Tonya Pinkins (born May 30, 1962) is an American actress and filmmaker. Her award-winning debut feature film ''RED PILL'' was an official selection at the 2021

Pan African Film Festival Pan African Film Festival (PAFF) is a non-profit corporation in Los Angeles, California, that states its goal is to promote "cultural understanding among peoples of African descent" through exhibiting art and film. It hosts a film festival and an ar ...

, won the Best Black Lives Matter Feature and Best First Feature at The Mykonos International Film Festival, Best First Feature at the Luléa Film Festival, and is nominated for awards in numerous festivals around the globe. Her web-series ''The RED PILLING of AMERICA'' can be heard on her podcast ''"You Can't Say That!"'' at BPN.fm/ycst She is known for her portrayal of Livia Frye on the

soap opera A soap opera, or ''soap'' for short, is a typically long-running radio or television serial, frequently characterized by melodrama, ensemble casts, and sentimentality. The term "soap opera" originated from radio dramas originally being sponsored ...

'' All My Children'' and for her roles 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 ...

. She has been nominated for three

Tony Awards 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 ...

(winning one), and has won Obie, Lortel, Drama Desk, Outer Critics Circle, AUDLECO, Garland, L.A. Drama Critics Circle, Clarence Derwent, and NAACP Theater Awards. She has been nominated for the Olivier, Helen Hayes, Noel, Joseph Jefferson, NAACP Image, Soap Opera Digest, and Ovation Awards. She won the Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Musical for ''

Jelly's Last Jam ''Jelly's Last Jam'' is a musical with a book by George C. Wolfe, lyrics by Susan Birkenhead, and music by Jelly Roll Morton and Luther Henderson. Based on the life and career of Ferdinand Joseph LaMothe, known as Jelly Roll Morton and generally ...

''.

Early life and education

Pinkins was born 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 ...

. Her father was a police officer and insurance salesman, and her mother is a former postal worker. She has two brothers, Eric and Thomas Swoope, and a sister Tamera Swoope. Pinkins was interested in the arts from a young age. At

Whitney Young Magnet High School Whitney M. Young Magnet High School (locally known simply as Whitney Young) is a public magnet high school and middle school located in the Near West Side neighborhood in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Whitney Young is operated by the Chicago ...

, she participated in the theater program and also studied acting at the

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 ...

Young People's Program. She attended Carnegie Mellon University's BFA Musical Theatre program, but was cast in '' Merrily We Roll Along'' and decided to pursue her career, instead. Pinkins later returned to college, earning an undergraduate degree in creative writing from Columbia College Chicago in 1996, followed by a year at

California Western School of Law California Western School of Law is a private Private or privates may refer to: Music * " In Private", by Dusty Springfield from the 1990 album ''Reputation'' * Private (band), a Denmark-based band * "Private" (Ryōko Hirosue song), from th ...

in San Diego.

Career

Pinkins won a

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 ce ...

for her performance as Sweet Anita in ''

''. She was nominated for her roles in '' Play On!'' and in '' Caroline, or Change'', where she played the title role. Her additional

credits include '' Merrily We Roll Along'', '' Chronicle of a Death Foretold'', '' The Wild Party'', '' House of Flowers'', '' Radio Golf'', ''A Time To Kill'', and '' Holler If Ya Hear Me''. Pinkins has performed in several off-Broadway productions, including the comic role of Mopsa, the Shepherdess, in '' The Winter's Tale'' produced by the Riverside Shakespeare Company at The Shakespeare Center in 1983. In 2011, Pinkins starred in the world premiere of Kirsten Greenidge's ''Milk Like Sugar'' at

La Jolla Playhouse La Jolla Playhouse is a not-for-profit, professional theatre on the campus of the University of California, San Diego. History La Jolla Playhouse was founded in 1947 by Gregory Peck, Dorothy McGuire, and Mel Ferrer. In 1983, it was revived under ...

, and received a 2012 Craig Noel nomination for Best featured Actress in a Play. She reprised her role in the

Playwrights Horizons Playwrights Horizons is a not-for-profit Off-Broadway theater located in New York City dedicated to the support and development of contemporary American playwrights, composers, and lyricists, and to the production of their new work. Under the ...

in the Peter Jay Sharp Theater, and garnered a 2012 Lucille Lortel Award for Outstanding Featured Actress in a Play. In 2012, Pinkins starred in

Katori Hall Katori Hall (born May 10, 1981) is an American playwright, screenwriter, producer, actress, and director from Memphis, Tennessee. Hall's best known works include the hit television series '' P-Valley'', the Tony-nominated '' Tina: The Tina Turner ...

's play ''Hurt Village'', the gritty drama about life and change in a Memphis housing project made its world-premiere at Off-Broadway's Signature Theatre Company as part of the theatre's inaugural season. In 2014, she appeared in New Federal Theatre's revival of Ed Bullins' ''The Fabulous Miss Marie'' opposite

Roscoe Orman Roscoe Hunter Orman (born June 11, 1944) is an American actor, writer, artist and child advocate, best known for playing Gordon Robinson, one of the central human characters on ''Sesame Street''. Early life and career While a student at New Y ...

; in the Broadway production of '' Holler If Ya Hear Me''; and the world premiere of Branden Jacobs-Jenkins' ''War'' at Yale Repertory. She also made guest appearances on such television shows as '' Army Wives'', '' 24'', '' Law & Order'', ''

The Cosby Show ''The Cosby Show'' is an American television sitcom co-created by and starring Bill Cosby, which aired Thursday nights for eight seasons on NBC between September 20, 1984, until April 30, 1992. The show focuses on an upper middle-class Africa ...

'', ''

Cold Case A cold case is a crime, or a suspected crime, that has not yet been fully resolved and is not the subject of a current criminal investigation, but for which new information could emerge from new witness testimony, re-examined archives, new or r ...

'', ''

Criminal Minds ''Criminal Minds'' is an American police procedural crime drama television series created and produced by Jeff Davis. The series premiered on CBS on September 22, 2005, and originally concluded on February 19, 2020; it was revived in 2022. It ...

'', and ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'' among others. During the mid-1980s Pinkins created the character of "Heather Dalton" on the CBS soap ''

As the World Turns ''As the World Turns'' (often abbreviated as ''ATWT'') is an American television soap opera that aired on CBS for 54 years from April 2, 1956, to September 17, 2010. Irna Phillips created ''As the World Turns'' as a sister show to her other s ...

''. In 1991, she was cast as Livia Frye in '' All My Children''. Pinkins left '' All My Children'' in 1995 but returned to her role in 2003. She was later put on contract with the show from March 2004 until June 2006, when she was downgraded to recurring status. She played Amala Motobo on '' 24''. Pinkins played Ethel Peabody on the television show '' Gotham''. In 2016, she played Mimi Corcoran on the Hulu science fiction limited series ''

11.22.63 ''11.22.63'' is an American science fiction thriller miniseries based on the 2011 novel '' 11/22/63'' by Stephen King, and consisting of eight episodes, in which a time traveler attempts to stop the assassination of John F. Kennedy. The series i ...

'', based on the Stephen King book of the same name, and starring

James Franco James Edward Franco (born April 19, 1978) is an American actor and filmmaker. For his role in '' 127 Hours'' (2010), he was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actor. Franco is known for his roles in films, such as Sam Raimi's ''Spider-M ...

and

Sarah Gadon Sarah Lynn Gadon (born April 4, 1987) is a Canadian actress. She began her acting career guest-starring in a number of television series, such as '' Are You Afraid of the Dark?'' (1999), '' Mutant X'' (2002), and ''Dark Oracle'' (2004). She also ...

. On March 16, 2017, she portrayed Sandra in the ABC television series ''

Scandal A scandal can be broadly defined as the strong social reactions of outrage, anger, or surprise, when accusations or rumours circulate or appear for some reason, regarding a person or persons who are perceived to have transgressed in some way. Th ...

''. Pinkins has appeared in several films in supporting roles, including ''Newlyweeds'', ''Home'', ''

Fading Gigolo ''Fading Gigolo'' is a 2013 American comedy film directed, written by, and starring John Turturro. The film, co-starring Woody Allen, Sharon Stone, Sofia Vergara, Vanessa Paradis, Liev Schreiber and Eugenia Kuzmina premiered in the Special Pres ...

'' opposite Woody Allen, '' Enchanted'', '' Premium'', '' Romance & Cigarettes'', '' Noah's Arc: Jumping The Broom'' and ''

Above the Rim ''Above the Rim'' is a 1994 American sports drama film co-written and directed by Jeff Pollack in his directorial debut. The screenplay was written by Barry Michael Cooper, adapted from a story by Benny Medina. The film stars Duane Martin, Tu ...

'' among others. Pinkins has performed in several cabaret shows including ''Bring On The Men'' with Brad Simmons, ''Tonya Pinkins UnPlugged'' at The National Black Theater Festival and ''Hurricane Ethel''. Pinkins wrote, directed, and starred as Cassandra in ''Red Pill'', to be released in 2020.

Filmography

Film

Television

References

External links

* * *
Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pinkins, Tonya 1962 births American soap opera actresses American stage actresses American television actresses Living people African-American actresses Tony Award winners Actresses from Chicago Whitney M. Young Magnet High School alumni 20th-century American actresses 21st-century American actresses American film actresses Columbia College Chicago alumni 20th-century African-American women 20th-century African-American people 21st-century African-American women 21st-century African-American people