| Jackée Harry | |
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Harry in December 2010 |
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| Born | Jacqueline Yvonne Harry August 14, 1956 Winston-Salem, North Carolina, U.S. |
| Other names | Jackée |
| Occupation | Actress |
| Years active | 1983–present |
| Spouse | Elgin Charles Williams (1996–2003) |
| Website | |
| http://www.Jackee-Online.com | |
Jacqueline Yvonne "Jackée" Harry (born August 14, 1956), better known by her professional name Jackée, is an American actress and television personality,[1] primarily known for her roles on sitcoms and other types of television shows. She is best known for her roles as Sandra Clark, the sexy neighbor and nemesis of Mary Jenkins (played by Marla Gibbs), on the TV series 227 (a role she played from 1985 to 1989), and as Tia's mother, Lisa Landry, in the long-running comedy, Sister, Sister.
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Born in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, and raised in Harlem, New York, to a Trinidadian mother and African American father. Harry began studying acting at the Henry Street Settlement on the Lower East Side in New York City and began a career on the New York stage. She appeared in A Broadway Musical, playing a chorine. In 1983, she made her television debut by on Another World as Lily Mason, a role she continued until 1986. In 2003, she was a surprise guest on the Another World Reunion that SOAPnet coordinated and aired.
In 1985, Harry began a co-starring role opposite Marla Gibbs as the apartment building vamp, "Sandra Clark", on the NBC sitcom 227, the role with which she is most associated. Her mother, Flossie, celebrated her getting the part but died before the show aired.
Harry became the first African American to win an Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series. Her performance on 227 inspired NBC producers to create a television pilot for her entitled Jackée. The pilot episode failed with audiences and is now shown as an episode of 227. Her Family Guy cameo written by Ostin Brown in which Peter Griffin asks "Where are you getting these units of measurement from?" To which Harry replies, "Mary".
After leaving 227 in 1989, Harry starred opposite Oprah Winfrey in the adaptation of Gloria Naylor's novel, The Women of Brewster Place. In 1991, Harry joined the cast of The Royal Family, whose run ended after one season when star Redd Foxx died unexpectedly that autumn.
From 1994-99, Harry played Tia Mowry's character's adoptive mother on the sitcom, Sister, Sister. She won NAACP Image Awards for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series for two consecutive years in 1999 and 2000. First on ABC, the series moved to the WB network until it ended. She had a recurring role as Vanessa on The CW series Everybody Hates Chris. She currently has a recurring role on the BET Series Let's Stay Together.
In 1994, Harry made her return to the theater by starring as Billie Holiday in the play Lady Day at Emersons Bar and Grill. Following that stage production, she fulfilled the role of "madam who runs a bordello" in the Broadway musical The Boys From Syracuse, a play based on William Shakespeare's The Comedy of Errors.
In 1992, she starred as the assistant coach in Ladybugs. Harry served as a guest panelist on the 2000 revival of To Tell the Truth. Harry appeared on the second season of VH1's Celebrity Fit Club 2 in 2005.
In the mid-2000s, she appeared in stage productions of The Sunshine Boys, Damn Yankees, and A Christmas Carol. She most recently toured nationally in JD Lawrence's The Clean Up Woman.
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