Lynne Thigpen (1948-2003)
Lynne Thigpen, the prolific screen and stage actor who played dogged crime analyst Ella Farmer on the CBS cop drama The District and won a Tony Award in 1997 for her performance as a black Jewish oncologist in Wendy Wasserstein's play An American Daughter, died on Mar. 12 at her home in Los Angeles, CBS said. She was 54.
The cause of death was unknown pending an autopsy. She was discovered unconscious by her friend Larry Aronson.
Production on The District was temporarily shut down last Thursday after the cast and crew received word of Thigpen's death. The show, which bowed in September 2000, is based on the exploits of real-life law enforcement guru Jack Maple and was in the middle of shooting the 20th of the season's 22 episodes.
During her 30-year career, Thigpen appeared in nearly 40 feature films and numerous television series, often in memorable character roles. She made her film debut in Godspell, the 1973 adaptation of the New Testament-inspired musical.
Other films included The Insider, Lean on Me, the 2000 remake of Shaft, Tootsie, Random Hearts, Bob Roberts, and the upcoming Anger Management. Her television credits included recurring roles on L.A. Law and thirtysomething. She also portrayed the chief on the PBS children's series Where in the World Is Carmen Sandiego? and Where in Time Is Carmen Sandiego?
She was born Cherlynne Thigpen in Joliet, Ill., on Dec. 22, 1948. Thigpen took a teaching degree and briefly taught high school English before moving to New York to pursue acting. "I wasn't driven by the star thing," she told the Wall Street Journal in 1997. "I wanted to be a working actor, and I think I've achieved that."
Despite her success onscreen, Thigpen was most highly lauded for her theatre work. She was nominated for a Tony in the musical Tintypes and won Obie Awards for Jar the Floor and Boesman and Lena.
-- Scott Collins (The Hollywood Reporter)
Off the Wire...
SOUTHWEST -- Denver Center Theatre Company has announced its 2003 spring season: Michael Frayn's Copenhagen, Mar. 12-May 10; Anton Chekhov's The Three Sisters (in a new adaptation by James Warnick), Mar. 20-Apr. 26, and Ted Dykstra and Richard Greenblatt's 2 Pianos, 4 Hands, Mar. 27-Apr. 26. (303) 893-4100.
NORTHERN CALIFORNIA -- San Jose Repertory Theatre has announced its 2003-'04 season: Michael Frayn's Noises Off, Sept. 6-Oct. 5; S.N. Behrman's No Time for Comedy, Oct. 18-Nov. 16; Sandra Tsing Loh's Sugar Plum Fairy, Nov. 29-Jan. 4, 2004, and William Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream, Jan. 24-Feb. 22, 2004. (408) 367-7255...
The Magic Theatre in San Francisco has announced the appointment of Chris Smith to the position of artistic director. Smith comes to the Bay Area from New York, where he served as associate artistic director of Ensemble Studio Theatre, and was founder and program director of the EST/Sloan Project, a program for commissioning and developing new theatrical works exploring the worlds of science and technology. He was also the former artistic director for Youngblood, a critically acclaimed New York company whose mission is to develop and produce work by playwrights under 30. Smith replaces Larry Eilenberg, who is leaving the theatre to pursue his interests in international artistic exchange and his own writing.
SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA -- Center Theatre Group's P.L.A.Y. (Performing for Los Angeles Youth) will present Doug Cooney and David O's The Legend of Alex on Mar. 22 at the Ivy Substation in Culver City. (213) 972-7376...
Take One! Film and Theater Books will present Writing and Producing an Independent Film with Glenn Benest on Mar. 22 at Take One! Bookstore in West Los Angeles. And on Mar. 26, Back Stage West's columnist Bonnie Gillespie will present a casting director panel featuring casting directors Mark Sikes, Robin Nassif, and Cathy Kalmenson. Reservations required. (310) 445-4050...
The Hunger Artists Theatre Company in Fullerton has announced its 2003 season: William Shakespeare's Macbeth, Mar. 28-Apr. 27; Stephen Sondheim's Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, July 11-Aug. 3; Madame Guignol's Macabre Theatre: Once Upon a Time..., Oct. 10-Nov. 1, and The Lutz Radio Show, Dec. 5-21. (714) 680-6803...
Kim Yarbrough and Wally White will present Something Outrageous, An Evening of Song, Mar. 21 & 28 at Masquers' Cabaret in West Hollywood. (818) 843-3031...
Reprise! Broadway's Best will present an evening of comedy and music with two complete cabaret shows: Amanda McBroom & George Ball performing their celebrated cabaret act, Love, Pain and the Whole Damn Thing, and Jason Graae's one-man show, Color Me Mine, on Mar. 24 at UCLA's Freud Playhouse. It is being presented on the dark Monday of She Loves Me, the final Reprise! attraction of the 2002-'03 season. (310) 825-2101...
As part of its Dark Blue Mondays reading series, a staged reading of Kim Curd's Choices will take place on Mar. 24 at Los Angeles Theatre Center in Downtown L.A. Admission is free. (310) 585-4717...
The Actors' Fund of America will launch Looking Ahead, an innovative program for young performers in Southern California. Looking Ahead is a comprehensive career, education, and counseling program designed by the Actors' Fund in cooperation with the Screen Actors Guild and American Federation of Television and Radio Artists to help young performers and their families address issues that come with working in the entertainment industry. The program supports young performers between the ages of 12 and 18 in developing the values, skills, and confidence they need to make successful transitions to fulfilling adult lives. The new program is underwritten by a $150,000 grant from the SAG Producers Industry Advancement and Cooperative Fund. Actor Richard Thomas will serve as chair of the Looking Ahead Advisory Committee, a group that is assisting in the program's design and implementation. Committee members include Melissa Gilbert and John Connolly, presidents of the Screen Actors Guild and AFTRA respectively, as well as other union leaders, studio teachers, managers, and the parents of young performers. For more information, contact (323) 933-9244 or visit www.actorsfund.org...
Award-winning executive producer/ writer Peter Engel will be the guest speaker at the next Hollywood Networking Breakfast on Mar. 27 at Paramount Studios in Hollywood. Known as the guru of teen television programming, Engel serves as chairman of Peter Engel Productions, NBC Television's largest supplier of teen-oriented shows. The event is produced by Sandra Lord for Changing Images in America, a nonprofit organization dedicated to promoting diversity in American culture. (310) 477-0996, ext. 3...
As part of Rocket Event Thursdays, director Curtis Harrington will speak on Mar. 28 at Rocket Video in Hollywood. Harrington will discuss his films, his restoration of the 1931 classic The Old Dark House, and the works of James Whale. A Q&A session will follow. Admission is free. (323) 965-1100...
The Group at Strasberg will present a workshop production of One Big Happy Family by Joe Costanza, featuring the directorial debut of David Lee Strasberg, Mar. 28-29 at the Lee Strasberg Creative Center, Marilyn Monroe Theatre, in West Hollywood. Admission is free. Reservations required. (323) 650-7777...
FirstStage is accepting submissions for its 17th annual fundraiser, Playwrights Express -- 2003, taking place Apr. 26-27, and May 3-4 at the FirstStage Theatre in Hollywood. Works must be no longer than 15 minutes. Deadline for submissions is Mar. 30. For more information, call (323) 850-6271 or visit www.firststagela.org...
L.A. Theatre Works' The Play's The Thing live radio theatre series will present Lee Blessing's Going to St. Ives, Mar. 26-30 at the Skirball Cultural Center in West Los Angeles. Shirley Jo Finney will direct Tony Award-winners L. Scott Caldwell and Caroline Goodall. All performances will be recorded before a live audience for future radio broadcast. (310) 827-0889.
-- Rosa Fernandez