Lynn Whitfield
Lynn Whitfield (née Smith, born February 15, 1953) is an American actress. She began her acting career in television and theatre before progressing to supporting roles in film.
She won an Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Miniseries or a Special and a NAACP Image Award for her performance as Josephine Baker in the HBO movie The Josephine Baker Story (1991). She also won NAACP Image awards for her work in Touched by an Angel (1998), The Planet of Junior Brown (2000) and Redemption: The Stan Tookie Williams Story (2004).
Her film work includes performances in A Thin Line Between Love and Hate (1996), Eve's Bayou (1997), Stepmom (1998), Head of State (2003), The Cheetah Girls (2003), The Cheetah Girls 2 (2006), Madea's Family Reunion (2006), The Women (2008), Nappily Ever After (2018), and Vacation Friends (2021).
From 2016 to 2020, she starred as Lady Mae Greenleaf on OWN's dramatic series Greenleaf, for which she won critical acclaim and garnered two NAACP Image Awards and a Gracie Award. She has won a total of seven NAACP Image Awards.
Acted in
Eyes of Wakanda
2025
as (voice)
Albany Road
2024
as Paula Henderson
St. Denis Medical
2024
as Barb
The Retirement Plan
2023
as Drisdale
We Need a Little Christmas
2022
as Irene
Vacation Friends
2021
as Suzanne
Woman in Motion
2021
as Self
Tales from the Hood 3
2020
as Marie Benoît
Solace
2018
as Irene
Nappily Ever After
2018
as Paulette Jones
The Resident
2018
as Josephine Okeke
Espionage Tonight
2017
as Sydney Greenstreet
Greenleaf
2016
as Lady Mae Greenleaf
Prayer Never Fails
2016
as Loral Brown
Lap Dance
2014
as Momma Pearl
30 Days in Atlanta
2014
as Clara
How to Get Away with Murder
2014
as Mary Walker
My Other Mother
2014
as Mary Jo
Chasing Life
2014
as Karen Callahan
The Ugly Duckling
2014
as Narrator (voice)
The Last Letter
2013
as Lorraine
The Dempsey Sisters
2013
as Olivia Norman
And Then There Was You
2013
as Sophia Brent
Act Like You Love Me
2013
as Harriett Lofton
Fatal Attraction
2013
as Narrator (voice)
King's Faith
2013
as Vanessa
24 Hour Love
2013
as Cynthia
Lonely Boy
2013
as Dr. Christine Nolan
The Redemption of a Dog
2012
as Francine
Somebody's Child
2012
as Constance
Battlefield America
2012
as Ms. Parker
All Things Fall Apart
2011
as Bee
Mama, I Want to Sing!
2011
as Lillian Winter
FlashForward
2009
as Anastasia Markham
The Rebound
2009
as Laura Reilly
PoliWood
2009
as Self
The Women
2008
as Glenda Hill
Kings of the Evening
2008
as Gracie
Shark
2006
The Cheetah Girls 2
2006
as Dorothea Garibaldi
Confessions
2006
as Dr. Page
Madea's Family Reunion
2006
as Victoria
Redemption: The Stan Tookie Williams Story
2004
as Barbara Becnel
The Cheetah Girls
2003
as Dorothea Garibaldi
Head of State
2003
as Debra Lassiter
Without a Trace
2002
as Paula Van Doren
A Time for Dancing
2002
as Linda Derricks, the Dance Teacher
A Girl Thing
2001
as Nia Morgan
Boston Public
2000
as Louanna Harper
Strong Medicine
2000
as Dr. Marshall
Intimate Portrait: Josephine Baker
1999
as Herself
Love Songs
1999
as Jean Simpson
Dangerous Evidence
1999
as Lori Jackson
Deep in My Heart
1999
as Corrine Burrell
The Color of Courage
1999
as Minnie McGhee
Stepmom
1998
as Dr. P. Sweikert
The Wedding
1998
as Corinne Coles
Eve's Bayou
1997
as Roz Batiste
The Planet of Junior Brown
1997
as Mrs. Brown
Gone Fishin'
1997
as Angie
Promised Land
1996
as Dr. Serena Hall
Saturday Night Special
1996
A Thin Line Between Love and Hate
1996
as Brandi
Sophie and the Moonhanger
1996
as Sophie
Touched by an Angel
1994
as Dr. Serena Hall
In the Army Now
1994
as Sgt. Ladd
Thicker Than Blood: The Larry McLinden Story
1994
as Bobbie Mallory
State of Emergency
1994
as Dehlia Johnson
The Cosby Mysteries
1994
Taking the Heat
1993
as Carolyn Hunter
Martin
1992
as Ellen
Stompin' at the Savoy
1992
as Esther
A Triumph of the Heart: The Ricky Bell Story
1991
The Josephine Baker Story
1991
as Josephine Baker
Zora is My Name!
1990
Snoops
1989
as Denise Kendall
The Women of Brewster Place
1989
as Ciel
The George McKenna Story
1988
as Bobbie Maxwell
HeartBeat
1988
as Dr. Cory Banks
Jaws: The Revenge
1987
as Louisa
The Making of Jaws The Revenge
1987
as Self
Dead Aim
1987
as Sheila Freeman
John Henry
1986
as Pollie Ann
Johnnie Mae Gibson: FBI
1986
as Johnnie Mae Gibson
Matlock
1986
Tall Tales & Legends
1985
as Pollie Ann
Silverado
1985
as Rae
The Slugger's Wife
1985
as Tina Alvarado
Miami Vice
1984
Trauma Center
1983
Doctor Detroit
1983
as Thelma Cleland
Matt Houston
1982
as Val
Cagney & Lacey
1982
For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide / When the Rainbow Is Enuf
1982
as Woman in bath
Hill Street Blues
1981
Hill Street Blues
1981
as Jill Thomas