Vonetta Lawrence McGee (January 14, 1945 – July 9, 2010) was an American

actress An actor or actress is a person who portrays a 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 term is (), li ...

. She debuted in the Spaghetti Western ''

The Great Silence ''The Great Silence'' ( it, Il grande silenzio) is a 1968 revisionist Spaghetti Western film directed and co-written by Sergio Corbucci. An Italian-French co-production, the film stars Jean-Louis Trintignant, Klaus Kinski, Vonetta McGee (in ...

'' and went on to appear in blaxploitation films such as ''Hammer'', ''Melinda'', ''

Blacula ''Blacula'' is a 1972 American blaxploitation horror film directed by William Crain. It stars William Marshall in the title role about an 18th-century African prince named Mamuwalde, who is turned into a vampire (and later locked in a coffin) by ...

'', ''

Shaft in Africa ''Shaft in Africa'' is a 1973 American blaxploitation film directed by John Guillermin, and the third film of the '' Shaft'' series, starring Richard Roundtree as John Shaft. Stirling Silliphant wrote the screenplay. The film's budget was $1.5 m ...

'', ''

Detroit 9000 ''Detroit 9000'' is a 1973 American action film directed by Arthur Marks from a screenplay by Orville H. Hampton. Originally marketed as a blaxploitation film, it had a resurgence on video 25 years later. Plot Street-smart white detective Dan ...

'', and 1974's ''

Thomasine & Bushrod ''Thomasine & Bushrod'' is a 1974 Western film directed by Gordon Parks, Jr., written by and starring Max Julien and Vonetta McGee and was released by Columbia Pictures. The title song was written by Arthur Lee and performed by his band Love. ...

'' alongside her then-boyfriend

Max Julien Maxwell Julien Banks (July 12, 1933 – January 1, 2022), better known by his stage name Max Julien, was an American actor, sculptor, and clothes designer best known for his role as Goldie in the 1973 blaxploitation film ''The Mack''. Julien a ...

. In 1975, she was Clint Eastwood's co-star in ''

The Eiger Sanction ''The Eiger Sanction'' is a 1972 thriller novel by Trevanian, the pen name of Rodney William Whitaker. The story is about a classical art professor and collector who doubles as a professional assassin, and who is coerced out of retirement to ave ...

''. She was a regular on the 1987

Universal Television Universal Television LLC (abbreviated as UTV) is an American television production company that is a subsidiary of Universal Studio Group, a division of Comcast's NBCUniversal. It serves as the network television production arm of NBC; a prede ...

situation comedy ''Bustin' Loose'', starring as Mimi Shaw for its only season (1987–88).

Early life

Born in

San Francisco, California San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17th ...

, to Lawrence McGee and Alma McGee (née Scott), McGee graduated from

San Francisco Polytechnic High School San Francisco Polytechnic High School was a public secondary school in San Francisco, California. Located from 1912 at 701 Frederick Street, across from Kezar Stadium, the school was in operation from 1884 until 1973. History The school opened i ...

in 1962. She enrolled at

San Francisco State University San Francisco State University (commonly referred to as San Francisco State, SF State and SFSU) is a public research university in San Francisco. As part of the 23-campus California State University system, the university offers 118 different ...

and became involved in acting groups on campus.

Career

McGee landed her first role in 1968, when she performed alongside

Jean-Louis Trintignant Jean-Louis Xavier Trintignant (; 11 December 1930 – 17 June 2022) was a French actor. He made his theatrical debut in 1951, and went on to be regarded as one of the best French dramatic actors of the post-war era. He starred in many classic fi ...

and Klaus Kinski in

Sergio Corbucci Sergio Corbucci (; 6 December 1926 – 1 December 1990) was an Italian film director, screenwriter and producer. He directed both very violent Spaghetti Westerns and bloodless Bud Spencer and Terence Hill action comedies. He is the older bro ...

's Spaghetti Western ''

'', and made her first released film appearance that same year as the

eponymous An eponym is a person, a place, or a thing after whom or which someone or something is, or is believed to be, named. The adjectives which are derived from the word eponym include ''eponymous'' and ''eponymic''. Usage of the word The term ''epon ...

character in the

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

comedy '' Faustina'', which was released before the former film. She later became well known for her parts in the 1972 Blaxploitation films ''

Melinda Melinda is a feminine given name. Etymology The modern name ''Melinda'' is a combination of "Mel" with the suffix "-inda". "Mel" can be derived from names such as Melanie meaning "dark, black" in Greek, or from Melissa (μέλισσα) meaning ...

'' and '' Hammer''. In the action thriller ''

'' (1973), McGee took the role of Aleme, the daughter of an

emir Emir (; ar, أمير ' ), sometimes transliterated amir, amier, or ameer, is a word of Arabic origin that can refer to a male monarch, aristocrat, holder of high-ranking military or political office, or other person possessing actual or cer ...

, who teaches

John Shaft John Shaft is a fictional character created by author/screenwriter Ernest Tidyman for the 1970 novel of the same name. He was portrayed by Richard Roundtree in the original 1971 film and in its four sequels, '' Shaft's Big Score!'' (1972), '' Sh ...

(

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 ...

)

Ethiopia Ethiopia, , om, Itiyoophiyaa, so, Itoobiya, ti, ኢትዮጵያ, Ítiyop'iya, aa, Itiyoppiya officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country in the Horn of Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the ...

n geography. Earlier that year she had appeared in a supporting role as an occult priestess in '' The Norliss Tapes''. In 1974, McGee appeared as Thomasine, alongside

as Bushrod, in the western action film ''

'', which was intended as a counterpart to the 1967 film '' Bonnie and Clyde''. The next year, she starred alongside Clint Eastwood in the action thriller ''

'' (1975). She appeared in an episode of the TV series '' Starsky & Hutch'' named "Black and Blue" in 1979. She appeared as Marlene, the high-energy lot manager, in the 1984 cult classic '' Repo Man''.

Personal life and death

McGee was in a live-in relationship with actor

from 1974 to 1977. They starred together in the 1974 film ''

''. In 1987, McGee married actor

Carl Lumbly Carl Winston Lumbly (born August 14, 1951) is an American actor. He is known for his roles as Dick Hallorann in '' Doctor Sleep'', NYPD detective Marcus Petrie on the CBS police drama ''Cagney & Lacey'', CIA agent Marcus Dixon on the ABC esp ...

, with whom she had one child, Brandon, born in 1988. McGee died of

cardiac arrest Cardiac arrest is when the heart suddenly and unexpectedly stops beating. It is a medical emergency that, without immediate medical intervention, will result in sudden cardiac death within minutes. Cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and poss ...

on July 9, 2010, at the age of 65.

Selected filmography

References

External links

*
Obituary – ''LA Times''

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Mcgee, Vonetta 1945 births 2010 deaths 20th-century American actresses 21st-century American actresses Actresses from San Francisco African-American actresses American film actresses American television actresses San Francisco State University alumni Spaghetti Western actresses 20th-century African-American women 20th-century African-American people 21st-century African-American women 21st-century African-American people