Lynne Thigpen 197118 225265050 2008-07-12T19:49:24Z 67.71.124.111 /* Death */ {{Infobox actor | image = Replace this image female.svg | imagesize = | caption = | birthdate = {{birth date|1948|12|22|mf=y}} | birthplace = [[Joliet, Illinois]], [[United States|U.S.]] | deathdate ={{death date and age|2003|3|12|1948|12|22|mf=y}} | deathplace =[[Marina del Rey, California]] | birthname = Cherlynne Theresa Thigpen | othername = Lynne Richmond | homepage = | yearsactive = 1971-2003 | academyawards = | tonyawards = '''[[Tony Award for Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Play|Best Featured Actress in a Play]]''' <br> 1997 ''An American Daughter'' }} '''Cherlynne Theresa “Lynne” Thigpen''' ([[December 22]] [[1948]] &ndash; [[March 12]] [[2003]]) was an [[United States|American]] stage and television [[actor|actress]]. ==Early life== Thigpen was born and raised in [[Joliet, Illinois]], and obtained a degree in teaching. She taught [[English language|English]] in high school briefly in her hometown, while studying theatre and dance at the [[University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign|University of Illinois]], then in [[1971]], she moved to [[New York City]] to begin her career as a [[stage actor]]. ==Career== ===Theatre=== She had a long and prolific [[theater]] career, appearing initially in [[musical theater|musicals]] such as ''[[Godspell]]'', ''The Night that Made America Famous'', ''[[The Magic Show]]'', ''[[Working (musical)|Working]]'', ''[[Tintypes]]'' and ''An American Daughter'' (for which she won her [[Tony Award for Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Play|Tony Award]] for her portrayal of Dr. Judith Kaufman in 1997). ===Film=== Her first [[film|feature film]] role was ''[[Godspell (film)|Godspell]]'' ([[1973 in film|1973]]) co-starring opposite [[Victor Garber]] and [[David Haskell]]. She has appeared in few films throughout her career, notably as the omniscient Radio DJ in ''[[The Warriors (film)|The Warriors]]''; her last film was ''[[Anger Management]]'' ([[2003 in film|2003]]) starring [[Adam Sandler]] and [[Jack Nicholson]] (which was released a month following her death, and was paid tribute to her in the end credits). ===Television=== Thigpen was perhaps best known for playing "[[Characters and sketches on Where in the World Is Carmen Sandiego?#The Chief (Lynne Thigpen)|The Chief]]" of the [[ACME and V.I.L.E.|ACME]] Detective Agency in the long-running [[PBS Kids|PBS children's]] [[geography]] [[game show]] ''[[Where in the World Is Carmen Sandiego? (game show)|Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego?]]'', which involves both education and comedy, and, on occasion, musical performance. She was the only ''World'' cast member to star in ''[[Where in Time is Carmen Sandiego? (game show)|Time]]''. She also appeared on another children's show, ''[[Bear in the Big Blue House]]'', voicing character of Luna, the moon. She appeared in many prime-time series during her career, most notably her recurring role as "Grace Keefer" in a storyline on the daytime drama ''[[All My Children]]'' and a supporting role as "Ella Farmer", a statistics clerk for the [[Washington, D.C.]] police department, on ''[[The District]]''. She has guest starred in episodes of ''[[Gimme A Break!]]'', ''[[L.A. Law]]'', ''[[Law & Order]]'', ''[[The Days and Nights of Molly Dodd]]'', and ''[[Thirtysomething (TV series)|Thirtysomething]]''. ===Radio=== She appeared in radio skits of the [[Garrison Keillor]] program ''[[A Prairie Home Companion]]''. Her dusky voice was also heard on over 20 books on tape. The books were often works with socially relevant themes.<ref>[http://www.muppetcentral.com/articles/tributes/lynne_thigpen.shtml Muppet Central Articles - Tributes: Lynne Thigpen<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> ==Death== On [[March 12]] [[2003]], Thigpen was found dead at her home in [[Marina del Rey, California]], by a friend; she had died of a [[cerebral hemorrhage]]. She had been complaining of headaches for several days. Drugs and foul play were ruled out by the coroner's autopsy, which found "acute cardiac dysfunction, non-traumatic systemic and spontaneous intraventricular [[hemorrhage]] and hemorrhage in the [[brain]]". She was buried in Elmhurst Cemetery in her hometown. ===Aftermath=== When Thigpen died, ''[[The District]]'' had a funeral for her character in the third season finale as well. Her untimely death has also led to the four-year [[hiatus]] of ''[[Bear in the Big Blue House]]''. A planned film version was also put on hold. According to journalist Tara Mooney (''Shadow''), who was interviewed by [[Ray D'Arcy]] on [[Ireland]]'s [[Today FM]] in [[2005]], says "the crew's hearts just weren't in it anymore" two years after Thigpen's death. Friends established a non-profit foundation, '''The Lynne Thigpen - Bobo Lewis Foundation''', to help young actresses and actors learn how to survive and succeed in New York theater, to mentor the next generation of [[Broadway theatre|Broadway]] stars. She was posthumously nominated for an [[Daytime Emmy Award]] for voicing Luna the moon in ''Bear in the Big Blue House'', but lost to [[Jeff Corwin]]. Her last film ''[[Anger Management]]'' (2003) starring [[Adam Sandler]] and [[Jack Nicholson]] was dedicated to her memory. An elementary school in [[Joliet, Illinois|her hometown]] is named in her honor.<ref>http://www.kitoko.com/school.html</ref> ==Work== ===Stage=== *''Godspell'': 1973 *''The Night That Made America Famous'': 1975 *''The Magic Show'': 1976 *''Working'' *''But Never Jam Today'' *''[[Tintypes]]'': 1980-81 *[[August Wilson]]'s ''Fences'': 1988 *[[Athol Fugard]]'s ''Boesman and Lena'': Obie award, 1992 *''A Month of Sundays'' *[[Wendy Wasserstein]]'s ''An American Daughter'':1996-7 (Tony Award 1997) *''Jar the Floor'' ===Radio=== *''[[A Prairie Home Companion]]'' ===Film=== *''[[Godspell (film)|Godspell]]'' (1973) *''[[The Warriors (film)|The Warriors]]'' (1979) (She appears as the radio announcer, only her lips are seen.) *''[[Tootsie]]'' (1982) *''[[Streets of Fire]]'' (1984) (She appears as a subway train engineer, reading in her train; brief dialogue with the main character.) *''[[Lean on Me (film)|Lean on Me]]'' (1989) *''[[Article 99]]'' (1992) *''[[Bob Roberts]]'' (1992) *''[[The Paper]]'' (1994) *''[[Blankman]]'' (1994) *''[[Random Hearts]]'' (1999) *''[[The Insider (film)|The Insider]]'' (1999) *''[[Bicentennial Man (film)|Bicentennial Man]]'' (1999) *''[[Shaft (2000 film)|Shaft]]'' (2000) *''[[Novocaine (film)|Novocaine]]'' (2001) *''[[Anger Management]]'' (2003) &ndash; Posthumously Released ===Television=== *''[[Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego (game show)|Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego?]]'' as The Chief *''[[Where in Time is Carmen Sandiego (game show)|Where in Time is Carmen Sandiego?]]'' as The Chief *''[[The District]]'' (as Chief Jack Mannion's Director of Administration, Ella Farmer) *''[[All My Children]]'': as nurse Grace Keefer, aunt of Noah (played by ''[[Keith Hamilton Cobb]]'') *''[[Thirtysomething (TV series)|thirtysomething]]'' *''[[L.A. Law]]'' *''[[Law & Order]]'' (occasional as Judge Ida Boucher) *''[[Bear in the Big Blue House]]'' (Luna) *''[[Frank's Place]]'' (as the "good" voodoo woman who helps Frank evict a "bad" voodoo female tenant, played by ''[[Rosalind Cash]]'') *''[[King of the Hill]]'' (as a judge who hears the case when Hank disputes a credit card charge over nonexistent movies he never ordered) *''[[Roseanne (TV series)]]'' two times as a doctor ===Software=== *''[[Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego?#Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego? (1996)|Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego?]]'' as The Chief *''[[Where in the U.S.A. is Carmen Sandiego?]]'' as The Chief *''[[Where in Time is Carmen Sandiego?]]'' as The Chief ===Voice=== * America's War on Poverty, PBS * All God's Children Need Traveling Shoes, by [[Maya Angelou]] * [[Bear in the Big Blue House]] as Luna * The Bluest Eye, by [[Toni Morrison]] * House of Dies Drear by [[Virginia Hamilton]] * Jazz, by [[Toni Morrison]] * One Better, by [[Rosalyn McMillan]] * Parable of the Sower, by [[Octavia E. Butler]] * Paradise, by [[Toni Morrison]] * People of the Century, by [[Time magazine]] editors * Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry, by [[Mildred D. Taylor]] * Song of Solomon, by [[Toni Morrison]] * Sula, by [[Toni Morrison]] * Tar Baby, by [[Toni Morrison]] * Their Eyes Were Watching God, by [[Zora Neale Hurston]] * The Trials of Nikki Hill, by [[Christopher Darden]] and [[Dick Lochte]] * Zeely, by [[Virginia Hamilton]] * The Women of Brewster Place, by [[Gloria Naylor]] * 2000X: Tales of the Next Millennia, science fiction collection == Awards and nominations == ;Awards *1997 Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Play – ''An American Daughter'' ;Nominations *1987 Los Angeles Drama Critics Award – ''Fences'' *1992 [[Obie Award]] – ''Boesman and Lena'' *1994, 1995, 1996 [[Daytime Emmy Awards]] for Outstanding Performer in a Children's Series - ''[[Where in the World Is Carmen Sandiego? (game show)|Where in the World Is Carmen Sandiego?]]'' *1996 [[NAACP Image Awards]] for Informational Youth or Children's Series/Special – ''[[Where in the World Is Carmen Sandiego? (game show)|Where in the World Is Carmen Sandiego?]]'' *1997 [[NAACP Image Awards]] for Outstanding Actress in a Daytime Drama Series – ''[[All My Children]]'' *2000 [[Obie Award]] – ''Jar the Floor'' *2000 AudioFile Awards Golden Voices for the Year *2004 [[Daytime Emmy Awards]] for Outstanding Performer in a Children's Series – ''[[Bear in the Big Blue House]]'' ('''Note''': This nomination was posthumous) ==References== {{reflist}} ==External links== * {{findagrave|7259210}} * {{ibdb|68881}} * {{imdb|0858106}} * {{tcmdb name|190874}} * {{voice actor|1668}} *[http://www.ltblf.org/index.shtml The Lynne Thigpen - Bobo Lewis Foundation] *[http://itsthejoint.net/Lynne_Thigpen Lynne Thigpen] at Harpo's Juke Joint Wiki *[http://www.musicalschwartz.com/godspell-tributes.htm Lynne Thigpen] {{TonyAward PlayFeaturedActress 1976-2000}} {{Lifetime|1948|2003|Thigpen, Lynne}} [[Category:African American actors]] [[Category:American film actors]] [[Category:American soap opera actors]] [[Category:American stage actors]] [[Category:American television actors]] [[Category:Deaths by cerebral hemorrhage]] [[Category:Obie Award recipients|Thigpen]] [[Category:People from Joliet, Illinois]] [[Category:Schoolteachers|Thigpen, Lynn]] [[Category:University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign alumni]] [[de:Lynne Thigpen]] [[fr:Lynne Thigpen]] [[sv:Lynne Thigpen]]