Lynn Hamilton (actress)
{{short description|American actress}}
{{other people||Lynn Hamilton (disambiguation)}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Lynn Hamilton
| image = Lynn Hamilton.jpg
| image_size =
| caption = Hamilton attending The Waltons 40th Anniversary celebration, 2012
| birth_name =
| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1930|4|25}}
| birth_place = Yazoo City, Mississippi, U.S.
| death_date =
| death_place =
| spouse = {{marriage|Frank S. Jenkins
|November 1964|August 2014|reason=died}}
| occupation = Actress
| known_for = Donna Harris – Sanford and Son
| years_active = 1958–2009
| children = 1
}}
Lynn Hamilton (born April 25, 1930)[https://books.google.com/books?id=d0iKEAAAQBAJ&dq=Lynn+Hamilton+April+25&pg=PA147 Encyclopedia of African American Actresses in Film and Television] is an American retired actress whose acting debut came in 1959 in John Cassavetes' Shadows. She is best known for her recurring role as Donna Harris; Fred's girlfriend and later fiancée on the sitcom Sanford and Son (1972–1977) Cousin Georgia Anderson in Roots The Next Generation, and as Verdie Foster on The Waltons. She also appeared on the detective series Mannix in the season 3 episode 13 as the wife of a police detective who hires Mannix to save her son.
Early years
Hamilton was born Alzenia Lynn Hamilton in Yazoo City, Mississippi, to Nancy{{Cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8kIDAAAAMBAJ&dq=Lynn+Hamilton&pg=PA63|title=Je|date=4 November 1976|publisher=Johnson Publishing Company|access-date=11 December 2021|via=Google Books}} and Louis Hamilton and moved to Chicago Heights, Illinois, when she was twelve years old.{{cite news|last1=Boguszeeski|first1=Deborah|title=Veteran actress Hamilton returns to share excitement of live theater|url=https://newspaperarchive.com/anonymous-celebrity-clipping-mar-01-1987-456884/|access-date=12 November 2017|publisher=Harvey Star|date=1 March 1987}} She attended Bloom High School.{{cite book|title=Jet|date=1976|publisher=Johnson Publishing Company|page=63|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8kIDAAAAMBAJ&q=lynn+hamilton+actress&pg=PA63|access-date=11 November 2017|language=en}} She studied acting at Goodman Theatre.{{cite news|title=Struggle pays off: Role in "Sanford and Son" big break for actress who's worked long, hard|url=https://newspaperarchive.com/anonymous-celebrity-clipping-oct-08-1972-456892/|access-date=12 November 2017|agency=Newspaper Enterprise Association|publisher=Avalanche Journal|date=8 October 1972}}
Career
Hamilton began her career in community theatre in Chicago and debuted on Broadway in Only in America in 1959.{{cite book|title=Jet|date=1959|publisher=Johnson Publishing Company|page=[https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_YkEDAAAAMBAJ/page/n63 64]|url=https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_YkEDAAAAMBAJ|quote=lynn hamilton actress.|access-date=November 11, 2017|language=en}} She appeared in three other Broadway plays, many Off-Broadway plays and spent three years with the New York Shakespeare Festival.
From 1972 to 1977, after an initial credited one-time appearance in the seventh episode of the series as a landlady, Hamilton starred as Fred Sanford's girlfriend and on again/off again fiancée Donna Harris on the television sitcom Sanford and Son. Donna was a nurse and sometimes took care of Fred. When the show returned in 1980 under a reworked title Sanford (TV series), Hamilton was not asked to return and her character was written out of the series.{{cite book|last1=Fearn-Banks|first1=Kathleen|title=The A to Z of African-American Television|date=2009|publisher=Scarecrow Press|isbn=9780810863484|page=181|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=U1Pe45NhU08C&q=lynn+hamilton+actress&pg=PA181|access-date=11 November 2017|language=en}}{{cite news|title=Lynn Hamilton plays women of every age|url=https://newspaperarchive.com/anonymous-celebrity-clipping-jan-19-1974-456873/|access-date=12 November 2017|publisher=Kenosha News|date=January 19, 1974}} There are many internet claims that she was the younger sister of actress LaWanda Page, who portrayed Esther Anderson on Sanford and Son, confirmed only via LaWanda Page's obituary in the Los Angeles Times. However, they are neither related nor sisters, though they became good friends.{{Cite web |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2002-sep-17-me-page17-story.html |title=LaWanda Page, 81; Actress Played Aunt Esther in 'Sanford and Son' - latimes |website=Los Angeles Times |access-date=2020-04-16 |archive-date=2018-09-20 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180920071440/http://articles.latimes.com/2002/sep/17/local/me-page17 |url-status=live }}
In addition to Hamilton's role on Sanford and Son, she also had a recurring role as Verdie Grant Foster on The Waltons, and made numerous appearances in television sitcoms, soap operas and miniseries such as Good Times, 227, Dangerous Women, Generations, Port Charles, The Golden Girls, Gunsmoke (guest starring as ”Mother Tabitha” in the 1969 episode “The Sisters” (S15E14), and Roots: The Next Generations. Hamilton also appeared in the show Barnaby Jones, playing a character named Laura Padget, in episode titled "Sunday: Doomsday" on February 4, 1973. Hamilton also had a recurring role as Judge Fulton on The Practice.{{citation needed|date=June 2023}}
Personal life
Hamilton was married to poet and playwright Frank Jenkins for 49 years, from November 1964 until his death in August 2014.{{cite web|title=Frank S. Jenkins's Obituary on Los Angeles Times|url=http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/latimes/obituary.aspx?pid=172425740|website=Los Angeles Times|access-date=11 November 2017}} LaWanda Page, who costarred with Hamilton on Sanford and Son, had a younger sister coincidentally also named "Lynn Hamilton". This caused a rumor that the two actresses were sisters. Series lead Demond Wilson confirmed the rumor to be false in 2016.{{Cite news|url=https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2016/jul/17/demond-wilson-sanford-and-son-calls-america-corpor/|title=Demond Wilson of 'Sanford and Son' calls America 'a corporation,' not a country|newspaper=The Washington Times|access-date=11 December 2021}}
Filmography
| class="wikitable" | |||
| Year
! Title ! Role actress - Cousin Georgia Anderson ! Notes | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| 1958 | Shadows | Girl at Party | |
| 1960
|The New Girl |Miss Thompson (Secretary) |Short film | |||
| 1971 | Brother John | Sarah | |
| 1971 | The Seven Minutes | Avis | |
| 1972 | Buck and the Preacher | Sarah | |
| 1972 | Lady Sings the Blues | Aunt Ida | |
| 1972–1977 | Sanford and Son | Donna Harris (Recurring Role) | |
| 1973–1981 | The Waltons | Verdie Foster (Recurring Role) | |
| 1974 | Hangup | Mrs. Ramsey | |
| 1976 | Leadbelly | Sally Ledbetter | |
| 1984 | The Jesse Owens Story | Mamma Solomon | TV movie |
| 1986–1989 | 227 | Emma Johnson (Recurring role) | |
| 1986 | Legal Eagles | Doreen | |
| 1993 | The Vanishing | Miss Carmichael | |
| 1998 | Moesha | Ruth Mitchell | |
| 2003 | Beah: A Black Woman Speaks | Dr. Oberholser |
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
{{commons category|Lynn Hamilton (actress)}}
- {{IMDb name|0358026}}
- {{tcmdb name|80084}}
{{authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hamilton, Lynn}}
Category:20th-century African-American actresses
Category:21st-century African-American actresses
Category:20th-century American actresses
Category:21st-century American actresses
Category:Actresses from Mississippi
Category:American film actresses
Category:American soap opera actresses
Category:American stage actresses
Category:American television actresses