Lonette McKee

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Lonette McKee
Born
Lonette Rita McKee[1][2]

(1954-07-22) July 22, 1954 (age 69)[3]
Detroit, Michigan, U.S.
Alma materThe New School
Occupation(s)Actress, singer
Years active1968–present
Spouse
Leo Compton
​
​
(m. 1983; div. 1990)​
[4]
FamilyKathy McKee (sister)
Websitelonettemckee.com

Lonette Rita McKee[2][1] (born July 22, 1954)[5] is an American actress and singer. She made her big screen debut starring as Sister Williams in the original 1976 musical-drama film Sparkle. McKee later appeared in films Which Way Is Up? (1977), The Cotton Club (1984), Brewster's Millions (1985), Round Midnight (1986), Gardens of Stone (1987), Jungle Fever (1991), Malcolm X (1992), Men of Honor (2000), Honey (2003) and ATL (2006).

McKee became the first African American to play the coveted role of Julie and received critical acclaim for her performance in Broadway musical Show Boat in 1983, for which she received a Tony Award nomination for Best Actress in a Musical. She also starred in The First and played Billie Holiday in Lady Day at Emerson's Bar and Grill. McKee also received three Drama Desk and three NAACP Image Awards nominations during her career.[6]

Early life and education[edit]

Born in Detroit, Michigan, McKee was the second of three daughters[2][7] of Dorothy McKee, of Swedish descent,[4] and Lonnie McKee, an African American bricklayer and auto manufacturer employee.[8] Lonette's mother was Scandinavian American.[9] McKee's older sister, Kathrine "Kathy" McKee, is also an actress and performer. McKee attended St Martin De Porres High School,[10] but dropped out after her freshman year, moving to Los Angeles, California, to live with her older sister. As a young girl Lonette performed at record hops, dances, and small night clubs in her hometown of Detroit with help from her mother.[2]

Career[edit]

McKee's career began in the music business in Detroit as a child prodigy, where she started writing music and lyrics, singing, playing keyboards, and performing at the age of seven.[11] In 1968, McKee, then aged 14, recorded her first record entitled "Stop! (Don't Worry About It)". It became an instant regional pop/R&B hit.[12] McKee wrote the title song for the film Quadroon, in which her sister Katherine McKee starred, when she was fifteen.[13]

Several years later, McKee was launched to stardom with her critically acclaimed performance in the hit 1976 musical drama film Sparkle.[14] McKee's career further took off throughout the mid 1970s to late 1980s, with her starring alongside comedy superstar Richard Pryor in the 1977 comedy film Which Way Is Up?, and in the 1985 comedy film Brewster's Millions. During this period, McKee played as an African American woman passing as white in both Julie Dash's 1982 short film, Illusions and in Francis Ford Coppola's 1984 musical crime drama The Cotton Club.[2]

She has written and produced three solo LPs. Natural Love was produced for Spike Lee's Columbia 40 Acres and A Mule label in 1992. Ed Hogan, reviewing for AllMusic, wrote, "'Natural Love' shows that the singer/songwriter's muse knows no stylistic bounds. As with her earlier effort, McKee co-writes all of the songs while sharing production credits with Bryant McNeil, Gene Lake Jr., and labelmate Raymond Jones of State of Art."[15] McKee scored the music for the well-received cable documentary on the Lower Manhattan African Burial Ground, as well as numerous infomercials. McKee has toured extensively throughout the world singing concert performances, including the JVC Jazz Festival at Carnegie Hall. McKee studied film directing at The New School in New York and apprenticed directing with the filmmaker Spike Lee. McKee also studied singing with Dini Clark and ballet with Sarah Tayir, both in Los Angeles. She also appeared on the CW sitcom The Game as Mrs. Pitts, the mother of Jason (played by Coby Bell), in 2007.

McKee won critical acclaim for her Broadway debut performance in the musical The First in 1981, co-starring in the role of Jackie Robinson's wife Rachel.[16] She became the first African American to play the coveted role of Julie in the Houston Grand Opera's production of Show Boat in 1983 on Broadway, for which she received a Tony Award nomination for Best Actress in a Musical.[17] McKee's tragic portrayal of jazz legend Billie Holiday in the one-woman drama with music, Lady Day at Emerson's Bar and Grill, won critical acclaim, standing ovations, and a 1987 Drama Desk Award nomination (Outstanding Actress in a Musical).[16] She reprised the role of Julie on Broadway in the 1994 revival of Show Boat directed by Hal Prince.[16] In 2012 she starred in New Federal Theatre’s production of Sowa’s Red Gravy.[18]

In 2013, McKee expressed a desire to establish a performance arts center in the New York tri-state area.[19] She performs her one-woman memoir with music on stages throughout the US. She produced her first feature film, Dream Street, which she wrote and directed.[20]

Personal life[edit]

McKee has been married once and has no children. She dated the actor and stand-up comedian Freddie Prinze for a time during 1976.[21] McKee was married to Leo Compton, a youth counselor, from February 1983[4] to 1990. In the mid-1990s, she lived in an Upper East Side brownstone with her companion, the musician Bryant McNeil. They met while they were working together on McKee's Natural Love album.[7] McKee teaches a master acting workshop at Centenary College of New Jersey, where she is an adjunct professor in the Theater Arts department.

Discography[edit]

Filmography[edit]

Film[edit]

Year Title Role Notes
1976 Sparkle Sister Williams
1977 Which Way Is Up? Vanetta
1979 Cuba Therese Mederos
1982 Illusions Mignon Dupree Short film
1984 The Cotton Club Lila Rose Oliver
1985 Brewster's Millions Angela Drake
1986 'Round Midnight Darcey Leigh
1987 Gardens of Stone Betty Rae Nelson
1991 Jungle Fever Drew Purify Nominated — NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Actress in a Motion Picture
1992 Malcolm X Louise Little
1998 He Got Game Martha Shuttlesworth
1998 Blind Faith Carol Williams
2000 Men of Honor Ella Brashear
2000 Fast Food Fast Women Sherry-Lynn
2001 A Day in Black and White
2001 Lift Elanie Maxwell Nominated — Black Reel Awards for Best Supporting Actress
2003 Honey Connie Daniels
2003 The Paper Mache Chase Lisa Short film
2004 She Hate Me Lottie Armstrong
2006 ATL Priscilla Garnett
2010 Dream Street Director
2011 Honey 2 Connie Daniels
This Narrow Place Mrs. Shaw
2012 LUV Grandma
2015 Against the Jab Dj Mike's mother

Television[edit]

Year Title Role Notes
1985 The Equalizer Dr. Elly Walton Episode: Reign of Terror
Spenser: For Hire Hillary Episode: Blood Money
1986 Miami Vice Alicia Mena Episode: Stone's War
1989 Amen Tanya DuBois Episode: The Psychic (Part 1)
The Psychic (Part 2)
1989 The Women of Brewster Place Lorraine TV mini-series
1990 Dangerous Passion Meg Jordan TV movie
1991 L.A. Law ADA Kari Simms Episode: There Goes the Judge
1993 Tribeca Detective Simmons Episode: The Loft
1993 Alex Haley's Queen Alice TV mini-series
1997 To Dance with Olivia Olivia "Libby" Stewart TV movie
Nominated — NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Actress in a Television Movie, Mini-Series or Dramatic Special
1997–1999 As The World Turns Sara Ruth Bennett Nominated — NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Actress in a Daytime Drama Series (1999)
1999 Having Our Say: The Delany Sisters' First 100 Years Mama Delany TV movie
1999–2003 Third Watch Maggie Davis 10 episodes
2001 For Love of Olivia Olivia "Libby" Stewart
2002 Law & Order: Special Victims Unit Attorney Greer Episode: Chameleon
2006 Half & Half Tanya Episode: The Big Thanks for Nothing Episode
2006 1-800-Missing Miss Chambers Episode: Exposure
2007–2014 The Game Maria Pitts 3 episodes

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b Gilbert Valarie C., Women and Mixed Race Representation in Film, McFarland, Incorporated, Publishers, 2021
  2. ^ a b c d e Library of Congress, Catalog of Copyright Entries Third series, Library of Congress. Copyright Office, 1971
  3. ^ McCann, Bob (2007). Encyclopedia of African American Actresses in Film and Television. McFarland and Company. ISBN 978-0-7864-5804-2. Retrieved September 19, 2017.
    - VideoHound's Golden Movie Retriever, Volume 2005
  4. ^ a b c Stark, John. "After Singing Her Own Blues, Lonette Mckee Finds a Perch as Off Broadway's Billie Holiday" People, November 3, 1986
  5. ^ Who Sang what on Broadway, 1866–1996: The singers (L-Z)
    - Ann M. Savage (ed), Women's Rights: Reflections in Popular Culture – The Women of Brewster's Place (1989)
  6. ^ "Lonette McKee – Broadway Cast & Staff | IBDB". www.ibdb.com.
  7. ^ a b Jones, Charisse (December 29, 1994). "AT HOME WITH: Lonette McKee; A Life Between, On Stage and Off". The New York Times. Retrieved June 9, 2013.
  8. ^ "Lonette McKee Biography (1954?-)", Film Reference
  9. ^ Gilbert, Valerie C. (2021). Women and mixed race representation in film: eight star profiles. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers. ISBN 978-1-4766-6338-8.
  10. ^ rtmadminmc, "Spotlight: Lonette McKee". The Michigan Chronicle, February 8, 2012 [unreliable source?]
  11. ^ Sangweni, Yolanda. "Lonette McKee on Being in 'Luv' with Common, and What She Really Thought of the 'Sparkle' Remake" Essence, December 5, 2012
  12. ^ "Lonette McKee Knows The Way Up: 1.5 Million Deal". JET. Johnson Publishing Company. June 29, 1978. Retrieved September 19, 2017.
  13. ^ Fraser, C. Gerald (January 20, 1978). "New Face: Lonette McKee Another Shade of Black". The New York Times.
  14. ^ Sparkle, TCM. Retrieved January 16, 2016. Archived September 20, 2017, at the Wayback Machine
  15. ^ Hogan, Ed. "Lonette McKee Natural Love", Allmusic. Retrieved January 16, 2016.
  16. ^ a b c "Lonette McKee", Playbill. Retrieved May 10, 2020.
  17. ^ Show Boat, Playbill. Retrieved May 10, 2020
    - Jessie Carney Smith, Black Firsts: 4,000 Ground-Breaking and Pioneering Historical Events, Visible Ink Press, 1983
  18. ^ https://www.nytimes.com/2012/11/01/theater/reviews/lonette-mckee-in-sowas-red-gravy-at-the-castillo.html
  19. ^ "Lonette McKee: Taking Control of Her Destiny".
  20. ^ "Catching up with Lonette McKee". April 15, 2011.
  21. ^ David Henry, Joe Henry, Furious Cool: Richard Pryor and the World that Made Him, Algonquin Books, 2013

External links[edit]

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