Dwan Smith
| Dwan Smith | |
|---|---|
| Born |
January 22, 1944 Jackson, Tennessee, U.S. |
| Nationality | American |
| Occupation | Actress, Singer |
| Years active | 1970–2001 |
Dwan Smith (born January 22, 1944) is an American television and film actress and singer. She is best known for her role as Dolores Williams in the 1976 musical drama film Sparkle.
Career
Smith was born and raised in Jackson, Tennessee. In 1972, she made her television debut on the series Adam-12. This was followed by roles in television movies such as the unsold television film A Very Missing Person, and The Couple Takes a Wife. She began making regular appearances on television shows such as Emergency!, Room 222, Sanford & Son, Ellery Queen, Owen Marshall: Counselor at Law, Barnaby Jones, The Jeffersons, Joe Forrester and Police Story.
In 1975, she was cast in the role of Dolores Williams in the musical drama Sparkle. She starred opposite singer Irene Cara and Lonette McKee, who portrayed her sisters Sparkle and Sister, respectively. Although the character "Sister" was to be the oldest out of three sisters, Smith (aged 31 at the time) was ten years older than McKee, and fourteen years older than Cara. She was also three years younger than Mary Alice who portrayed their mother, Effie. In the film, she performed backing vocals to the Curtis Mayfield-penned songs, "Something He Can Feel", "Hooked On Your Love", and "Jump", (which were all re-recorded by Aretha Franklin for the entire soundtrack). She continued to make appearances in films such as Cop on the Beat, Brothers (opposite Bernie Casey), the ill-fated and critically panned The Concorde...Airport '79 and Hell Squad followed by her role of Dr. Irma Foster on the groundbreaking soap opera General Hospital, a role she played from 1987 to 1989.
Since her role in Sparkle, Smith largely faded from television and film altogether, appearing in the direct-to-video MP Da Last Don (1998) as Master P's mother, In The Wake (2000) and House Party 4: Down to the Last Minute (2001) as Mrs. Dixon. It marked Smith's last role to date.
Personal
On August 3, 2011, Smith recently appeared in a YouTube video via her channel 'mizdwan4' to which she was to reveal her sexuality for the first time. However, the secret comes out as her love and addiction for all types of wigs.[1]