Renée Lawless-Orsini (born November 30,
1960) is an American actress and singer. She is best known for starring as the bitter and distant matriarch, Katheryn Cryer, in the
Oprah Winfrey Network
The Oprah Winfrey Network (OWN, also known as the OWN Network) is an American multinational basic cable television network which launched on January 1, 2011, effectively replacing the Discovery Health Channel, which one month later merged with ...
prime time soap opera ''
The Haves and the Have Nots''.
Life and career
Lawless was born in
Knoxville, Tennessee
Knoxville is a city in Knox County, Tennessee, United States, and its county seat. It is located on the Tennessee River and had a population of 190,740 at the 2020 United States census. It is the largest city in the East Tennessee Grand Division ...
, and moved with her family to
Jacksonville
Jacksonville ( ) is the most populous city proper in the U.S. state of Florida, located on the Atlantic coast of North Florida, northeastern Florida. It is the county seat of Duval County, Florida, Duval County, with which the City of Jacksonv ...
in at age 19 and graduated from
Sandalwood High School
Sandalwood High School is a comprehensive public high school in Jacksonville, Florida. The school is one of 47 high schools in the Duval County School District. Like all Duval County schools, it is accredited through the Southern Associatio ...
,
Stetson University
Stetson University is a private university in DeLand, Florida, United States. Established in 1883 as DeLand Academy, it was later renamed John B. Stetson University in honor of John B. Stetson.
The university's main campus in DeLand spans 175 ...
, and
University of Cincinnati – College-Conservatory of Music
The University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music (CCM) is a performing and media arts college of the University of Cincinnati in Cincinnati, Ohio. Initially established as the Cincinnati Conservatory of Music in 1867, CCM is one of the ...
.
She began singing in church and school plays and later in regional theater. As of the mid 1990s she appeared primarily in stage productions, like national touring of ''
Beauty and the Beast
"Beauty and the Beast" is a fairy tale written by the French novelist Gabrielle-Suzanne Barbot de Villeneuve and published in 1740 in (''The Young American and Marine Tales'').
Villeneuve's lengthy version was abridged, rewritten, and publish ...
'', and ''
Wicked
Wicked may refer to:
Books
* ''Wicked'' (Maguire novel), a 1995 novel by Gregory Maguire that inspired the musical of the same name
* ''Wicked'', a 1997 novel series collaboration between Australian children's authors Paul Jennings and Morris ...
'' for five years.
In 2013, Lawless began starring as Katheryn Cryer in the
Oprah Winfrey Network
The Oprah Winfrey Network (OWN, also known as the OWN Network) is an American multinational basic cable television network which launched on January 1, 2011, effectively replacing the Discovery Health Channel, which one month later merged with ...
prime time soap opera ''
The Haves and the Have Nots''.
Filmography
Film
Television
References
External links
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lawless, Renee
Living people
1960 births
American musical theatre actresses
American stage actresses
American television actresses
American soap opera actresses
Musicians from Knoxville, Tennessee
Actresses from Knoxville, Tennessee
Actresses from Atlanta
Stetson University alumni
University of Cincinnati – College-Conservatory of Music alumni
21st-century American women