Valarie_Pettiford

Valarie Pettiford

Valarie Pettiford

American actress and singer

Valarie Pettiford (born July 8, 1960)[1] is an American stage and television actress, dancer, and jazz singer. She received a Tony Award nomination for her role in the broadway production Fosse.[2] She is also known for her role as Deirdre "Big Dee Dee" LaFontaine Thorne on the UPN television sitcom Half & Half.

Quick Facts Born, Occupations ...

Stage

Pettiford began her career as a dancer and choreographer in Bob Fosse productions on Broadway.[3] Alvin Klein of the New York Times wrote of her role in the 1983 musical revue Ladies and Gentlemen, Jerome Kern! that "You will not for a moment take your eyes off Valarie Pettiford, the show's standout: a sinewy dancer who can be sultry or sweet, measure for measure, as prescribed.... Miss Pettiford appears to be a superbly trained dancer, schooled in balletic finesse and Broadway-style razzmatazz - and a stunning presence."[4] Leah Frank, also in the NYT, wrote of Pettiford's appearance in West Side Story in 1987: "The mainstay of the supporting cast is Valarie Pettiford, whose Anita is spicy, sensual and full of fire. She is an exciting actress who has a special quality needed to ignite a number such as America."[5]

In 1994, she played lesbian Cassandra Keefer in The Naked Truth,[6] and from 1995 to 1996 starred as Julie in a touring production of Show Boat.[7]

Pettiford received a Tony nomination as Best Featured Actress in a Musical and a Dora Mavor Moore Award nomination for her role in the Broadway production Fosse from 1998 to 1999.[2][8] Variety said Pettiford gave "a coolly elegant vocal rendition, [and she] is also a sultry, powerful dancer."[9] She left Fosse to appear as Velma Kelly in Chicago in the West End in London from August 1999 to February 2000, alongside Chita Rivera as Roxie Hart.[2][8]

In 2007 Pettiford won the Backstage Bistro Award for her cabaret debut at the Metropolitan Room in New York City,[10] and won an NAACP Theatre Award for her lead role in The Wild Party.[11] In 2008, she starred in a solo show, Valarie Pettiford - Thankful that played in New York City and Los Angeles.[2] In 2009, she starred in the solo show Valarie Pettiford - The Concert in New York City.[12]

Film

In 1978, at the age of 17 and enrolled at the High School of Performing Arts, Pettiford did her first-ever movie work as part of the large ensemble in the film The Wiz.[13] She starred as Mariah Carey's mother in the 2001 film Glitter,[14] had a role in Stomp the Yard in 2007,[15] and played Aunt Geneva in the 2011 film, Jumping the Broom.

Television

In the 1990s, Pettiford appeared on daytime soap operas,[3] including Another World and One Life to Live (where she originated the role of Sheila Price). Her Half & Half role from 2002 to 2006 as Dee Dee Thorne gained her three NAACP Image Award nominations.[2] From 2008 to 2009, she played Sandra Lucas in the comedy-drama series Tyler Perry's House of Payne.[2] She also appeared in the HBO pilot Anatomy of Hope, directed by J. J. Abrams.[2] Pettiford plays a recurring role as the wife to Harold Cooper (Harry Lennix), Assistant Director of the FBI Counter-Terrorism Division, on the NBC drama The Blacklist.

She has also starred in the TV series A Discovery of Witches as the witch Emily Mather

Music

While on Half & Half, Pettiford released a jazz album, Hear My Soul, in 2005.[3]

Personal life

Pettiford was born in Queens, New York to Ralph and Blanch Pettiford,[16] and graduated from the High School of Performing Arts in 1978.[1][17] She is married to her manager, actor and former Philadelphia Phillies pitcher Tony Rader.[1][18] They got engaged in 1991.[19]

Filmography

Film

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Television

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Stage roles

References

  1. [1]
    Rout, Nancy E.; Buckley, Ellen (1993). The Soap Opera Book: Who's Who in Daytime Drama. Todd Publications. p. 207. ISBN 0-915344-23-8.
  2. [2]
    "Valarie Pettiford to Perform 'Thankful' at Upright Cabaret". Broadway World. October 10, 2008. Retrieved July 17, 2010.
  3. [3]
    Gordon, Ed (July 13, 2005). "Valarie Pettiford: 'Hear My Soul'". NPR. Retrieved July 17, 2010.
  4. [4]
    Klein, Alvin (July 31, 1983). "Theater; Evening of Kern is a pleasure". New York Times. Retrieved July 17, 2010.
  5. [5]
    Frank, Leah D. (August 30, 1987). "Theater review; 'West Side Story': staging at its best". New York Times. Retrieved July 18, 2010.
  6. [6]
    Brantley, Ben (June 17, 1994). "Review/Theater; Gay Guru Offers Advice For the Love-Locked". New York Times. Retrieved July 18, 2010.
  7. [7]
    Novakovich, Iilana (January 13, 1995). "Ex One Life star in Toronto Show Boat". The Record. Ontario. Retrieved July 18, 2010.
  8. [8]
    Jones, Kenneth (July 20, 1999). "Reva Rice, Formerly of Starlight Express, Steams Into Fosse July 20". Playbill. Retrieved July 18, 2010.
  9. [9]
    Isherwood, Charles (January 15, 1999). "Fosse (Dance revue -- Broadhurst Theater)". Variety. Retrieved July 18, 2010.
  10. [10]
    Gans, Andrew (March 1, 2007). "Luker, David, Pettiford and Stritch Among Bistro Award Winners". Playbill. Retrieved July 18, 2010.
  11. [11]
    Stitt, Eric (February 20, 2007). "NAACP fetes Fishburne, Pettiford". Variety. Retrieved July 17, 2010.
  12. [12]
    "Tony Nominee Valarie Pettiford Sings Abel/Steffan, Mondays in May at Metropolitan Room". Broadway World. May 11, 2009. Retrieved July 17, 2010.
  13. [13]
    "Valarie Pettiford". The Tennessee Tribune. November 27, 1996. Archived from the original on November 4, 2012. Retrieved July 18, 2010.
  14. [14]
    Van Gelder, Laurence (September 21, 2001). "Glitter (2001); Dreaming a Dream and Paying the Price for It". New York Times. Retrieved July 18, 2010.
  15. [15]
    Waldron, Clarence (January 8, 2007). "Why 'Stomp the Yard' is the Must-See Movie of the Season". Jet. Retrieved July 18, 2010.
  16. [16]
    "Valarie Pettiford Biography (1960-)". Film Reference. Retrieved July 18, 2010.
  17. [17]
    "1978 Graduates". High School of Performing Arts. Retrieved July 18, 2010.
  18. [18]
    Robinson-English, Tracey (August 2005). "Infertility: help for couples trying to conceive". Ebony. Retrieved July 17, 2010.
  19. [19]
    "Tipoff". Star-News. November 26, 1991. Retrieved July 18, 2010.
  20. [20]
    "Valarie Pettiford". Broadway World. Retrieved July 18, 2010.
  21. [21]
    Segal, Lewis (April 19, 2002). "Scene-Stealing Enhances a Classic Feydeau Farce". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved July 18, 2010.
  22. [22]
    Shirley, Don (March 8, 2002). "What the Blonds Prefer". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved July 18, 2010.
  23. [23]
    Simon, John (March 21, 1994). "Theater". New York Magazine. Retrieved July 18, 2010.
  24. [24]
    Simon, John (July 20, 1992). "Two obits, one encomium". New York Magazine. Retrieved July 18, 2010.
  25. [25]
    Kelly, Kevin (April 7, 1986). "Bob Fosse's New 'Big Deal'". New York Magazine. Retrieved July 18, 2010.
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