Bitten by the acting bug while in high school, Alfre Woodard was born Nov. 8, 1953, in Tulsa, Okla. She made her way to Los Angeles after earning a bachelor's degree from Boston University and getting some Broadway experience under her belt.Woodard broke into films with minor parts beginning in 1978, and by 1983 she had scored an Oscar nomination as Best Supporting Actress with her impressive performance in Cross Creek. The next year she won her first Emmy for her work on the venerated TV series "Hill Street Blues." Alternating between the small and big screens, Woodard has consistently distinguished herself in diverse fare such as Grand Canyon (1991), Crooklyn (1994), the 1997 made-for-TV movie Miss Evers' Boys, "L.A. Law" and "The Practice," receiving several Emmy Awards along the way.
Later films of note for Woodard include Mumford (1999) and Love & Basketball (with Omar Epps, 2000).
Tyler Perry's The Family That PreysTyler Perry writes, directs and co-stars in this poignant dramedy centered on a pair of friends -- wealthy socialite Charlotte (Kathy Bates) and working-class Alice (Alfre Woodard) -- whose families stand to be ripped apart by greed and scandal. To prevent the collapse and save their families, the... Read More
Love & BasketballIt's about winning, losing and playing the game. Monica (Sanaa Lathan) and Quincy (Omar Epps) grow up next door to each other playing basketball, fighting and falling in love. When simultaneous turns in the big leagues throw their off-court relationship off-kilter, the pair discovers that very... Read More
Passion FishMay-Alice Culhane (Mary McDonnell) is a soap opera star who's left paralyzed after a car accident and, left with few other options, returns to her Louisiana home. Her heavy drinking and bad attitude drive away all of her caregivers. That is, until Chantelle (Alfre Woodard) comes to work for her. The... Read More
Miss Evers' BoysLaurence Fishburne stars in this Emmy-winning HBO drama about the Tuskegee Experiment, a government program that withheld penicillin from some African American men infected with syphilis so that scientists could study the effects of the disease. One nurse, Eunice Evers (Alfre Woodard), comforted the... Read More
CrooklynSpike Lee directs this semi-autobiographical tale of a large family sharing a Brooklyn apartment in the early 1970s. The story focuses on Troy (Zelda Harris), whose musican father (Delroy Lindo) and schoolteacher mother (Alfre Woodard) work hard to provide for her and her four unruly brothers. Lee... Read More
