The Astounding Talent of Alfre Woodard

Alfre Woodard is an Academy Award nominated African American Actress. Much like many of her peers, she is undervalued in the motion picture industry. Perhaps even more people know her face than her name, but most will automatically recognize that she has tremendous acting ability.

Alfre Woodard has been the nominee and recipient of many prestigious acting awards. As mentioned above, she was nominated for an Academy Award. She has won every SAG Award for which she has been nominated (three), one Golden Globe Award, and seven NAACP Image Awards.

Alfre Woodard was named by her godmother who claimed to have seen the name "Alfre" written in the stars. Alfre studied acting at Boston University where she is an alumna with the likes of Julianne Moore, Marisa Tomei, and Geena Davis. She has been married to her husband for more than twenty years and they have two adopted children.

Like Denzel Washington, Alfre Woodard appeared on the 80's hospital drama "St. Elsewhere". Her three SAG Awards were for her work on "The Piano Lessons," "Miss Evers Boys'," and her current stint on "Desperate Housewives." Her Emmy wins were for her portrayal of powerful characters on "LA Law," "The Practice," and again for "Miss Evers' Boys." If you happened to have caught her performances on the two aforementioned, but now defunct, legal drama series you will no doubt already be well aware of her immense acting talent.

Some of Alfre Woodard's best work can be seen in lesser known projects. In "Holiday Heart" 2000 she stars as the severely drug addicted mother of a pre-teen girl. The life of mother and daughter are forever changed when they meet a drag queen with a heart almost as big as his bulging muscles (Ving Rhames). She also gives incredible performances in "Grand Canyon" 1991, "Down in the Delta" 1998, and "Funny Valentines"1999. Perhaps her best work can be seen in the film "Passion Fish" 1992. In "Passion Fish," Alfre Woodard stars opposite actress Mary McDonnell. The pair is thrown together in an unforgettable patient/caretaker situation. McDonnell's character is notorious for running off her in-home caretakers with her mean drunk routine until Alfre Woodard's character shows up for the job. The two eventually form an emotional bond and their relationship slowly builds into a lifelong friendship.

All of the above films, except Funny Valentines, can be placed into a Netflix queue to be viewed at your leisure. The next time you're in the mood to catch a good movie, why not consider a film starring Alfre Woodard?