses 21st-century American actresses Actresses from Philadelphia African-American actresses American television actresses 20th-century African-American women 20th-century African-American people 21st-century African-American women 21st-century African-American people {{US-film-actor-1940s-stub