Starletta DuPois (born July 18, 1941) is an American actress. She has appeared in more than 90 films and television shows during her career. She received aTony Award nomination forBest Featured Actress in a Play for her performance inThe Mighty Gents (1978).

DuPois was born and raised inPhiladelphia,Pennsylvania. She graduated fromUniversity of Maryland Eastern Shore in 1968, and received her M.F.A. in Theatre Arts fromUCLA School of Theater, Film and Television.^[2] She made her Broadway debut appearing in 1974 short-lived playWhat the Wine-Sellers Buy.^[3] Later that year, she had minor roles in filmsDeath Wish andThe Gambler. In 1976, she starred in the Off-Broadway production ofSo Nice, They Named it Twice.^[4]

In 1978, DuPois received aTony Award nomination forBest Featured Actress in a Play for her performance in the original production ofThe Mighty Gents oppositeDorian Harewood.^[5][6] She later played Ruth Youngerin theUnion Square Theatre'sA Raisin in the Sun, and appeared inLongacre Theatre's musicalDon't Get God Started.^[7][8] At the same time, DuPois began appearing on television, playing guest-starring roles onThe Jeffersons,Little House on the Prairie,Knots Landing,Hill Street Blues,CHiPs andSt. Elsewhere. In 1989, she receivedNAACP Image Award forAmerican Playhouse production ofA Raisin in the Sun.^[2] She later returned to play, but in role of Lena Younger, in theRoyal Exchange Theatre 2010 production receiving positive review fromThe Guardian.^[9] Her other theatre credits includingIntimate Apparel,Before It Hits Home,King Hedley II,Miss Evers Boys,Fences,The Piano Lesson andJoe Turner's Come and Gone.^[2]

During her career, DuPois played supporting roles in a more that 50 movies. She appeared inPee-wee's Big Adventure (1985),Odd Jobs (1986),Hollywood Shuffle (1987),Ricochet (1991),The Waterdance (1992),South Central (1992),The Thing Called Love (1993), andWolf (1994). She starred oppositeJames Earl Jones in the 1991 Western filmConvicts^[10] and playedWhitney Houston' character mother in the 1995 comedy-drama film,Waiting to Exhale.^[2] She later appeared in films3 Strikes (2000),Big Momma's House (2000),Friday After Next (2002),The Notebook (2004),First Sunday (2008),True to the Game trilogy (2017–2021), andCharming the Hearts of Men (2021).

On television, DuPois appeared in made-for-television movies, includeThe Kid with the 200 I.Q. (1983),Wes Craven's Chiller (1985),Runaway Father (1991),Strapped (1993),The Road to Galveston (1996),Full Circle (1996) andMichael Jackson: Searching for Neverland (2017). From 2017 to 2021 she starred in the streaming television comedy series,The Rich and the Ruthless oppositeVictoria Rowell. Her other television credits including guest appearances onThe Steve Harvey Show,Chicago Hope,The District,Lost,Cold Case andBlack Jesus.

• Starletta DuPois atIMDb

• 1941 births
• 20th-century American actresses
• 21st-century American actresses
• Actresses from Philadelphia
• American film actresses
• American stage actresses
• American television actresses
• University of Maryland Eastern Shore alumni
• University of California, Los Angeles alumni
• 20th-century African-American actresses
• 21st-century African-American actresses

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