Known for the challenging roles she's played on film and in television, critically acclaimed actress Alfre Woodard's work has earned her an Oscar nomination, as well as four Emmy Awards, three SAG Awards, a Golden Globe, and seventeen Emmy nominations. In 2020, The New York Times ranked Woodard seventeenth on its list of "The 25 Greatest Actors of the 21st Century". She is also known for her work as a political activist and producer. Woodard co-founded Artists for a New South Africa, an organization devoted to advancing democracy, equality, and HIV/AIDS prevention in that country. She served on the President’s Committee on the Arts and Humanities, appointed by President Barack Obama in 2009, and is engaged with the "Turnaround Arts" initiative to enhance student engagement in underperforming schools through arts.

Woodard began her acting career in theater. After her breakthrough role in the Off-Broadway play "For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide When the Rainbow Is Enuf" (1977), she made her film debut in "Remember My Name" (1978). In 1983, she won major critical praise and was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her role in "Cross Creek". In the same year, Woodard won her first Primetime Emmy Award for her performance in the NBC drama series "Hill Street Blues". She also starred as Dr. Roxanne Turner in the NBC medical drama "St. Elsewhere," for which she was nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series in 1986, and for Guest Actress in 1988.

In the 1990s, Woodard starred in films such as "Grand Canyon" (1991), "Heart and Souls" (1993), "Crooklyn" (1994), "How to Make an American Quilt" (1995), "Primal Fear" (1996), and "Star Trek: First Contact" (1996). She also drew critical praise for her performances in the independent dramas "Passion Fish" (1992), for which she won an Independent Spirit Award and was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress, as well as "Down in the Delta" (1998). For her lead role in the HBO film "Miss Evers' Boys" (1997), Woodard won a Golden Globe, Emmy, Screen Actors Guild, and several other awards. In later years, she has appeared in several blockbusters, like "K-PAX" (2001), "The Core" (2003), and "The Forgotten" (2004), and won her fourth Emmy Award for "The Practice" in 2003. From 2005 to 2006, Woodard starred as Betty Applewhite in the ABC comedy-drama series "Desperate Housewives", and later starred in several short-lived series. She appeared in the critically acclaimed films "12 Years a Slave" (2013), "Juanita" (2019), "Clemency" (2019, for which she was nominated for a BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role) as well as the box office hits "Annabelle" (2014), "Captain America: Civil War" (2016), and the remake of "The Lion King" (2019), where she voiced Sarabi. Additionally, she played Mariah Dillard in Marvel's "Luke Cage" and starred in the Apple series "See" opposite Jason Momoa.

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