Sheila Elaine Frazier (born November 13, 1948) is an American

actress An actor or actress is a person who portrays a Character (arts), character in a performance. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. The analogous Greek ...

, producer, and

model A model is an informative representation of an object, person or system. The term originally denoted the plans of a building in late 16th-century English, and derived via French and Italian ultimately from Latin ''modulus'', a measure. Models c ...

. Frazier is known for her co-starring role as Georgia in the 1972 crime/drama film '' Super Fly''. Frazier later reprised her role in the 1973 sequel, '' Super Fly T.N.T.''

Biography

Sheila Elaine Frazier was born in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

to Dorothy Dennis and Eugene Cole Frazier. She lived on the

Lower East Side The Lower East Side, sometimes abbreviated as LES, is a historic neighborhood in the southeastern part of Manhattan in New York City. It is located roughly between the Bowery and the East River from Canal to Houston streets. Traditionally an im ...

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

and attended PS 97 until age ten, when she moved with her mother to

Englewood, New Jersey Englewood is a city in Bergen County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey, which at the 2020 United States census had a population of 29,308. Englewood was incorporated as a city by an act of the New Jersey Legislature on March 17, 1899, from por ...

. There, she enrolled in the Liberty School. As a young girl, Frazier was a had a

stutter Stuttering, also known as stammering, is a speech disorder in which the flow of speech is disrupted by involuntary repetitions and prolongations of sounds, syllables, words, or phrases as well as involuntary silent pauses or blocks in which the ...

, which contributed to her shyness. When she was in sixth grade, a teacher purported to help her overcome stuttering by announcing to the class before Sheila's presentation: “I don’t want any laughter. Sheila’s a stutterer. I don’t want any laughter.” Frazier has said that introduction was so painful it merely intensified her anxiety about speaking in public. In Englewood, she counted among her neighbors

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, and Dolly and

Jackie McLean John Lenwood "Jackie" McLean (May 17, 1931 – March 31, 2006) was an American jazz alto saxophonist, composer, bandleader, and educator, and is one of the few musicians to be elected to the ''DownBeat'' Hall of Fame in the year of their deat ...

. She went on to

Dwight Morrow High School Dwight Morrow High School is a four-year comprehensive public high school located in Englewood, in Bergen County, New Jersey, United States, operating as part of the Englewood Public School District. The school also serves students from Engle ...

, where her classmates included

Margaret Travolta Margaret Travolta (born December 31, 1946) is an Americans, American actress. Early life Travolta was born in Englewood, New Jersey to a Catholic family. The daughter of Salvatore Travolta and Helen Cecilia married and maiden names, née Burke, s ...

, actress and sister of

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. Despite Frazier's struggle with stuttering, she was inspired by Susan Hayward's performance in the film ''

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'' to pursue a career as an actress. After graduating from high school in 1966, at age 17, she moved to New York City, where she stayed with her godmother and found work as a secretary.

Modeling, movies and television

One day on the subway, a man approached Frazier and asked if she'd ever considered modelling. That chance encounter led her to do photo sessions with his boss, Bert Andrews. She began to do runway modelling and print work, but was not comfortable with that sort of attention. At some point, she met actor

Richard Roundtree Richard Roundtree (born July 9, 1942) is an American actor. Roundtree is noted as being "the first black action hero" for his portrayal of private detective John Shaft in the 1971 film ''Shaft'', and its four sequels, released between 1972 and 2 ...

, who suggested she audition for the

Negro Ensemble Company The Negro Ensemble Company (NEC) is a New York City-based theater company and workshop established in 1967 by playwright Douglas Turner Ward, producer-actor Robert Hooks, and theater manager Gerald S. Krone, with funding from the Ford Foundation ...

. Following his advice about focusing on the part she was playing, Frazier found she had overcome her stuttering. Five months later, she auditioned for the film '' Super Fly'', winning the role of Georgia, the lead actress. She went on to work in many film and television productions, including '' Three the Hard Way''. In 1980, she hosted a community affairs show on KNXT-TV in Los Angeles. She also worked as a story editor at

Richard Pryor Richard Franklin Lennox Thomas Pryor Sr. (December 1, 1940 – December 10, 2005) was an American stand-up comedian and actor. He reached a broad audience with his trenchant observations and storytelling style, and is widely regarded as on ...

's Indigo Productions.

Personal

Frazier has been married twice and has one child. Frazier married evangelist minister John Atchison in early–2008 at Crenshaw Christian Center East in Manhattan, New York.JET Magazine - Celebrities - Prayer, Patience And Celibacy Are Ingredients That Unite Couple After 30-Year Friendship - March 24, 2008
/ref> Frazier's son, Derek McKeith is from her previous marriage to Sam McKeith. Frazier currently resides in

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' ...

Film and television

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Frazier, Sheila 1948 births Actresses from New York City African-American actresses American film actresses American stage actresses American television actresses Living people People from the Bronx People from Englewood, New Jersey 21st-century African-American people 21st-century African-American women 20th-century African-American people 20th-century African-American women