L. Scott Caldwell (born Laverne Scott; April 17, 1950) is an American actress perhaps best known for her roles as Deputy U.S. Marshall Erin Poole in '' The Fugitive'' (1993) and

Rose A rose is either a woody perennial flowering plant of the genus ''Rosa'' (), in the family Rosaceae (), or the flower it bears. There are over three hundred species and tens of thousands of cultivars. They form a group of plants that can be ...

on the television series ''

Lost Lost may refer to getting lost, or to: Geography * Lost, Aberdeenshire, a hamlet in Scotland *Lake Okeechobee Scenic Trail, or LOST, a hiking and cycling trail in Florida, US History *Abbreviation of lost work, any work which is known to have bee ...

''.

Early life

Born the middle child in

Chicago, Illinois (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

, to working-class parents, Laverne Scott grew up in the Woodlawn neighborhood on the South Side. At a high enrollment elementary school, she attended the morning session, and her older siblings went to school in the afternoon. When the school released her at noon she was escorted to a neighborhood theater where she was minded by a friend of her mother. While attending Hyde Park High School, she joined the drama club. Her class went to see a performance of ''A Day of Absence'', featuring

Douglas Turner Ward Douglas Turner Ward (May 5, 1930February 20, 2021) was an American playwright, actor, director, and theatrical producer. He was noted for being a founder and artistic director of the Negro Ensemble Company (NEC). He was nominated for the Tony ...

, a co-founder of

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 Foundati ...

. It was the first time she saw professional black actors on stage. After graduating high school in 1967, she attended

Northwestern University Northwestern University is a private research university in Evanston, Illinois. Founded in 1851, Northwestern is the oldest chartered university in Illinois and is ranked among the most prestigious academic institutions in the world. Charte ...

. She left after one year and went to work full-time as an operator at Illinois Bell. She got married and had a son. She transferred her credits to

Loyola University-Chicago Loyola University Chicago (Loyola or LUC) is a Private university, private Society of Jesus, Jesuit research university in Chicago, Illinois. Founded in 1870 by the Society of Jesus, Loyola is one of the largest Catholic Church, Catholic univers ...

and earned a bachelor's degree in Theater Arts and Communications.

Career

Caldwell planned on a teaching career and taught at Chicago High School of the Performing Arts. She also worked a year for the Chicago Council on Fine Arts as an artist-in-residence. While in Chicago Caldwell performed in local theatrical productions at the Body Politic, Court Theater, and Eleventh Street Theater. She went to New York in 1978 to audition for

Uta Hagen Uta Thyra Hagen (12 June 1919 – 14 January 2004) was a German-American actress and theatre practitioner. She originated the role of Martha in the 1962 Broadway premiere of ''Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?'' by Edward Albee, who called her "a ...

's school HB Studio. While waiting to audition she saw an ad for The Negro Ensemble Company. After her audition at Hagen's school, she took the subway to the NEC. Caldwell was initially rebuffed by the person who interviewed her but she insisted on meeting with Ward. She used the three pieces she performed at her audition for Hagen. She was accepted by both Hagen and Ward. During her first season at NEC Caldwell performed in several plays. One of those plays, ''Home'', by Samm Art Williams, took her to Broadway's Cort Theatre in 1980. The play was critically acclaimed and earned a Tony Award nomination for Charles Brown. After Home closed Caldwell worked in several regional theater productions including Boesman and Lena at Milwaukee Repertory Theatre and ''

A Raisin in the Sun ''A Raisin in the Sun'' is a play by Lorraine Hansberry that debuted on Broadway in 1959. The title comes from the poem "Harlem" (also known as "A Dream Deferred") by Langston Hughes. The story tells of a black family's experiences in south Chi ...

'' at Studio Arena Theatre in

Buffalo, New York Buffalo is the second-largest city in the U.S. state of New York (behind only New York City) and the seat of Erie County. It is at the eastern end of Lake Erie, at the head of the Niagara River, and is across the Canadian border from Sou ...

. In December 1984, while working in Play of Giants, Caldwell was struck by a car while hailing a cab on Columbus Avenue in New York. She suffered a severe back injury and was unable to work for nearly two years. Her first audition after her recovery was for

August Wilson August Wilson ( Frederick August Kittel Jr.; April 27, 1945 – October 2, 2005) was an American playwright. He has been referred to as the "theater's poet of Black America". He is best known for a series of ten plays, collectively called ' (or ...

's ''

Joe Turner's Come and Gone ''Joe Turner's Come and Gone'' is a play by American playwright August Wilson. It is the second installment of his decade-by-decade chronicle of the African-American experience, ''The Pittsburgh Cycle''. The play was first staged 1984 at the Euge ...

''. Her performance as Bertha Holly earned her a 1988

Tony Award The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Broadway Theatre, more commonly known as the Tony Award, recognizes excellence in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual c ...

. Soon after winning the Tony, she moved to southern California to work in television and film. She is extremely busy, working in several cities in the U.S., Canada, and South Africa, and continues to work in theater. She returned to Broadway in 1997 as the lead in

Neil Simon Marvin Neil Simon (July 4, 1927 – August 26, 2018) was an American playwright, screenwriter and author. He wrote more than 30 plays and nearly the same number of movie screenplays, mostly film adaptations of his plays. He has received mo ...

's short-lived ''

Proposals Proposal(s) or The Proposal may refer to: * Proposal (business) * Research proposal * Proposal (marriage) * Proposition, a proposal in logic and philosophy Arts, entertainment, and media * ''The Proposal'' (album) Films * ''The Proposal'' ...

''. After ''Proposals'' closed Caldwell performed the role of Leah, Little Augie's sister, in

New York City Center New York City Center (previously known as the Mecca Temple, City Center of Music and Drama,. The name "City Center for Music and Drama Inc." is the organizational parent of the New York City Ballet and, until 2011, the New York City Opera. and t ...

's "Encores! Great American Musicals in Concert" production of ''St. Louis Woman''. In 2006, she made her

Goodman Theatre Goodman Theatre is a professional theater company located in Chicago's Loop. A major part of the Chicago theatre scene, it is the city's oldest currently active nonprofit theater organization. Part of its present theater complex occupies the la ...

debut in

Regina Taylor Regina Annette Taylor
''Film Reference''. (born August 22, 1960) is an American

's The Dreams of Sarah Breedlove. In 2011, she took on the role of Lena Younger in the Ebony Repertory Theatre production of the Lorraine Hansberry classic ''

''. The play was directed by

Phylicia Rashad Phylicia Rashad ( ) (née Ayers-Allen; born June 19, 1948) is an American actress, singer and director who is dean of the College of Fine Arts at Howard University. She is best known for her role as Clair Huxtable on the NBC sitcom '' The Cosby ...

. Caldwell, along with the entire cast, was nominated for the LA Stage Alliance 2011 Ovation Award for her work as Lena, for which she won the 2011 Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle Award. Caldwell is an active member of Unite For Strength, the

Screen Actors Guild The Screen Actors Guild (SAG) was an American labor union which represented over 100,000 film and television principal and background performers worldwide. On March 30, 2012, the union leadership announced that the SAG membership voted to me ...

coalition in favor of joining with AFTRA. On September 19, 2008, she won a seat as an alternate on the national board of directors and the Hollywood division board of directors. Caldwell was elected to a second one-year term on September 24, 2009. She served on the Seniors, Legislative, Women, Holiday Host, Honors and Tributes, and EEOC committees. In September 2010, she was elected to a one-year term on the national board of directors. She served as the national chair of the Women's committee. In 2011, Caldwell is on the SAG national board of directors ballot for a fourth consecutive year. She won a three-year term on the national and Hollywood boards. She will serve as national chair of Women, and Healthcare Safetynet committees. In 2016, she was part of the six-part PBS Civil War drama miniseries ''Mercy Street''.

Personal life

In her early twenties, Scott married John Caldwell and had a son, Ominara. She was divorced in the early 1980s and was married again (on her birthday) in 2004 to artist/photographer/director Dasal Banks. Banks suffered from cancer and died in May 2005. Caldwell completed her husband's final film, ''My Brothers and Me'', a documentary created to raise awareness about prostate cancer among black men. Caldwell gives lectures and appears on panels concerning African American actors. In 2007, she participated in tributes to

at Goodman Theatre in conjunction with Congo Square Theatre Company in Chicago, and at St. Louis Black Repertory Company. In June 2008, she participated in the NAACP Theatre Awards Festival Actors on Acting panel. In June 2009, Caldwell moderated a panel of actors, directors, and casting directors discussing African American Images in Hollywood. In February 2010, she directed a staged reading of Standing On My Sisters' Shoulders for the Los Angeles chapter of Actors Equity Association.

Film

Television

Theatre

* 2017 ''

Gem of the Ocean ''Gem of the Ocean'' (2003) is a play by American playwright August Wilson. Although the ninth play produced, chronologically it is the first installment of his decade-by-decade, ten-play chronicle, ''The Pittsburgh Cycle'', dramatizing the Afri ...

'' as Aunt Ester Tyler * 2014 ''What I Learned In Paris'' as Eve Madison * 2014 ''The Wife's Story'' as She * 2011 ''

'' as Lena Younger * 2011 ''The Circle'' as Donna * 2009 ''Reverse Transcription'' Staged Reading as Ottoline * 2006 ''The Dreams of Sarah Breedlove'' as Sarah Breedlove / Madam C.J. Walker * 2000–2005 ''Going to St. Ives'' (radio broadcast and recording) as May N'Kame * 1998 ''St. Louis Woman'' as Leah * 1997 ''

'' as Clemma Diggins * 1997 ''

Macbeth ''Macbeth'' (, full title ''The Tragedie of Macbeth'') is a tragedy by William Shakespeare. It is thought to have been first performed in 1606. It dramatises the damaging physical and psychological effects of political ambition on those w ...

'' as

Lady Macbeth Lady Macbeth is a leading character in William Shakespeare's tragedy ''Macbeth'' (). As the wife of the play's tragic hero, Macbeth (a Scottish nobleman), Lady Macbeth goads her husband into committing regicide, after which she becomes que ...

* 1995 ''American Medea'' as Medea * 1991 ''

The Piano Lesson ''The Piano Lesson'' is a 1987 play by American playwright August Wilson. It is the fourth play in Wilson's ''The Pittsburgh Cycle''. Wilson began writing this play by playing with the various answers regarding the possibility of "acquir nga se ...

'' as Berniece * 1990 ''From the Mississippi Delta'' as Miss Rosebud / Brother Pastor * 1987–1988 ''

'' as Bertha Holly * 1987 ''A Month of Sundays'' as Understudy Mrs. Baker * 1986 ''Elegies for the Fallen'' Staged Reading * 1984 ''A Play of Giants'' as Ambassador * 1983 ''About Heaven & Earth'' as Black Woman, The Redeemer / Raimy, Nightline * 1982 ''

'' as Ruth Younger * 1982 ''Colored Peoples Time'' as Catherine / Addie / Nadine / Ida * 1982 '' Boesman and Lena'' as Lena * 1980–1981 ''Home'' as Pattie Mae Wells / Woman One (Broadway debut) * 1979 ''A Season to Unravel'' as Afrodite * 1979 ''Plays From Africa'' – ''Everyman'' & ''The Imprisonment of Obatala'' * 1979 ''Old Phantoms'' as Ruth * 1978''Daughters of the Mock'' as Gail * 1977 ''The Thesmophoriazousae'' as Sosie (Chicago – Court Theatre) * 1975 ''The Other Cinderella'' (Chicago – Club Misty) * 1974 '' No Place to be Somebody'': A Black-Black Comedy as Cora Beasley (Loyola University student production) * ''

'' Travis Younger (Hyde Park High School student production)

Director

* 2009 ''My Brothers and Me'' Documentary * 2010 ''Standing On My Sisters' Shoulders'' Staged Reading

Commercials

* 1989 ''The

United Negro College Fund UNCF, the United Negro College Fund, also known as the United Fund, is an American philanthropic organization that funds scholarships for black students and general scholarship funds for 37 private historically black colleges and universitie ...

'' – Little Brother as Mother * 1992 ''

McDonald's McDonald's Corporation is an American multinational fast food chain, founded in 1940 as a restaurant operated by Richard and Maurice McDonald, in San Bernardino, California, United States. They rechristened their business as a hambur ...

'' – Grapevine as Calvin's Mother

Radio

* 1982 ''

WBAI WBAI (99.5 FM) is a non-commercial, listener-supported radio station licensed to New York, New York. Its programming is a mixture of political news, talk and opinion from a left-leaning, liberal or progressive viewpoint, and eclectic music. Th ...

'' – Reena by

Paule Marshall Paule Marshall (April 9, 1929 – August 12, 2019) was an American writer, best known for her 1959 debut novel '' Brown Girl, Brownstones''. In 1992, at the age of 63, Marshall was awarded a MacArthur Fellowship grant. Life and career Marshall w ...

as The Narrator

Awards and nominations

;Awards * 2011 Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle Award for Lead Performance and Ensemble Performance – ''

'' * 2006 BTAA Award for Best leading actress in a play – ''The Dreams of Sarah Breedlove'' * 2005 Obie Award for Performance in a play – ''Going to St. Ives'' * 1998 Helen Hayes Award for Supporting actress in a non-resident production – ''

'' * 1997 Drama-Logue Award for Performance in a play – ''

'' * 1990 Drama-Logue Award for Ensemble performance – ''From The Mississippi Delta'' * 1988 Tony Award for Featured actress in a play – ''Joe Turner's Come & Gone'' ;Nominations * 2011 Ovation Award for Best Acting Ensemble in a Play – ''

'' * 2007 Gemini Award (Canadian television) for Best actress in a guest performance – ''

Jozi-H ''Jozi-H'' is a Canadian-South African television drama series, which aired in 2006 and 2007.Brad Oswald, "Jozi-H medical drama an exotic spin on ER". ''Winnipeg Free Press'', 13 October 2006. Coproduced by Morula Pictures of South Africa and Inne ...

'' * 2005 Outer Critics Circle Award for Outstanding actress in a play – ''Going to St. Ives'' * 1998 FANY (FAns of NY Theatre) Award for Outstanding actress in a play – ''

, July 14, 1988, p. 39 * Mitchell, Ophelia DeVore The Columbus Times "Tony Award Winning Actress Puts Her Philosophy of Enriching Others' Lives to Practice" vol. XXVII issue 35, August 28, 1988, p. A1 * Jackson, Caroline Black Masks "L. Scott Caldwell: Laughter in One Hand; The Tony in the Other" vol. 4 issue 9, August 31, 1988, p. 4 * Bogle, Donald Black Arts Annual 1987–1988, 1989 * Hay, Samuel A. African American Theatre – An Historical and Critical Analysis, 1994, pgs. 142, 146, 158, 159, 161, 169 * Isherwood, Charles

Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

, "Proposals", July 26, 1997 * Flatow, Sheryl

Playbill ''Playbill'' is an American monthly magazine for theatergoers. Although there is a subscription issue available for home delivery, most copies of ''Playbill'' are printed for particular productions and distributed at the door as the show's p ...

, "Neil Simon Tells Love Stories in Proposals", November 18, 1997 * Kilian, Michael

Chicago Tribune The ''Chicago Tribune'' is a daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States, owned by Tribune Publishing. Founded in 1847, and formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper" (a slogan for which WGN radio and television ar ...

, "Serious Simon – Play Has Its Critics, But Its Leading Actresses Find Acclaim", November 30, 1997, Arts & Entertainment, p. 10 * Kuchwara, Michael

The Plain Dealer ''The Plain Dealer'' is the major newspaper of Cleveland, Ohio, United States. In fall 2019, it ranked 23rd in U.S. newspaper circulation, a significant drop since March 2013, when its circulation ranked 17th daily and 15th on Sunday. As of M ...

"Sweet Role Entices Actress to Simon Play: Maid a Major Role in Proposals", December 14, 1997, Arts section p. 101 * Simon, Neil The Play Goes On: A Memoir, 2002 p. 318 * Oldenburg, Ann

USA Today ''USA Today'' (stylized in all uppercase) is an American daily middle-market newspaper and news broadcasting company. Founded by Al Neuharth on September 15, 1982, the newspaper operates from Gannett's corporate headquarters in Tysons, Virgini ...

"Love Is No Longer Color-coded on TV", December 20, 2005 * Pietrusiak, Leah

Time Out Chicago ''Time Out'' is a global magazine published by Time Out Group. ''Time Out'' started as a London-only publication in 1968 and has expanded its editorial recommendations to 328 cities in 58 countries worldwide. In 2012, the London edition beca ...

"5 Minutes With L. Scott Caldwell", June 22–28, 2006 * Woulfe, Molly

The Times of Northwest Indiana ''The Times of Northwest Indiana'' (NWI) is a daily newspaper headquartered in Munster, Indiana. It is the second-largest newspaper in Indiana, behind only ''The Indianapolis Star''. History The paper was founded on June 18, 1906, as ''The Lake ...

"Lost Actress Recaps Life on the Island", June 30, 2006 * '' Lost: The Official Magazine'' "By The Fire: L. Scott Caldwell & Sam Anderson", Issue #5, July/August 2006, p. 30 * Vaughn, Kenya St. Louis American "Black Rep Goes Beyond August Wilson", March 28, 2007 * Hill, Anthony D. Historical Dictionary of African American Theater, 2009, p. 81 * Cairns, Bryan Lost The Official Magazine "By The Fire: Revolution Resolution", Issue #24, 2009 Yearbook Sep/Oct 2009, p. 70 * Donloe, Darlene LA Stage Times "Phylicia Rashad Takes the Direct Approach", March 23, 2011 * McCollester, Maggie Equity News "L. Scott Caldwell Welcomes New Members" Vol. 96 number 8, October/November 2011, p. 8

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Caldwell, L. Scott 1950 births Living people Actresses from Chicago American film actresses African-American actresses Tony Award winners American stage actresses American television actresses 20th-century American actresses 21st-century American actresses Hyde Park Academy High School alumni 20th-century African-American women 20th-century African-American people 21st-century African-American women 21st-century African-American people