Sandra Caldwell is a North American actress, singer, and writer. Caldwell is known for recurring roles in Canadian TV series like ''

Little Men ''Little Men,'' or ''Life at Plumfield with Jo's Boys,'' is a children's novel by American author Louisa May Alcott (1832–1888), which was first published in 1871 by Roberts Brothers. The book reprises characters from her 1868–69 two-volume ...

'' and '' The Book of Negroes'' and smaller roles in US films like ''

Shall We Dance Shall We Dance may refer to: Films * ''Shall We Dance'' (1937 film), a Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers musical * ''Shall We Dance?'' (1996 film), a Japanese film about ballroom dancing * ''Shall We Dance?'' (2004 film), an American remake of the ...

'' and ''

Murder at 1600 ''Murder at 1600'' is a 1997 American action thriller film directed by Dwight Little and starring Wesley Snipes and Diane Lane. Plot In a restroom in the White House, a janitor finds secretary Carla Town dead. Metropolitan Police homicide detect ...

''. Cadwell's pioneering experience as a trans woman in the Western entertainment industry was discussed in the 2020 documentary Disclosure: Trans Lives on Screen.

Early life

Caldwell was born in Washington, D.C. and ran away to New York several times through her teenage years to see shows on

Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street **Broadway Theatre (53rd Stree ...

and figure "things out". By 18 she already knew that performing in stage shows was what she wanted to do.

Transition

In her early 20's Caldwell transitioned to presenting publicly as a woman. She was supported by her mother and a couple of friends, and received gender affirming hormone therapy. Caldwell later described the transition as giving her "a lot of joy, and also relief."

Career

Caldwell fulfilled her dream of becoming a showgirl and traveled to Europe to work at the

Moulin Rouge Moulin Rouge (, ; ) is a cabaret in Paris, on Boulevard de Clichy, at Place Blanche, the intersection of, and terminus of Rue Blanche. In 1889, the Moulin Rouge was co-founded by Charles Zidler and Joseph Oller, who also owned the Olympia (P ...

. Upon returning to North America she settled in

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

, Canada and began working on screen appearing first as "Mother" in a 1988 episode of

T. and T. ''T. and T.'' is a television series, in production from 1987 to 1990. It premiered in first-run syndication in January 1988, moving to new episodes on the Family Channel in 1990. It is a starring vehicle for Mr. T, after the cancellation of '' ...

Through the 1990's she appeared in numerous television movies and cinema releases including as a receptionist in 1993's Life with Mikey, Mrs. Wallace in 1997's

, Paulette Mercer in 1998's

Blind Faith Blind Faith were an English supergroup featuring Steve Winwood, Eric Clapton, Ginger Baker, and Ric Grech. They were eagerly anticipated by the music press following on the success of each of the member's former bands, including Clapton a ...

. On stage she was nominated for a

Dora Mavor Moore Award The Dora Mavor Moore Award (also known as the Dora Award) is an award presented annually by the Toronto Alliance for the Performing Arts which honours theatre, dance and opera productions in Toronto. Named after Dora Mavor Moore, who helped estab ...

in 1997 for her part in the musical

Sophisticated Ladies ''Sophisticated Ladies'' is a musical revue based on the music of Duke Ellington. The musical ran on Broadway in 1981–83, earning 2 awards and 8 nominations at the 35th Tony Awards. Production ''Sophisticated Ladies'' opened on Broadway at th ...

. In 1998 she secured her longest lasting screen role, that of Asia Franklin in both seasons of the TV series

based on

Louisa May Alcott Louisa May Alcott (; November 29, 1832March 6, 1888) was an American novelist, short story writer, and poet best known as the author of the novel ''Little Women'' (1868) and its sequels ''Little Men'' (1871) and ''Jo's Boys'' (1886). Raised in ...

's sequel to

Little Women ''Little Women'' is a coming-of-age novel written by American novelist Louisa May Alcott (1832–1888). Alcott wrote the book, originally published in two volumes in 1868 and 1869, at the request of her publisher. The story follows the lives ...

. It debuted on CTV and the family-friendly

PAX TV Ion Television is an American broadcast television network owned by the Katz Broadcasting subsidiary of the E. W. Scripps Company. The network first began broadcasting on August 31, 1998, as Pax TV, focusing primarily on family-oriented entert ...

. Her other screen work continued including a pioneering bedroom love scene opposite cis actor and Academy Award winner

Louis Gossett Jr. Louis Cameron Gossett Jr. (born May 27, 1936) is an American actor. Born in Coney Island, Brooklyn, New York City, He had his stage debut at the age of 17, in a school production of '' You Can't Take It with You.'' Shortly after he successfully ...

in 1999's ''

Love Songs A love song is a song about romantic love, falling in love, heartbreak after a breakup, and the feelings that these experiences bring. A comprehensive list of even the best known performers and composers of love songs would be a large order. ...

'', and parts in Disney's family adventure The Cheetah Girls and

. Other notable roles on stage included in the original Broadway company of Buddy: The Buddy Holly Story in 1990 and a production of

Anything That Moves ''Anything That Moves'' was a literary, journalistic, and topical magazine published in the United States from 1990 to 2001. The magazine's mission was to confront and redefine concepts of sexuality and gender, to defy stereotypes and broad defin ...

in 2001. She was also in the TV special The Book of Negroes in 2015.

Coming Out

For many decades Caldwell would not tell people that she had been

assigned male at birth Sex assignment (sometimes known as gender assignment) is the discernment of an infant's sex at or before birth. A relative, midwife, nurse or physician inspects the external genitalia when the baby is delivered and, in more than 99.95% of birt ...

and lived with the fear that this news could devastate her and her career: "You wake up afraid. You go to sleep afraid. You are trying to figure out if someone is going to drop the bomb. You are just afraid all the time." After writing and performing her autobiographical musical show “The Guide to Being Fabulous After You’ve Skinned Your Knee,” at

Berkeley Street Theater Berkeley most often refers to: *Berkeley, California, a city in the United States **University of California, Berkeley, a public university in Berkeley, California *George Berkeley (1685–1753), Anglo-Irish philosopher Berkeley may also refer t ...

in Toronto in 2010, Caldwell entered a period of depression concerned that she needed to disclose even more of the truth of her life. She told the New York Times "After that show, the bottom fell out because I felt like I was lying. I had left myself out. I left the truth about me out." In 2017, after getting the lead role in the play "Charm" based on the life of fellow black trans woman Gloria Allen, Caldwell revealed publicly for the first time that she was herself trans. The show and her coming-out performance were well received. Variety's Marilyn Stasio called Caldwell a "black transgender woman of immense poise, beauty and — pardon me, I can’t help myself — charm," and New York magazine's Sara Holdren praised her as "classy and charismatic." She further discussed her experience living in "stealth" and now as an openly trans woman in the 2020 documentary Disclosure: Trans Lives on Screen.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Caldwell, Sandra Living people American television actresses American film actresses American LGBT actors Transgender actresses LGBT people from Washington, D.C. Year of birth missing (living people)