Angela Bassett mini-bio: Angela Evelyn Bassett was raised along with her sister by their single mother in the housing projects of Saint Petersburg, Florida. It was after watching James Earl Jones' Broadway performance in Of Mice and Men that Angela decided she wanted a career in acting. After graduating from high school, Angela went on to earn a Bachelor of Arts degree from Yale College, and a Masters of Fine Arts from Yale School of Drama. Upon graduation, Angela Bassett moved to New York and it wasn't long before she was landing roles in off-Broadway productions. But is was difficult to avoid the stereotypical roles afforded to African-American women in film. However, Angela worked her way through such typecasting and into mainstream stardom with such roles as Katherine Jackson in "The Jacksons: An American Dream".
In 1990, John Singleton cast Bassett in his feature film debut Boyz N the Hood. A role in which she played a single mother trying to raise her troubled, teenaged son. Angela's work received even more attention when she starred opposite Denzel Washington in Malcolm X, but it was her riveting portrayal of singing legend Tina Turner in What's Love Got to Do With It? that cemented Angela's growing reputation as a powerful and versatile actor, and won her an Oscar nomination in the Best Actress category.
In 1998, she starred in "How Stella Got her Groove Back". She played Stella a 40
year old woman, who was recently divorced and hooks up with a 20 year old man.
Her co-star was a then unknown Taye Diggs. The movie was hit, and it's one of Angela's best known films to this date. After that, Angela starred in a slew of movies such as The Lazarus Child, Mr.3000, Akeelah and the Bee, Meet the Browns and Nothing But the Truth.
On April 28, 2008, it was announced that Bassett would join the regular cast of the medical drama series
ER for the show's final season. She now portrays Dr. Catherine Banfield. Her Husband Courtney Vance also plays her television husband on
ER as Russell Banfield.
In January 2009 she starred in the biopic "Notorius". The movie is about the life and death of rapper " The Notorius B.I.G". Angela played the part of Voletta Wallace, the mother of the late rapper.
Angela and her Husband have two children. Slater Josiah and daughter Bronwyn Golden, were born on January 27, 2006. The couple confirmed on Oprah that twins
were born using a surragote mother, as the couple could not recieve naturally.