Guide Note

Angela Bassett is an African-American Actress. She is widely recognized for her Academy Award Nominated performance in What's Love Got to Do With It portraying legendary singer Tina Turner. Most recently, Bassett will play Dr. Catherine Banfield on the 15th and final season of the television show ER, which begins airing September 25, 2008.

Fast Facts

1. Born: August 16, 1958
2. Birth Place: New York City, New York State
3. Birth Name: Angela Evelyn Bassett
4. Height: 5'4"
5. Husband: Courtney B. Vance
6. Coauthored Friends: A Love Story with Husband

Angela Evelyn Bassett was born in New York City, New York State on August 16, 1958. She would attend Boca Ciega High School and then would move on to Yale University where she would earn a Master of Fine Arts Degree from the school of Drama. She would meet her husband Courtney B. Vance at the school.

Bassett's film and television career would start with guest appearances on television shows such as The Cosby Show, thirtysomething and in featured performances in films such as F/X and Boyz n the Hood. Her breakthrough role would come in the Spike Lee film Malcolm X where she portrayed Dr. Betty Shabazz. She would follow up that performance with her Academy Award nominated role as Tina Turner in the biopic What's Love Got To Do with It. The role would establish Bassett as one of the most versatile and talented leading ladies working in Hollywood. Other notable performances include Waiting to Exhale, The Score, and Akeelah and the Bee. In 2008, she appears in Nothing But The Truth starring Kate Beckinsale.

• August 16, 1958: Born
• 1983: Graduates Yale School of Drama.
• 1992: Malcolm X
• 1993: What's Love Got to Do With it
• 2001: The Score
• 2004: Mr. 3000
• 2005: Mr. & Mrs. Smith
• 2006: Akeelah and the Bee
• 2006: Time Bomb
• 2007: Meet the Robinsons
• 2007: Toussaint
• 2007: Of Boys and Men
• 2007: Gospel Hill
• 2008: Meet the Browns
• 2008: Of Boys and Men
• 2008: Nothing But the Truth

Princess and the Frog Trailer | The Princess and the Frog | Laurence Fishburne | Tina Turner | Courtney B. Vance | Bernie Mac | Taye Diggs | Whoopi Goldberg | Meagan Good | Stacey Dash | Vivica A. Fox | Kerry Washington | Zoe Saldana | Nia Long | Gabrielle Union | Kristen Wilson | Sydney Tamiia Poitier | Halle Berry