#film actresses
NOVEMBER 29 - JENIFER LEWIS
Once nicknamed the “Black Mother of Hollywood”, Jenifer Lewis is known for playing maternal roles films that include Poetic Justice,What’s Love Got To Do With It,Dead Presidents,PantherandPenny Marshall’sThe Preacher’s Wife. It is likely no coincidence that she was selected to portray Dre’s mother Ruby on the ABC sitcom Black-ish, delivering some of the biggest laughs alongside Anthony Anderson, Tracee Ellis Ross and the rest of the cast.
In her early career, Lewis was cast as Effie White in the workshop for Dreamgirls, but when the show moved to Broadway, Jennifer Holliday was chosen for the role instead. Shortly after, she landed a gig as one of Bette Midler’s back-up singers, earning her first television and film credits with the diva’s HBO specials and the 1988 film Beaches. She would also play one of Whoopi Goldberg’s back-up singers in both Sister Actmovies.
On television, Lewis had memorable roles as Dean Davenport on A Different World, Aunt Helen on The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air and Veretta Childs on Girlfriends. She appeared in six seasons as Lana Hawkins on Lifetime’s Strong Medicine, also performing the show’s theme song.
Lewis has contributed her vocal talents to several animated projects, bringing to life Mama Odie in The Princess and the Frog, Flo in the Cars franchise and Bebe Ho on Eddie Murphy’s television series The PJs. Her stage credits include a Shakespeare in the Park production opposite Meryl Streep and five Broadway credits, including the role of Motormouth Maybelle in Hairspray.
In 2007, Lewis revealed on The Oprah Winfrey Show that she has bipolar disorder. Beyond participating in causes to promote mental health awareness, she has continued to speak out about her diagnosis since then.
Post link
DECEMBER 19 - CARRIE FISHER
Best known for her role as Princess Leia in the original Star Wars trilogy - a character she revisits in the series’ latest film The Force Awakens - actress Carrie Fisher has spoken candidly to the press about drug addiction, her struggle with bipolar disorder and sexism within Hollywood. Recently, she made headlines for stating to her new Star Wars co-star Daisy Ridley “Don’t be a slave like I was.”
Onscreen, Fisher has also appeared in The Blues Brothers,ShampooandWhen Harry Met Sally. Her 1987 semi-autobiographical novel Postcards from the Edge became a critically-acclaimed film starring Meryl Streep, Shirley MacLaine and Annette Bening, featuring music by Carly Simon and author Shel Silverstein. Decades later, she released the 2008 memoir Wishful Drinking, based on her one-woman stage show.
Behind the scenes, Fisher gained prominence as one of Hollywood’s top script doctors, reworking screenplays for Hook,Sister Act,So I Married An Axe Murderer,The Wedding Singer, the past three films in the Star Wars franchise and many other films. (Thank you, @karadin, for that valuable addition!)
Fisher is the daughter of actress Debbie Reynolds, and in continuing the family legacy, her own daughter Billie Lourd recently made her acting debut as Chanel #3 on the FOX series Scream Queens. Lourd wears a pair of fuzzy earmuffs that are a blatant homage to her mother’s iconic character, and in no strange coincidence, she also happens to have scored a role in The Force Awakens.
In other news that makes Carrie Fisher awesome, her French bulldog Gary has been the clear winner of the Star Wars press tour.
Post link
