Suzzanne Douglas

Cast

Born

April 12, 1957 · Chicago, Illinois, USA

Died

July 6, 2021

Suzzanne Douglas was an award-winning actress of both screen and stage, whose work has led her through all walks of creative life. Driven by her desire to constantly grow as an artist, Suzzanne has developed a canon of enigmatic and complex roles, and hopes to encourage younger artists to do the same. Her theater credits include Dorothy Brock in "42nd Street" at the Drury Lane Theaterm Mertreuil in the Baltimore Center Stage Theater's production of "Les Liaisons Dangereuses", and Kendra in George Street Playhouse's "American Son." Other theater credits include "The Tap Dance Kid", "Night in Tunisia", "Julius by Design", "The Drowning Crow", "Crowns" (NAACP Image Award for Best Ensemble), "Women of Brewster Place", and Arthur Laurent's "Hallelujah, Baby!", which he re-wrote especially for her. Suzzanne was also the first African-American to play the role of Dr. Bearing in the Pulitzer-Prize-winning play "Wit" at the George Street Playhouse. On television, she was best known for her co-starring role with Robert Townsend in the long-running Warner Brothers sitcom "The Parent 'Hood", which is in syndication in most markets. She has also appeared in such highly acclaimed shows as CBS' "Bull" with Michael Weatherly, "The Good Wife", "Bones", and "Law & Order" ("SVU" and "Criminal Intent"). Suzzanne has also brought her numerous talents to the big screen. Her filmography runs the gamut from made-for-television, to independent, to mainstream cinema including "Whitney", "How Stella Got Her Groove Back" (Black Oscar, NAACP Image Award Nominee), "School of Rock", "The Inkwell", "Jason's Lyric", "Tap" (NAACP Image Award), the ABC remake of the classic "Sounder" (Black Reel Award, NAACP Image Award Nominee), "Black N' Blue", "Happy Yummy Chicken"--for which she wrote the title track, and "Changing the Game", which was selected for the prestigious Cannes Film Festival. As a producer, Suzzanne won the award for Best Short film at the Hollywood Black Film Festival awards for "The Last Weekend." She co-produced Theresa Rebeck's Love on the Rocks starring Julie White. Suzzanne's vocal talents took her from Broadway, starring opposite Sting in "The Threepenny Opera", to the concert halls of Russia with Jon Faddis. A singer and composer, Suzzanne performs regularly with her trio, performing music from the American Songbook as well as her original compositions. She traveled and performed with many renowned musicians including Nate Adderley, Don Braden, T.S. Monk, Helen Sung, Stanley Turrentine, Gene Harris, and Kenney Burrell. Suzzanne earned a Bachelor of Arts degree at Illinois State University and a Master in Music degree at the Manhattan School of Music. She was a dedicated patron of the arts and an advocate for teaching artistic expression in the educational system. Through this, she hoped to engage and empower individuals and their communities. Suzzanne was a former board member at George Street Playhouse, and a current member of the Artistic Board at Luna Stage in West Orange, NJ. She was a lifetime member of Girl Scouts of America, The National Council of Negro Women, Sigma Alpha Lambda, and Jack and Jill of America, Inc. She was an Honorary Member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. where she served on its National Board.