About this Artist
ANGELA BASSETT’s talent and abilities in television and film have time and time again earned respect and acclaim from her peers and fans, proving her to be one of the industry’s premier leading ladies. The Yale School of Drama graduate began her career on the stage in several noteworthy performances on and off Broadway. She also starred with her husband, Courtney B. Vance in John Guare’s adaptation of His Girl Friday. Moving from the stage to the small screen, Bassett received critical raves for the ABC mini-series “The Jacksons: An American Dream,” and her narration of the PBS mini-series, “Africans in America.” Other notable television appearances included NBC’s “E.R.” and ABC’s “Alias.” To the delight of audiences of the popular FX series, “American Horror Story,” she will be joining the cast for its third season. Bassett made a successful crossover to the silver screen in John Singleton’s Boyz n the Hood. Other memorable films include, Terry McMillan’s Waiting to Exhale, Kathryn Bigelow’s Strange Days, Vampire in Brooklyn, Supernova, and Notorious. Perhaps best known for her intense portrayal of Tina Turner in the biopic What’s Love Got To Do With It, Bassett earned an Academy Award nomination, a Golden Globe for Best Actress in a Musical, and an NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Motion Picture for her powerful performance. Bassett has received several NAACP Image Awards for How Stella Got Her Groove Back, The Score, Music of the Heart, Malcolm X, Contact, Boesman and Lena, and Ruby’s Bucket of Blood, for which she also received a Screen Actors Guild nomination. Additionally, she received Emmy nominations for The Rosa Parks Story on CBS and PBS Storytime’s Uncle Jed’s Barbershop. Bassett recently appeared in the Antoine Fuqua film, Olympus Has Fallen, for which she earned a BET nomination for Best Actress, and Lifetime’s movie Betty and Coretta, for which she earned a Critics’ Choice Awards nomination for Best Actress in a Movie or Mini-series. Next, she will be seen in Gregg Araki’s Indie film White Bird in a Blizzard, and Kasi Lemmon’s film Black Nativity.