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ANGELA BASSETT

This strong Leo woman was born in NYC on August 16, 1958. Angela Bassett's family moved to St. Petersburg, Florida where she was raised by her single mother, along with sister D'nette in a housing project. Growing up in a household where money was very tight, she was taught determination and independence. These values were called into service after an eleventh grade Upward Bound trip to Washington, D.C., where Angela saw James Earl Jones in a Kennedy Center production of "Of Mice and Men".
Angela immediately set her goaols on being an actress and realizing those goals, took on roles in school plays as well as church productions. Pushed by a high school teacher, Angela earned a scholarship to Yale, where she first earned a B.A. in Afro-American Studies. She remained at the prestigious university after her graduate studies were completed and earned a Masters degree in Drama under the tutelage of Lloyd Richards.

She first appeared in a small role in the cult favorite F/X, but it was not until 1990 that a spate of TV roles brought her notice. Her breakthrough role, though, was playing Tina Turner in "What's Love Got To Do With It". Angela had never seen Tina perform before taking the role. Her career was off to a great start, and things seemed like they could only get better for the rising young star. Yet Angela did have to endure the hardships of entering into the realms of television and film like many other black actresses before her.

She found herself offered a variety of stereotypical roles and had to settle on more than one occasion. Despite the early set-backs, Angela's talent always showed through, and she was able to rise above the often trite material.
In '91, Angela took part in John Singleton's "Boyz N the Hood", which launched the careers of many young black talents. Shortly after, she continued to build her resume with a role opposite Denzel Washington in "Malcolm X". A year later, she co-starred with Laurence Fishburne in "What's Love Got to Do with It", the story of Ike and Tina Turner. The film was a hit, and Bassett received an Oscar Nomination for her performance.
A respected actress of the stage, screen, and television, Angela had already proven herself an actress to be taken seriously. She has specialized in playing strong women familiar with adversity and has worked in various roles from "Waiting to Exhale" to sci-fi action "Strange Days" to "How Stella Got Her Groove Back", and another sci-fi flick "Supernova".
In 1997, Angela married Detroit native, actor Courtney B. Vance. The two had known each other since their days together at Yale.

In 2002, Bassett was highly praised for her work in CBS' biopic The Rosa Parks Story (2002, also served as executive producer). Bassett's dazzling performance awarded her with a Black Reel for Best Actress in 2003 as well as an Emmy nomination. Coming back to the silver screen, Bassett won a leading lady role as unsuccessful actress Desiree Stokes Perry in John Sayles' Sunshine State (2002) before starring in Masked and Anonymous (2003, as Mistress) alongside Bob Dylan, Jessica Lange and John Goodman. She next starred with Andy Garcia in Lazarus Child (2004, as Elizabeth Chase) and with Bernie Mac in the baseball comedy Mr 3000 (2004, played Mo). Recently, Bassett had a reoccurring role as CIA Director Hayden Chase and appeared in the thriller Mr. & Mrs. Smith (2005, starring Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie). Angela did a phenomenal job playing Tanya Anderson in the film "Akeelah and the Bee" (2005) which was a box office hit all over the country.

CREDITS
Angela Bassett
Toussaint (2007)
Meet the Robinsons (2007)
Time Bomb (2006) (TV)
Akeelah and the Bee (2006)
Mr. & Mrs. Smith (2005)
"Alias" CIA Director Hayden Chase (2005)
Mr. 3000 (2004)
The Lazarus Child (2004)
Masked and Anonymous (2003)
"Independent Lens" (2002) (TV)
Sunshine State (2002)
The Rosa Parks Story (2002) (TV)
Ruby's Bucket of Blood (2001) (TV)
The Score (2001)
Boesman and Lena (2000)
Whispers: An Elephant's Tale (2000)
Supernova
Boesman and Lena
Cosm
Wings Against the Wind
Music of the Heart
How Stella Got Her Groove Back
Contact
Strange Days
Panther
Vampire in Brooklyn
Waiting to Exhale
What's Love Got to Do with It
Malcolm X
Jacksons: An American
Dream (TV)
Heroes of Desert Storm (TV)
Innocent Blood
Locked Up: A Mother's Rage(TV)
Passion Fish
One Special Victory (TV)
Fire! Trapped on the 37th Floor (TV)
Line of Fire: The Morris
Dees Story (TV)
Boyz N the Hood
City of Hope
Critters 4
Kindergarten Cop
In the Best Interest of the Child (TV)
The Case of the Silenced Singer(TV)
Challenger (TV)
Family of Spies (TV)
Doubletake (TV)

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She first appeared in a small role in the cult favorite F/X, but it was not until 1990 that a spate of TV roles brought her notice. Her breakthrough role, though, was playing Tina Turner in "What's Love Got To Do With It". Angela had never seen Tina perform before taking the role. Her career was off to a great start, and things seemed like they could only get better for the rising young star. Yet Angela did have to endure the hardships of entering into the realms of television and film like many other black actresses before her. She found herself offered a variety of stereotypical roles and had to settle on more than one occasion. Despite the early set-backs, Angela's talent always showed through, and she was able to rise above the often trite material. In '91, Angela took part in John Singleton's "Boyz N the Hood", which launched the careers of many young black talents. Shortly after, she continued to build her resume with a role opposite Denzel Washington in "Malcolm X". A year later, she co-starred with Laurence Fishburne in "What's Love Got to Do with It", the story of Ike and Tina Turner. The film was a hit, and Bassett received an Oscar Nomination for her performance. A respected actress of the stage, screen, and television, Angela had already proven herself an actress to be taken seriously. She has specialized in playing strong women familiar with adversity and has worked in various roles from "Waiting to Exhale" to sci-fi action "Strange Days" to "How Stella Got Her Groove Back", and another sci-fi flick "Supernova". In 1997, Angela married Detroit native, actor Courtney B. Vance. The two had known each other since their days together at Yale.

In 2002, Bassett was highly praised for her work in CBS' biopic The Rosa Parks Story (2002, also served as executive producer). Bassett's dazzling performance awarded her with a Black Reel for Best Actress in 2003 as well as an Emmy nomination. Coming back to the silver screen, Bassett won a leading lady role as unsuccessful actress Desiree Stokes Perry in John Sayles' Sunshine State (2002) before starring in Masked and Anonymous (2003, as Mistress) alongside Bob Dylan, Jessica Lange and John Goodman. She next starred with Andy Garcia in Lazarus Child (2004, as Elizabeth Chase) and with Bernie Mac in the baseball comedy Mr 3000 (2004, played Mo). Recently, Bassett had a reoccurring role as CIA Director Hayden Chase and appeared in the thriller Mr. & Mrs. Smith (2005, starring Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie). Angela did a phenomenal job playing Tanya Anderson in the film "Akeelah and the Bee" (2005) which was a box office hit all over the country.