Bassett, Angela (1958–)

views updated

Bassett, Angela (1958–)

African-American actress. Born Aug 16, 1958, in New York, NY; raised in St. Petersburg, Florida; dau. of single mother, Betty Bassett (social worker); Yale University, BA, in African-American studies, 1980; Yale Drama School, MA, 1983; m. Courtney B. Vance (actor), 1997.

On tv, appeared on "F/X" (1986), portrayed the mother of the Jacksons in "The Jacksons: An American Dream" (1992) and starred in "The Rosa Parks Story" (2002); was also a regular on the soap, "Guiding Light"; nominated for Academy Award and won Golden Globe for her performance as Tina Turner in What's Love Got to Do with It?; other films include Boyz n the Hood (1991), Passion Fish (1992), Malcolm X (1992), Vampire in Brooklyn (1995), Waiting to Exhale (1995), How Stella Got Her Groove Back (1998), Supernova (2000), Boesman and Lena (2000), Sunshine State (2002), The Lazarus Child (2004) and Mr. and Mrs. Smith (2005).