CCH Pounder

Infobox actor

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caption = CCH Pounder (left)
birthdate = birth date and age|1952|12|25
birthplace = Georgetown, Guyana

Carol Christine Hilaria Pounder (born December 25, 1952) is a three-time Emmy Award-nominated English-American film and television actress. She is usually billed as CCH Pounder (or C.C.H. Pounder early in her career). She has appeared in numerous films, made-for-television films, television miniseries, plays and has made guest appearances on notable television shows.

Biography

Early life

Pounder was born in Georgetown, Guyana, the daughter of Betsy Enid Arnella (née James) and Ronald Urlington Pounder. [ [http://www.filmreference.com/film/77/C-C-H-Pounder.html C. C. H. Pounder Biography (1952-) ] ] She was educated in England and moved to the U.S. in 1970. [ [http://movies.yahoo.com/movie/contributor/1800011466/bio CCH Pounder Biography - Yahoo! Movies ] ] Pounder made her acting debut in the 1979 film "All That Jazz".

Career

Pounder starred in the film "Bagdad Café" (a role played by Whoopi Goldberg in a short-lived television sitcom). Pounder has made smaller appearances in many other successful films. She has focused primarily on her television career. In the early 1980s, Pounder first appeared in guest roles on "Hill Street Blues", and then on several other popular shows ("Miami Vice", "L.A. Law", "The X-Files", "Living Single" and "Quantum Leap") before landing a long-running recurring role as Dr. Angela Hicks on "ER" from 1994 to 1997. In the midst of this she had a large co-starring role in the 1995 Tales From the Crypt feature film Demon Knight. She then returned to guest appearances on other shows, including "The Practice", "", "Millennium", "The West Wing" (where she was considered for a lead role) and the short-lived sitcom "Women in Prison".

Since 2002, she has starred as Detective Claudette Wyms in the FX Networks police drama "The Shield". For this role she was nominated for an Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in 2005. She had previously been nominated for Emmys in 1995 (for guest starring in "The X-Files") and in 1997 (for her supporting role on "ER"). She has also lent her voice to several video games and animated projects, including "Aladdin and the King of Thieves", "", "Gargoyles" as Desdemona/Coldfire, and most recently "Justice League Unlimited" as Amanda Waller.

Personal life

Pounder is married to Senegalese anthropologist Boubacar Kone. The couple were married in an African ceremony in Dakar, Senegal and were again remarried at a traditional Los Angeles, California event six months later. Kone is the founder of The Boribana Museum in Dakar, Senegal for the study of cultures of the African diaspora.

Pounder used to own a jewelry shop called Banji Girls with her business partner Conni Marie Brazelton but now she sells jewelry through requests via her website cchpounder.com.

Advocacy

As one of the founders of ANSA (Artists for a New South Africa), Pounder has energized awareness of post-apartheid and HIV/AIDS issues. [ [http://www.ansafrica.org ANSA] ] In an interview, she said about the pandemic: "When it's this massive disease, and it's affecting things in five thousand different ways, it requires great strength and power--and there is power in numbers. So we need to involve as many people as we can, like we do with ANSA. I call it my little engine that could. It is a remarkable, tiny organization with a huge outreach. We use actors and artists with the biggest voices so they can use every opportunity to talk about AIDS." [ [http://www.aumag.org/coverstory/January06cover.html A&U:America's AIDS Magazine] ]

Filmography

* "All That Jazz" (1979)
* "Union City" (1980)
* "I'm Dancing as Fast as I Can" (1982)
* "Prizzi's Honor" (1985)
* "Bagdad Café" (1987)
* "Postcards from the Edge" (1990)
* "" (1990)
* "The Importance of Being Earnest" (1992)
* "Benny & Joon" (1993)
* "Lifepod" (1993)
* "Sliver" (1993)
* "RoboCop 3" (1993)
* "Demon Knight" (1995)
* "Melting Pot" (1997)
* "Blossoms and Veils" (1997)
* "Face/Off" (1997)
* "Race" (1998)
* "End of Days" (1999)
* "Cora Unashamed" (2000)
* "Things Behind the Sun" (2001)
* "Baby of the Family" (2002)
* "Tèt Grenné" (2002)
* "" (2004) "(as Winnie Mandela)"
* "Justice League Unlimited": Amanda Waller (head of Cadmus)
* "W.I.T.C.H. as Queen Kadma
* "Rain " (2007) (as Ms. Adams)
* "Avatar " (2009) (as Moha, queen of the Na'vi)

References

External links

*imdb name|id=0001634|name=CCH Pounder
* [http://www.roxburyfilmfestival.org/pounder_bio.htm Roxbury Film Festival]
* [http://cchpounder.com/ Official website]