JackÃ©e Harry (Courtesy Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia)

Jacqueline Yvonne "Jackée" Harry (born August 14, 1956), better known mononymously as Jackée, is an American actress and television personality, primarily known for her roles on sitcoms and other types of television shows. She is known for her roles as Sandra Clark, the sexy neighbor and nemesis of Mary Jenkins (played by Marla Gibbs), on the TV series 227 (a role she played from 1985 to 1989), and as Tia's mother, Lisa Landry, in the long-running comedy, Sister, Sister.

Career

Television

Born in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, and raised in Harlem, New York, to a Trinidadian mother and African American father, Harry began studying acting at the Henry Street Settlement on the Lower East Side in New York City and began a career on the New York stage. She appeared in A Broadway Musical, playing a chorine. In 1983, she made her television debut in Another World as Lily Mason, a role she continued until 1986. In 2003, she was a surprise guest on the Another World Reunion that SOAPnet coordinated and aired.

In 1985, Harry began a co-starring role opposite Marla Gibbs as the apartment building vamp, "Sandra Clark", on the NBC sitcom 227, the role with which she is most associated. Her mother, Flossie, celebrated her getting the part but died before the show aired.

Harry has said that the legacy of 227 was "that Marla Gibbs was the star of it. She's strong. People took it for granted, but she implemented a lot of change on there. She did not hold her tongue. She fought for all of us. She and I are great friends. She and I have come full circle. She's the best person." On the subject of tension between herself and Gibbs, she stated, "The rumors that Marla and I didn't get along were true at the time. When Sandra took off and I took off with her, the truth is it did indeed create a lot of tension. There were problems on Marla's part, which was truly ridiculous because she had all the power. It was her show. Maybe the problem stemmed from the fact that from the beginning Marla wanted someone else for the part, but the network insisted on me. They were all pushing Sandra, and they were pushing me. That changed when I got big, maybe too big, in Marla's eyes. Not that Marla and I ever had any arguments. She was never rude to me, and we always remained cordial. But on the biggest night of my life, when I won my Emmy, not only wasn't there a party given for me, but there was also not a flower or a word of congratulations. Ever. There was nothing, and that hurt. Afterward, my part got less and less each week, and it became clear to me that it was time to leave and I did." She went on to say, "But she and I are the greatest friends now. We have come full circle. What I mean by that is we talked about it honestly, woman-to-woman. She didn't have to but she did because people were telling her things, putting things into her head and she was believing in them until she finally came to me and talked to me and we got it all straightened out. We are the best buds. Me and her and Alaina Reed and the fabulous Regina King. Look at Regina King. I didn't even know she could act like that because Marla didn't want her to grow up too fast on the show and be that sassy. That girl is the best and getting better every day." According to series' lead, Marla Gibbs, in a recent interview (despite rumors swirling between the two ladies) if there had been a feud between her and Harry, she said, "That was never a feud. That's about people wanting to create controversy, I mean people might play that to a little bit, thinking that's the way you build things. I just never was a fan of that approach."

Harry became the first African American to win an Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series. Her performance on 227 inspired NBC producers to create a television pilot for her entitled Jackée. The pilot episode failed with audiences and is now shown as an episode of 227.

Harry also made celebrity appearances on The (New) $25,000 and $100,00 Pyramids in the mid-1980s, where she promoted her role in 227.

After leaving 227 in 1989, Harry starred opposite Oprah Winfrey in the adaptation of Gloria Naylor's novel, The Women of Brewster Place. In 1991, Harry joined the cast of The Royal Family, opposite 2-time 227 guest-star Della Reese, whose run ended after one season when star Redd Foxx died unexpectedly that autumn.

From 1994-99, Harry played Tia Mowry's character's adoptive mother on the sitcom, Sister, Sister. She won NAACP Image Awards for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series for two consecutive years in 1999 and 2000. First on ABC, the series moved to the WB network until it ended. She had a recurring role as Vanessa on The CW series Everybody Hates Chris. She currently has a recurring role on the BET Series Let's Stay Together. She is set to star in Byron Allen's New Syndicated Sitcom The First Family.

Theatre

In 1994, Harry made her return to the theater by starring as Billie Holiday in the play Lady Day at Emersons Bar and Grill. Following that stage production, she fulfilled the role of "madam who runs a bordello" in the Broadway musical The Boys From Syracuse, a play based on William Shakespeare's The Comedy of Errors.

In 1992, she starred as the assistant coach in Ladybugs. Harry served as a guest panelist on the 2000 revival of To Tell the Truth. Harry appeared on the second season of VH1's Celebrity Fit Club 2 in 2005.

In the mid-2000s, she appeared in stage productions of The Sunshine Boys, Damn Yankees, and A Christmas Carol. She most recently toured nationally in JD Lawrence's The Clean Up Woman.

It was previously announced during an interview in April that she will originate the role of Miss Phelps in the Broadway production of Matilda, the Musical in Spring 2013.

Actress

2012: Celebrity Ghost Stories Herself
2012: The First Family Pauletta
2012: Brother White (TV Movie) Veena
2012: Some Star...
2011: Nurse Jackée (short)
2011: Let's Stay Together (TV series) Delores
2011: The Ideal Husband (TV movie) Vivian Peterson
2010: Christmas Cupid (TV movie) Vivian
2010: Friends & Lovers (TV series) Omar's Mother
2010: The Clean Up Woman Jasmine
2010: Knight to D7 (short) Nurse Hamilton
2006: Everybody Hates Chris (TV series) Vanessa See all 25 episodes (2006-2009)
2005: Fun with Dick and Jane Costmart Training leader Lucy
2009: G.E.D. Mama
2009: Man of Her Dreams Louise Smith
2008: The Mighty B! (TV series) " Nurse (voice)
2007: The Last Day of Summer (TV movie) Lola The Lobster (as Jackee Harry)
2006: All You've Got Butt Short Salesman
2005: One on One (TV series) Sherri St. Croix
2005: That's So Raven (TV series) Dava
2004: You Got Served Mama
2003: The Nick at Nite Holiday Special (TV movie) Jackée, The Baker
2003: 7th Heaven (TV series) Ms. Beane
2000: Twice in a Lifetime (TV series) Darcy Green / Louise Lutrelle
1994: Sister, Sister (TV series) Lisa Landry See all 119 episodes (1994-1999)
1996: Unhappily Ever After (TV series) Ms. Blake, guidance counselor
1995: Happily Ever After: Fairy Tales for Every Child (TV series) " Giant's Wife (voice)
1994: Dave's World (TV series) Estelle
1993: Living and Working in Space: The Countdown Has Begun (video) Charmayne (as Jackee)
1991: The Royal Family (TV series) Ruth 'CoCo' Royal See all 8 episodes (1991-1992)
1992: Designing Women (TV series) Vanessa Chamberlain
1992: Ladybugs Julie Benson (as Jackée)
1990: We'll Take Manhattan (TV movie) Yvonne
1990: ABC TGIF (TV series) Lisa
1988: Amen (TV series) Roxanne Farley / Florence Hawkins (1988-1989)
1989: "The Reluctant Agent" (Movie) Diner Waitress / FBI Agent
1989: Double Your Pleasure (TV movie) LindaCavanaugh/Sharlene Cavanaugh
1989: Jackée (TV movie) Sandra Clark (as Jackée)
1989: The Women of Brewster Place (TV movie) Etta Mae
1988: Crash Course (TV movie) Edna Savage (as Jackée)
1988: The Cheech Show (TV movie) Sheila
1987: Alf Loves a Mystery (TV movie) Countess (as Jackee Harry)
1987: The Incredible Ida Early (TV movie) Ida Early
1985: 227 (TV series) Sandra Clark See all 99 episodes (1985-1989)
1984: The Cotton Club Dancer
1984: Moscow on the Hudson Woman (uncredited)
1983: Another World (TV series) Lily Mason (1983-1986)

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