Golden Globe-winning actress Angela Bassett was often associated with notable African-American cultural... (Learn more)
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Angela Bassett’s Milestones
| Acted in off-Broadway productions | |
| Acting debut in a school production of "A Raisin in the Sun" | |
| Became the first black student at her high school to be accepted into the National Honor Society | |
| Born in NYC's Harlem | |
| Moved with mother and sister to St. Petersburg, Florida | |
| Worked with the Negro Ensemble Company as an understudy | |
| 1984 - 1985 | Worked at the Hartford Stage Company performing in "The Mystery Plays" |
| 1985 | Broadway debut, August Wilson's "Ma Rainey's Black Bottom" directed by Lloyd Richards |
| 1985 | First primetime TV guest spot, "Spenser: For Hire" |
| 1985 | TV-movie debut, "Doubletake" |
| 1986 | Feature debut, "F/X" playing a news reporter |
| 1988 | Acted in the Broadway production of August Wilson's "Joe Turner's Come and Gone"; directed by Lloyd Richards |
| 1989 | Appeared in two episodes of the detective spin-off series, "A Man Called Hawk" |
| 1991 | First film with independent writer-director John Sayles, "City of Hope" |
| 1991 | First gained notice in John Singleton's directorial debut, "Boyz N the Hood" as Laurence Fishburne's estranged wife |
| 1992 | Portrayed Betty Shabazz, the wife of "Malcolm X" in Spike Lee's feature biopic |
| 1992 | Starred the matriarch of the Jackson family in the ABC mini-series "The Jacksons: An American Dream" |
| 1993 | Breakout role in the biopic "What's Love Got To Do With It"; portrayed Tina Turner opposite Laurence Fishburne's Ike; earned an Oscar nomination for Best Actress |
| 1994 | Provided the voice of writer Zora Neale Hurston for the TBS documentary miniseries "A Century of Women" |
| 1995 | Co-starred in the female ensemble, "Waiting to Exhale"; directed by Forest Whitaker and scripted by Terry McMillan |
| 1995 | Reprised the role of Betty Shabazz for an uncredited cameo in Mario Van Peebles' "Panther" |
| 1998 | Headlined second adaptation of a McMillan novel, "How Stella Got Her Groove Back" |
| 1999 | Cast as a school principal in "Music of the Heart" |
| 2000 | Appeared in the less than stellar sci-fi flick "Supernova" |
| 2000 | Co-starred with Danny Glover in "Boesman and Lena"; film adapted from Athol Fugard's play |
| 2001 | Cast as Robert De Niro's love interest in "The Score" |
| 2001 | Played the owner of a waterfront joint in 1960s Louisiana who begins a relationship with a white male singer in the Showtime movie "Ruby's Bucket of Blood"; also served as one of the producers |
| 2002 | Starred in "Sunshine State" with Edie Falco as a failed actress who goes with her friend home to their northern Florida town |
| 2002 | Starred in title role of the CBS biopic "The Rosa Parks Story" |
| 2003 | Cast in the Bob Dylan film "Masked & Anonymous" |
| 2004 | Joined the cast of Alias (ABC) as the new CIA director |
| 2006 | Portrayed the mother of a young girl trying to make it to the National Spelling Bee, in "Akeelah and the Bee" |
| 2008 | Co-starred in "Tyler Perry's Meet the Browns" |
| 2009 | Portrayed Voletta Wallace, the mother of slain rapper The Notorious B.I.G. in the biopic, "Notorious" |
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