Alfre Woodard

ActorProducer Nov 8 (age 73) Tulsa, Oklahoma, USA 1953–2026 (73 year career)

6.6 avg rating

Biography

Alfre Ette Woodard (born November 8, 1952) is an American film, stage, and television actress. She has been nominated for an Academy Award and Grammy Award, 12 times for Emmy Awards (winning four), and has also won a Golden Globe and three Screen Actors Guild Awards. She is known for her role in films such as Cross Creek, Miss Firecracker, Grand Canyon, Passion Fish, Primal Fear, Star Trek: First Contact, Miss Evers' Boys, K-PAX, Radio, Take the Lead and The Family That Preys.

Known For

Film

Captain America: Civil War

Miriam

Film

12 Years a Slave

Mistress Shaw

Film

The Lion King

Sarabi (voice)

Film

See

Paris

Film

Primal Fear

Shoat

Film

Desperate Housewives

Betty Applewhite

Film

The Gray Man

Margaret Cahill

Film

K-PAX

Claudia Villars

Filmography

Acting (174)

Movies (119)

The Inquisitor

2025

as Narration

Salem's Lot

as Dr. Cody

The Book of Clarence

as Mother Mary

Summer Camp

as Mary

Space Oddity

as Dr. Olsen

Weathering

as Mum

The Gray Man

as Margaret Cahill

Fatherhood

as Marian

Miss Alma Thomas: A Life in Color

2021

as Alma Thomas (voice)

10.0

Dreamland: The Burning of Black Wall Street

2021

as Mary Parrish (voice)

6.3

The Making of Clemency

2020

as Herself

The Lion King

2019

as Sarabi (voice)

7.1

No Small Matter

2019

as Narrator (voice)

Clemency

2019

as Warden Bernadine Williams

6.3

Juanita

2019

as Juanita

5.4

The Lion King: Can You Feel The Love Tonight with Robin Roberts

2019

Saint Judy

2018

as Judge Benton

6.9

A Series of Unfortunate Events

2017

as Josephine Anwhistle

10.0

Burning Sands

2017

as Professor Hughes

5.8

Captain America: Civil War

as Miriam

So B. It

as Bernadette

Maya Angelou: And Still I Rise

as Self

Mississippi Grind

as Sam

Knucklehead

as Sheila

A Path Appears

as Self

Mary Lou Williams: The Lady Who Swings the Band

2015

as Mary Lou Williams (voice)

8.0

Annabelle

2014

as Evelyn

5.8

Nelson Mandela Redrawn

2014

as Self

12 Years a Slave

as Mistress Shaw

The Door

as E

Steel Magnolias

as Ouiser

Black Panther

as Dondi Reece

Reach for Me

as Evelyn

American Violet

as Alma Roberts

Tyler Perry's The Family That Preys

as Alice Pratt

Medal of Honor

as Narrator

Henry Box Brown

Pictures of Hollis Woods

2007

as Edna Reilly

6.6

Nefertiti and the Lost Dynasty

as Self - Narrator

Something New

as Joyce McQueen

Take the Lead

as Augustine James

King Leopold's Ghost

as Ilanga (voice)

The Water Is Wide

as Mrs. Brown

Beauty Shop

as Ms. Josephine

The Forgotten

as Det. Anne Pope

Radio

as Principal Daniels

The Core

as Stickley

The Singing Detective

as Chief of Staff

A Wrinkle in Time

as Mrs. Whatsit

Unchained Memories: Readings from the Slave Narratives

2003

4.8

Nat Turner: A Troublesome Property

2003

as Narrator

6.1

The Wild Thornberrys Movie

2002

as Akela (Cheetah Mother) (voice)

6.4

Searching for Debra Winger

as Self

K-PAX

as Claudia Villars

Disney's American Legends

2001

7.4

The Wild Thornberrys: The Origin of Donnie

2001

as Medicine Woman (voice)

Dinosaur

as Plio (voice)

Love & Basketball

as Camille Wright

What's Cooking?

as Audrey Williams

Lost Souls

as Dr. Allen

John Henry

as Polly / Narrator (voice)

Holiday Heart

as Wanda Dean

Eleanor Roosevelt

as Narrator (voice)

The Tulsa Lynching of 1921: A Hidden Story

2000

as Mary Parrish (voice)

Half Past Autumn: The Life and Works of Gordon Parks

as Narrator

Mumford

as Lily

Funny Valentines

as Joyce May

The Underground Railroad

The Wishing Tree

as Clara

Down in the Delta

as Loretta Sinclair

The Member of the Wedding

1997

as Berenice Sadie Brown

5.5

The Brave Little Toaster to the Rescue

as Maisie (voice)

Follow Me Home

as Evey

Miss Evers' Boys

as Eunice Evers, R.N.

6.3

Cadillac Desert: Water and the Transformation of Nature

1997

as Narrator (voice)

Seven Candles For Kwanzaa

1997

as Narrator

Primal Fear

1996

as Shoat

7.7

Star Trek: First Contact

1996

as Lily Sloane

7.3

A Step Toward Tomorrow

1996

as Dr. Sadlin

3.7

Special Report: Journey to Mars

1996

as Tamara O'Neil

5.0

How to Make an American Quilt

as Marianna

The Piano Lesson

as Berniece Charles

Malcolm X: Make It Plain

as Narrator

Blue Chips

as Lavada McRae

Crooklyn

as Carolyn Carmichael

Aliens for Breakfast

as Mrs. Marks

Heart and Souls

as Penny Washington

Bopha!

as Rosie Mangena

The Gun in Betty Lou's Handbag

as Ann

Passion Fish

as Chantelle

Rich in Love

as Rhody Poole

Grand Canyon

as Jane

Blue Bayou

as Jessica Filley

Miss Firecracker

1989

as Popeye Jackson

5.6

A Mother's Courage: The Mary Thomas Story

1989

as Mary Thomas

Scrooged

1988

as Grace Cooley

6.8

The Child Saver

1988

as Andrea Crawford

Mandela

as Winnie Mandela

Extremities

as Patricia

L.A. Law: Pilot

as Adrianne Moore

Unnatural Causes

as Maude DeVictor

Puss in Boots

as Princess Lovinia

Words by Heart

as Claudie Sills

Sweet Revenge

as Vicki Teague

The Killing Floor

as Mattie

Go Tell It on the Mountain

1984

as Esther

6.4

Black Hollywood

1984

as Self

Cross Creek

as Geechee

Precious Blood

as Narrator

The Ambush Murders

as Karisha Ellsworth

For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide / When the Rainbow Is Enuf

1982

as Woman who lost her stuff

HealtH

as Sally Benbow

Freedom Road

as Katie

Remember My Name

as Rita

The Trial of the Moke

1978

as Lucy Smith

5.5

Hate to See You Go

The Thing That Hurts

Playing for Your Heart: The Making of “Love & Basketball”

as Self

Pockets of Heaven

Television (55)

The Boroughs

2026 Upcoming

as Judy

May 21

The Last Frontier

2025

as Jacqueline Bradford

7.2

Number One on the Call Sheet

as Self

Monsieur Spade

as Virginia Dell

Marvel's Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur

2023

as Mimi (voice)

7.7

The Jennifer Hudson Show

2022

as Self

5.6

Star Trek: Lower Decks

2020

as Lilly Sloane (voice)

7.6

The Sunday Show with Jonathan Capehart

2020

as Self

See

2019

as Paris

8.1

A Series of Unfortunate Events

as Aunt Josephine

Marvel's Luke Cage

as Mariah Dillard

Empire

as Renee

The Last Ship

as Amy Granderson

Variety Studio: Actors on Actors

2014

as Self

4.5

State of Affairs

2014

as President Constance Payton

5.7

Women, War & Peace

2011

as Narrator (voice)

10.0

Who Do You Think You Are?

2010

as Self

6.6

Black Panther

2010

as Dondi Reece (voice)

6.8

Memphis Beat

2010

as Lieutenant Tanya Rice

6.9

Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen

as Self - Guest

Three Rivers

as Dr. Sophia Jordan

True Blood

as Ruby Jean Reynolds

My Own Worst Enemy

as Mavis Heller

Private Practice

as Dee Bennett

The Megan Mullally Show

as Self - Guest

Class of 3000

Rachael Ray

as Self

Grey's Anatomy

as Justine Campbell

Desperate Housewives

as Betty Applewhite

Desperate Housewives

as Betty Applewhite

Static Shock

as Jean Hawkins (voice)

8.0

The Wild Thornberrys

1998

as Medicine Woman (voice)

The Practice

as Denise Freeman

The Daily Show

as Self

Gulliver's Travels

as Queen of Brobdingnag

7.2

Happily Ever After: Fairy Tales for Every Child

as Winsome (voice)

Frasier

as Edna (voice)

Homicide: Life on the Street

1993

as Dr. Roxanne Turner

8.1

Homicide: Life on the Street

1993

as Dr. Roxanne Turner

HBO First Look

as Self

American Experience

as Narrator (voice)

L.A. Law

as Adrianne Moore

Sara

as Rozalyn Dupree

WonderWorks

as Claudie Sills

Reading Rainbow

1983

as Self - Narrator (voice)

St. Elsewhere

as Roxanne Turner

Faerie Tale Theatre

as Princess Lovinia

Tucker's Witch

as Marcia Fulbright

Hill Street Blues

The Sophisticated Gents

as Evelyn Evers

Palmerstown, U.S.A.

The White Shadow

as Sandra Wilcox

What Really Happened to the Class of '65?

The Oscars

as Self

Hallmark Hall of Fame

1951

as Mrs. Brown

8.6

Crew (3)

Movies (2)

No Small Matter

2019

Executive Producer

Clemency

2019

Executive Producer

6.3

Television (1)

The Porter

2022

Executive Producer

5.4