Tina Lifford
Prolific character actress Tina Lifford worked steadily in films and on television for decades, appearing with the likes of Sidney Poitier and Clint Eastwood before earning a showcase role as the matriarch of a large Southern clan in the Oprah Winfrey-produced series "Queen Sugar" (OWN, 2016- ). Raised in Evanston, Illinois, she relocated with her family to California in her early teens; there, Lifford earned a degree from the University of Santa Monica and began working in features and on television in the early 1980s. Between assignments on episodic television series and the occasional role in features like "The Ladies Club" (1986) and Barbra Streisand's "Nuts" (1987), she also provided automated dialogue replacement (ADR) voices for films like "The Fabulous Baker Boys" (1989). After more than a decade of guest roles, Lifford landed her breakout project with "South Central" (Fox, 1994), a short-lived comedy-drama about a single mother (played by Lifford) raising three children in the titular Los Angeles neighborhood. The attention afforded to the show by critics gave her career profile a considerable boost, and Lifford quickly progressed to significant roles in "Run for the Dream: The Gail Devers Story" (Hallmark Channel, 1996), which cast her as Olympian Jackie Joyner-Kersey, and Joseph Sargent's "Mandela and de Klerk" (Showtime, 1997), for which she played Winnie Mandela opposite Sidney Poitier's Nelson Mandela. She then returned briefly to network series on "Crisis Center" (NBC, 1997) before resuming her busy career in features and on television, including turns for Clint Eastwood in "Blood Work" (2002) and recurring roles on "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation" (CBS, 2000-2015), "Parenthood" (NBC, 2010-15) and Shonda Rhimes' "Scandal" (ABC, 2012-18) as a CIA director. After more than three decades in the entertainment industry, Lifford finally earned a starring role in "Queen Sugar," a drama produced by Oprah Winfrey and filmmaker Ava DuVernay about a trio of siblings who reunite to save their family's sugarcane farm in Louisiana. Lifford played the siblings' mother figure, Violet, who provided an emotional anchor for the family, and for her efforts, earned an Image Award nomination in 2016.
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Tina Lifford
Filmography
Movies
Credit | |||||
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90% | No Score Yet | We Strangers | Unknown (Character) | - | 2024 |
No Score Yet |
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Heaven Down Here | Clara (Character) | - | 2023 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | A Holiday in Harlem | Mama Belle (Character) | - | 2021 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Cherished Memories: A Gift to Remember 2 | Mrs. Henley (Character) | - | 2019 |
No Score Yet |
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A Gift to Remember | Mrs. Henley (Character) | - | 2017 |
60% |
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Worry Dolls | Della (Character) | - | 2016 |
40% |
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Urban Legends: Bloody Mary | Grace Taylor (Character) | - | 2005 |
35% |
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Hostage | Laura Shoemaker (Character) | $34.6M | 2005 |
No Score Yet |
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Mystery Woman: Redemption | Bonnie (Character) | - | 2005 |
51% |
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Blood Work | Jaye Winston (Character) | - | 2002 |
No Score Yet |
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A Girl Thing | Sharon (Character) | - | 2001 |
No Score Yet |
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The Loretta Claiborne Story | Rita Claiborne (Character) | - | 2000 |
No Score Yet |
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Letters From a Killer | Elizabeth (Character) | - | 1998 |
No Score Yet |
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Mandela and de Klerk | Winnie Mandela (Character) | - | 1997 |
No Score Yet |
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Cloned | Claire Barnes (Character) | - | 1997 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Run for the Dream: The Gail Devers Story | Jackie Joyner-Kersee (Character) | - | 1996 |
No Score Yet |
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America's Dream | Sarah (Character) | - | 1996 |
No Score Yet |
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A Streetcar Named Desire | The Neighbor (Character) | - | 1995 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Divas | Geraldine (Character) | - | 1995 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Born Too Soon | Latanya (Character) | - | 1993 |
79% |
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Grand Canyon | Deborah (Character) | $32.3M | 1991 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | The Rape of Dr. Willis | Officer Rollins (Character) | - | 1991 |
No Score Yet |
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Paris Trout | Mary Sayers (Character) | - | 1991 |
TV
Credit | ||||
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No Score Yet | 64% | Queen Sugar | Aunt Violet (Character) | 2016-2019 2021-2022 |
64% | 52% | Filthy Rich | Monique (Guest Star) | 2020 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Home & Family | Guest | 2018-2019 |
25% | 47% | Criminal Minds: Beyond Borders | Unknown (Guest Star) | 2016 |
28% | 49% | Minority Report | Unknown (Guest Star) | 2015 |
93% | 72% | Scandal | CIA Director Lowry (Guest Star) | 2015 |
88% | 95% | Parenthood | Unknown (Guest Star) | 2010-2013 |
78% | 60% | Drop Dead Diva | Judge Nora Lafford (Guest Star) | 2012 |
No Score Yet | 83% | Criminal Minds | Unknown (Guest Star) | 2010 |
74% | 82% | Nip/Tuck | Warden DeMarco (Guest Star) | 2009 |
No Score Yet | 95% | Cold Case | Unknown (Guest Star) | 2008 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | In Plain Sight |
Denise McBride / |
2008 |
52% | 65% | Heroes | Unknown (Guest Star) | 2006 |
No Score Yet | 85% | ER | Evelyn Pratt (Guest Star) | 2005 |
No Score Yet | 80% | CSI: Crime Scene Investigation | Unknown (Guest Star) | 2004-2005 |
No Score Yet | 84% | NCIS | Dr. Pamela Fox (Guest Star) | 2005 |
33% | No Score Yet | Threat Matrix | Unknown (Guest Star) | 2004 |
95% | No Score Yet | Karen Sisco | Unknown (Guest Star) | 2003 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Family Law | Unknown (Guest Star) | 1999-2001 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Judging Amy | Unknown (Guest Star) | 2001 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | JAG | Unknown (Guest Star) | 1998 2000 |
83% | No Score Yet | That's Life | Unknown (Guest Star) | 2000 |
83% | 95% | NYPD Blue | Lorraine Wiggins (Guest Star) | 2000 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Martial Law | Unknown (Character) | 1998 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | The Practice | Unknown (Guest Star) | 1998 |
63% | 100% | American Gothic | Unknown (Guest Star) | 1995-1996 1998 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Touched by an Angel | Unknown (Guest Star) | 1998 |
57% | No Score Yet | Gun | Unknown (Character) | 1997 |
20% | No Score Yet | Crisis Center | Tess Robinson (Character) | 1997 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Courthouse | Unknown (Guest Star) | 1995 |
91% | 89% | Star Trek: Deep Space Nine | Lee (Guest Star) | 1995 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | South Central | Joan Mosely (Character) | 1994 |
No Score Yet | 91% | The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air | Unknown (Guest Star) | 1991 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Hunter | Frankie Mason (Guest Star) | 1990 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Tour of Duty | Nurse Pritchard (Guest Star) | 1989 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Jake and the Fatman | Unknown (Guest Star) | 1987 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Perfect Strangers | Mrs. Cooper (Guest Star) | 1987 |