Lynne Thigpen | |
|---|---|
 Thigpen as Miss Barrett in the 1989 filmLean on Me | |
| Born | Cherlynne Theresa Thigpen (1948-12-22)December 22, 1948 Joliet, Illinois, U.S. |
| Died | March 12, 2003(2003-03-12) (aged 54) |
| Resting place | Elmhurst Cemetery, Joliet, Illinois |
| Other names | Lynne Richmond |
| Alma mater | University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign |
| Occupation |
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| Years active | 1971–2003 |
| Television | The Chief in(Where in the World Is Carmen Sandiego?) |
| Awards | 1992Obie Award – (Boesman and Lena) 1997Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Play – (An American Daughter) 1999 Obie Award – (Jar the Floor) |
Cherlynne Theresa Thigpen (December 22, 1948 – March 12, 2003) was an American actress of stage and screen. She was known for her role as the Chief of ACME Crimenet in the game showWhere in the World Is Carmen Sandiego? and various spinoffs, and for her role as "Luna" (The Moon) in thePlayhouse Disney children's seriesBear in the Big Blue House. For her varied television work, Thigpen was nominated for sixDaytime Emmy Awards. She won aTony Award in 1997 for portraying Dr. Judith Kaufman inAn American Daughter, and also played Ella Farmer onThe District (2000–2003). Thigpen first gained attention for her role in the 1971off-Broadway musicalGodspell. Thigpen's character is named Lynne, and she sang "O Bless the Lord, My Soul" in the musical. Thigpen reprised her role as Lynne in the1973 film adaptation, which she starred in alongsideDavid Haskell andVictor Garber.
Thigpen was born in theChicago suburb ofJoliet, Illinois to George and Celia (Martin) Thigpen. She obtained a degree in teaching.[1][2] She taught high school English briefly while studying theatre at theUniversity of Illinois on an acting fellowship.[3]
Thigpen moved to New York City in 1971 to begin her career as a stage actress. She had a long and prolific theater career and appeared in numerousmusicals includingGodspell,The Night That Made America Famous,The Magic Show,Working,Tintypes, andAn American Daughter (for which she won herTony Award for her portrayal of Dr. Judith Kaufman in 1997).[4]
In 1994, Thigpen originated a role in anAdrienne Kennedy short playMotherhood 2000,[5] while in 1995, she served as associate artistic director of the acclaimed off-Broadway theater,Circle Repertory Company, whileAustin Pendleton served as artistic director.
Her first feature film role was as Lynne inGodspell (1973), co-starring oppositeVictor Garber andDavid Haskell. Thigpen also portrayed a radio DJ (shown only from the nose down) inWalter Hill'sThe Warriors (1979), and Leonna Barrett, the mother of an expelled student, inLean on Me (1989), the story of American high school principalJoe Louis Clark. She had a role in the remake ofShaft (2000) as the mother of a murder victim, and played the Second President of the World Congress inBicentennial Man (1999). Her last film,Anger Management (2003), starringAdam Sandler andJack Nicholson, was released a month after her death and paid tribute to her in the end credits.
Thigpen was most known to television audiences for playing the Chief in thePBS children's geography game showWhere in the World Is Carmen Sandiego?, which involved education, humor, and an occasional musical performance. She also reprised her role as The Chief in the successor showWhere in Time is Carmen Sandiego? She also played Luna in the television showBear in the Big Blue House and also appeared in many other television series during her career, most notably in a recurring role asGrace Keefer on theABC daytime dramaAll My Children and a supporting role asElla Mae Farmer, a crime analyst for the Washington, D.C., police department, on theCBS crime dramaThe District.[6] She guest-starred in episodes ofGimme A Break!,Roseanne,Thirtysomething,The Cosby Show,L.A. Law,Law & Order,The Days and Nights of Molly Dodd,Homicide: Life on the Street, andSesame Street, and was a regular cast member on the short-livedNBC sketch comedy seriesThe News Is the News.Where in the Universe Is Carmen Sandiego? is the last show to feature Lynne Thigpen as The Chief before she died.
She appeared in radio skits of theGarrison Keillor programThe American Radio Company of the Air.[7] Her voice was also heard on over 20 audio books, primarily works with socially relevant themes.[8]
In her association with theWhere in the World Is Carmen Sandiego? television show, Thigpen reprised her role as The Chief in three related computer games. Two were released in 1996:Where in the World Is Carmen Sandiego? (a reboot of the original 1985–1992 game) andWhere in the U.S.A. Is Carmen Sandiego? The following year, a video game counterpart to the TV series' successor show,Where in Time is Carmen Sandiego, was released, titledCarmen Sandiego's Great Chase Through Time. Thigpen recorded hundreds ofQuickTime videos for cut-scenes in the games, and generally received praise for her performances in them; in reviewing the 1997 game, David Colker of theLos Angeles Times enjoyed the "on-screen presence of actress Lynne Thigpen", noting that she "brings a winning presence to her role,"[9] while Debbie Maria Leon of theNew Straits Times wrote that "the urgency of the [confident Chief's] voice [gives] enough oomph to make [the player] go scurrying to restore history".[10]
Thigpen died of acerebral hemorrhage on March 12, 2003,[11] in herMarina del Rey, California, home, outside ofLos Angeles, after complaining of headaches for several days. She was 54 years old. The coroner's autopsy found "acute cardiac dysfunction, non-traumatic systemic and spontaneous intraventricular hemorrhage, and hemorrhage in the brain."[citation needed] Thigpen was entombed at Elmhurst Cemetery in her hometown ofJoliet, Illinois.
Following Thigpen's death, the remaining three episodes of the third season ofThe District killed off her character, Ella Mae Farmer.
Thigpen's family and friends established a non-profit foundation, The Lynne Thigpen–Bobo Lewis Foundation, to help young actors and actresses learn to survive and succeed in New York theater and to mentor the next generation ofBroadway stars.[12]
Thigpen was posthumously nominated for aDaytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Performer in Children's Programming for voicing Luna the moon inBear in the Big Blue House, but lost toJeff Corwin for his eponymous wildlife reality seriesThe Jeff Corwin Experience.[citation needed] Her final film,Anger Management, was dedicated to her memory. An elementary school in Thigpen's hometown of Joliet, Illinois, was named after her.[13]
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1973 | Godspell | Lynne | |
| 1979 | The Warriors | DJ | |
| 1982 | Tootsie | Jo | |
| 1984 | Streets of Fire | Subway Motorwoman | |
| 1985 | Walls of Glass | Woman Cop | |
| 1986 | Sweet Liberty | Claire | |
| 1987 | Hello Again | Reporter #2 | |
| 1988 | Running on Empty | Contact at Eldridge St. | |
| 1989 | Lean on Me | Leonna Barrett | |
| 1990 | Impulse | Dr. Gardner | |
| 1992 | Article 99 | Nurse White | |
| Bob Roberts | Kelly Noble | ||
| 1993 | Naked in New York | Helen | |
| 1994 | The Paper | Janet | |
| Blankman | Grandma Walker | ||
| 1995 | Just Cause | Ida Conklin | |
| 1999 | Random Hearts | Phyllis Bonaparte | |
| The Insider | Mrs. Williams | ||
| Bicentennial Man | President Marjorie Bota | ||
| 2000 | Shaft | Carla Howard | |
| 2001 | Novocaine | Pat | |
| 2003 | Anger Management | Judge Brenda Daniels | Posthumous release; dedicated in memory |
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1972 | Fol-de-Rol | Witch / Ensemble | Television film |
| 1981 | Lou Grant | Mrs. Dupree | 1 episode |
| 1983 | Love, Sidney | Nancy | 1 episode |
| 1985–1986 | Gimme a Break! | Loretta Harper | 3 episodes |
| 1986 | Rockabye | Rica Towne | Television film |
| Spenser: For Hire | Mrs. Jarvis | 1 episode | |
| 1987 | The Ellen Burstyn Show | Pam James | 1 episode |
| The Equalizer | Cleaning Lady | Episode: "Blood and Wine" | |
| 1988 | Frank's Place | Madame Torchet | 1 episode |
| 1989 | Roseanne | Dr. Bryce | 1 episode |
| Thirtysomething | Rosie | Recurring role, 6 episodes | |
| Fear Stalk | Barbara | Television film | |
| 1989–1990 | FM | Naomi Sayers | Main role, 13 episodes |
| 1989–1993 | ABC Afterschool Specials | Mrs. Meeks / Jo Delancey | 2 episodes |
| 1990 | Hunter | Lt. Marilyn Fowler | 1 episode |
| 1991 | The Days and Nights of Molly Dodd | Nate's Cousin | 1 episode |
| Dear John | Sarah Donnelly | 1 episode | |
| Separate but Equal | Ruth Alice Stovall | 2 episodes | |
| The Cosby Show | Mrs. Hudson | 2 episodes | |
| 1991–1995 | Where in the World Is Carmen Sandiego? | The Chief | Main role, 296 episodes |
| 1991–1992 | L.A. Law | D.A. Ruby Thomas | Recurring role, 10 episodes |
| 1992 | Loving | Judge Hale | 2 episodes |
| 1993–2000 | All My Children | Grace Keefer | Recurring role |
| 1995–1999 | Law & Order | Trial Judge Ida Boucher | 3 episodes |
| 1995 | Cagney & Lacey: The View Through the Glass Ceiling | Capt. Gigi Cardenas | Television film |
| The Puzzle Place | The Chief | Episode: "The Mystery of the Fabulous Hat" | |
| 1996 | The Boys Next Door | Mrs. Tracy | Television film |
| A Mother's Instinct | "Mike" Wheelwright | Television film | |
| 1996–1997 | Where in Time Is Carmen Sandiego? | The Chief | 115 episodes |
| 1997–2003 | Bear in the Big Blue House | Luna | Voice role, 103 episodes |
| 1997 | Homicide: Life on the Street | Regina Wilson | 3 episodes |
| Promised Land | Dr. Bea Goldman | 1 episode | |
| King of the Hill | Judge | Voice role, episode: "Hank's Dirty Laundry" | |
| 1998 | Sesame Street | WASA Training Officer | 2 episodes |
| Cosby | Linda / Dr. Holmes | 2 episodes | |
| 1998–2003 | Where in the Universe Is Carmen Sandiego? | The Chief | Unknown episodes |
| 1999 | Night Ride Home | Fran | Television film |
| 2000 | An American Daughter | Dr. Judith B. Kaufman | Television film |
| 2000–2003 | The District | Ella Farmer | Main role, 66 episodes |
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