PETTIFORD, Valarie 1960–

PERSONAL

Born July 8, 1960, in borough of Queens, NY; daughter of Ralph and Blanch Pettiford; married Tony Rader (a manager). Education: Trained at Bernice Johnson Theatre of Performing Arts; attended Performing Arts High School, New York City. Avocational Interests: Shopping, knitting.

Addresses: Agent— Joel Dean, Agency for the Performing Arts, 9200 Sunset Blvd., Suite 900, Los Angeles, CA 90069.

Career: Actress, singer, dancer, and choreographer. Touring singer and recording artist with rhythm–and–blues and rock–and–roll bands in the United States and Europe; performed with the Stingers music group in the 1980s; performed as a soloist with the Dallas Symphony Orchestra. Also appeared in commercials.

Awards, Honors: Antoinette Perry Award nomination, 1999, and Dora Mavor Moore Award nomination, Toronto Theatre Alliance, both for Fosse: A Celebration in Song and Dance; Image Award nomination, outstanding supporting actress in a comedy series, National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, 2004, for Half & Half; Image Award, theatre category, Los Angeles Ovation Award, Los Angeles Robbie Award, Jessie Richardson Theatre Award, Vancouver Professional Theatre Alliance, and Readers Choice Award, Vancouver Sun, all for Show Boat; Audelco Award, best actress in a play, Audience Development Committee, for Free Fall.

CREDITS

Stage Appearances:

Swing, A Broadway Musical: A Musical about a Broadway Musical, Lunt–Fontanne Theatre, New York City, 1978.

Understudy for Miss Jamison and one of the sophisticated ladies, Duke Ellington's Sophisticated Ladies (musical revue), Lunt–Fontanne Theatre, 1981–1983.

Fleta, Grind (musical), Mark Hellinger Theatre, New York City, 1985.

Pearl, band singer, and first shadow, Big Deal (musical), Broadway Theatre, New York City, 1986.

Multiple roles, including Shannara, Weird Romance (musical), Workshop of the Players Art Theatre, New York City, 1992.

Velma Kelly, Chicago (musical), London production, 1999–2000.

Fosse: A Celebration in Song and Dance (musical revue), Broadhurst Theatre, New York City, 1999–2001, and Toronto, Ontario.

Dorothy Shaw, Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (musical), Freud Playhouse, Westwood, CA, 2002.

Leontine Duchotel, He Hunts, Geffen Playhouse, Westwood, 2002.

Appeared as Cassandra Keefer, The Naked Truth, Workshop of the Players Art Theatre; in off–Broadway productions of The Balcony, Beehive, Free Fall, and Tango Apasionato; in Summer and Smoke, Yale Repertory Theatre, New Haven, CT; in regional productions of Sarah and Abraham and She Stoops to Conquer; and in Sweet Charity (musical).

Major Tours:

Anita, West Side Story, U.S. cities, 1987.

Toured in Dancin', U.S. cities; and as Julie La Verne, Show Boat (musical), Canadian and U.S. cities.

Stage Choreographer:

Ladies and Gentlemen, Jerome Kern, Harold Clurman Theatre, New York City, 1985.

Film Appearances:

Member of ensemble, The Wiz (musical), c. 1974.

Dancer, The Cotton Club, Orion, 1984.

Newscaster, Robots, Eastman Kodak, 1988.

Denise, Street Hunter, 21st Century Film, 1990.

Sean, Confidences (short film), 2001.

Lillian Frank, Glitter, Twentieth Century–Fox, 2001.

Mrs. Boyd, Like Mike, Twentieth Century–Fox, 2002.

Terry, Paris, Paris Digital, 2003.

Also appeared in Another You and Divorced.

Television Appearances; Series:

Courtney Walker, Another World (also known as Another World: Bay City ), NBC, 1988–1990.

Sheila Price Gannon, One Life to Live, ABC, 1990–1994.

Big Dee Dee Thorne, Half & Half, UPN, beginning 2002.

Television Appearances; Episodic:

Angie Ferris, "Out of the Past," The Sentinel, UPN, 1996.

Priestess, "Silent Witness," Silk Stalkings, USA Network, 1997.

Bianca Fleisch, "Honey, You've Got Nine Lives," Honey, I Shrunk the Kids: The TV Show, syndicated, 1997.

Bianca Fleisch, "Honey, I Got Duped," Honey, I Shrunk the Kids: The TV Show, syndicated, 1997.

Sylvia, "Reality Check," Fame L.A., syndicated, 1997.

Sylvia, "The Key to Success," Fame L.A., syndicated, 1998.

Angel Blake, "Angel," Walker, Texas Ranger, CBS, 1998.

Dr. Grace Venable, "Asylum," Sliders, Sci–Fi Channel, 1998.

FBI agent, "Two Fathers," The X–Files, Fox, 1999.

Teri Forrester, "Top Dog," Men, Women & Dogs, The WB, 2001.

"Caution: Parents Crossing," Jack & Jill, The WB, 2001.

Calliope, "Sabrina, the Muse," Sabrina, the Teenage Witch, The WB, 2001.

Public relations woman, "Hooping Cranes," Frasier, NBC, 2001.

Gayle Noland, "Daughter for Daughter," The District, CBS, 2002.

White House Security Guard Janice, "Enemies Foreign and Domestic," The West Wing, NBC, 2002.

"Fortunate Son," State of Grace, 2002.

"Free–Fire Zone," The District, CBS, 2002.

Gayle Noland, "The Second Man," The District, CBS, 2002.

Gayle Noland, "Ella Mae," The District, CBS, 2003.

Gayle Noland, "The Kindness of Strangers," The District, CBS, 2003.

Also appeared in Any Day Now, Lifetime; and Matthew.

RECORDINGS

Albums:

Performed for Fosse (Broadway cast recording) and Weird Romance (original cast recording).

OTHER SOURCES

Periodicals:

Soaps in Depth, March 7, 2000.

Venice, May, 2002, pp. 44–47.