Lynne Thigpen

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Lynne Thigpen
Born December 22, 1948
Joliet, Illinois
Died March 12, 2003
Marina del Rey, California

Lynne Thigpen (December 22, 1948 – March 12, 2003) was an American actress.

Contents

[edit] Biography

[edit] Early life

Thigpen was born Cherlynne Theresa Thigpen in Joliet, Illinois, and obtained a degree in teaching. She taught high school English briefly in Joliet, while studying theatre and dance at the University of Illinois, then, in 1971, moved to New York City.

[edit] Career

Thigpen had a long and prolific theater career, appearing initially in musicals such as Godspell, The Night that Made America Famous, The Magic Show, Working, and Tintypes. Her crowning theater achievement was her appearance in the Wendy Wasserstein play "An American Daughter". She won a Tony Award in 1997 for her portrayal of Dr. Judith Kaufman.

Her first film was Godspell in 1973. She appeared in a number of featured roles in films over the year, including appearances in "Streets of Fire", "Tootsie", "Running on Empty", "Lean on Me", "Hello Again", and "The Insider". Her last film appearance was in the 2003 comedy Anger Management, starring Jack Nicholson. Few people know that she was also the DJ in "The Warriors".

Thigpen may be best known for her role in the children’s geography TV show Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego?. In the series, she played the role of "The Chief" of the ACME Detective Agency, a role that involved both education and comedy, and, on occasion, musical performance. She was also the only one of the original "Where in the World" cast (aside Carmen herself) to ever appear in another game show, Where in Time is Carmen Sandiego. She also appeared on another children's show, Bear in the Big Blue House, and voiced the character of Luna.

She appeared on many primetime series; her last role was a contract role as Ella Farmer, a statistics clerk for the Washington, D.C. police department, on The District. She was also prominently featured in a storyline on the daytime drama All My Children as Grace Keefer. She had recurring roles on Gimme A Break!, L.A. Law, Law & Order, The Days and Nights of Molly Dodd, and thirtysomething.

She appeared in radio skits of the Garrison Keillor program A Prairie Home Companion. Thigpen's dusky voice was also heard on over 20 books on tape. The books were often works with socially relevant themes.[1]

[edit] Death

On March 12, 2003, Thigpen was found dead at her home in Marina del Rey, California, by a friend; she had died of a cerebral hemorrhage at the age of 54. She had been complaining of headaches for several days. She had not been seriously ill, and her death was a surprise and shock. Drugs and foul play were ruled out by the coroner's autopsy, which found "acute cardiac dysfunction, non-traumatic systemic and spontaneous intraventricular hemorrhage and hemorrhage in the brain."

[edit] Posthumous efforts

When Thigpen died, The District also had a funeral for Thigpen's character as well. (The show was cancelled a short time later, but can be seen in reruns on the USA and A&E networks.) Thigpen's untimely death also led to the three-year hiatus of Bear in the Big Blue House. A planned film version was also put on hold. According to Tara Mooney ('Shadow'), who was interviewed by Ray D'Arcy on Ireland's Today FM in 2005, "the crew's hearts just weren't in it anymore" after Thigpen's death. Friends have established a non-profit foundation[2], The Lynne Thigpen - Bobo Lewis Foundation, to help young actresses and actors learn how to survive and succeed in New York theater, to mentor the next generation of Broadway stars.

An elementary school in Joliet, Illinois is named for her.[3]

[edit] Credits

[edit] Stage

  • Godspell: 1973
  • The Night That Made America Famous: 1975
  • The Magic Show: 1976
  • Working
  • But Never Jam Today
  • Tintypes: 1980-81
  • August Wilson's Fences: 1988
  • Athol Fugard's Boesman and Lena: Obie award, 1992
  • A Month of Sundays
  • Wendy Wasserstein's An American Daughter:1996-7 (Tony Award 1997)
  • Jar the Floor

[edit] Radio

[edit] Screen

[edit] Television

[edit] Software

[edit] Voice

[edit] Awards (nominations)

Los Angeles Drama Critics award

  • 1987 for August Wilson's "Fences,"

Obie Award

  • 1992 for Athol Fugard's "Boesman and Lena"
  • 2000 for "Jar the Floor"

Tony Award

  • 1997 "Best Supporting Actress" for "An American Daughter"

NAACP Image Awards

AudioFile Awards

  • Golden Voices for the year 2000

Daytime Emmy Awards

[edit] Footnotes

  1. ^ http://www.muppetcentral.com/articles/tributes/lynne_thigpen.shtml
  2. ^ http://www.ltblf.org/
  3. ^ http://www.kitoko.com/school.html

[edit] External links

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