Tonya Pinkins

Tonya Pinkins is an American actress and filmmaker.

She is known for her portrayal of Livia Frye on the soap opera All My Children and for her roles on Broadway. She has been nominated for three Tony Awards (winning one), and has won Obie, Lortel, Drama Desk, Outer Critics Circle, AUDELCO, Garland, L.A. Drama Critics Circle, Clarence Derwent, and NAACP Theater Awards. She has been nominated for the Olivier, Helen Hayes, Noel, Joseph Jefferson, NAACP Image, Soap Opera Digest, and Ovation Awards. She won the Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Musical for Jelly's Last Jam. Her award-winning debut feature film Red Pill was an official selection at the 2021 Pan African Film Festival, won the Best Black Lives Matter Feature and Best First Feature at The Mykonos International Film Festival, Best First Feature at the Luléa Film Festival, and was nominated for awards in numerous festivals around the globe. Her web-series The Red Pilling of America can be heard on her podcast "You Can't Say That!"

Early life and education Pinkins attended Carnegie Mellon University, but was cast in Merrily We Roll Along and decided to pursue her career, instead.

Pinkins later returned to college, earning an undergraduate degree from Columbia College Chicago. and Holler If Ya Hear Me.

Pinkins has performed in several off-Broadway productions, including the comic role of Mopsa, the Shepherdess, in The Winter's Tale produced by the Riverside Shakespeare Company at The Shakespeare Center in 1983.

In 2011, Pinkins starred in the world premiere of Kirsten Greenidge's Milk Like Sugar at La Jolla Playhouse, and received a 2012 Craig Noel nomination for Best featured Actress in a Play. She reprised her role in the Playwrights Horizons in the Peter Jay Sharp Theater.

In 2012, Pinkins starred in Katori Hall's play Hurt Village, the gritty drama about life and change in a Memphis housing project made its world-premiere at Off-Broadway's Signature Theatre Company as part of the theatre's inaugural season.

In 2014, she appeared in New Federal Theatre's revival of Ed Bullins' The Fabulous Miss Marie opposite Roscoe Orman; in the Broadway production of Holler If Ya Hear Me; and the world premiere of Branden Jacobs-Jenkins' War at Yale Repertory. She also made guest appearances on such television shows as Army Wives, 24, Law & Order, The Cosby Show, Cold Case, Criminal Minds, and The Guardian among others.

During the mid-1980s Pinkins created the character of "Heather Dalton" on the CBS soap As the World Turns. In 1991, she was cast as Livia Frye in All My Children. Pinkins left All My Children in 1995 but returned to her role in 2003. She was later put on contract with the show from March 2004 until June 2006, when she was downgraded to recurring status.

She played Amala Motobo on 24. Pinkins played Ethel Peabody on the television show Gotham. In 2016, she played Mimi Corcoran on the Hulu science fiction limited series 11.22.63, based on the Stephen King book of the same name, and starring James Franco and Sarah Gadon. On March 16, 2017, she portrayed Sandra in the ABC television series Scandal.

Pinkins has appeared in several films in supporting roles, including Newlyweeds, Home, Fading Gigolo opposite Woody Allen, Enchanted, Premium, Romance & Cigarettes, Noah's Arc: Jumping The Broom and Above the Rim among others.

Pinkins wrote, directed, and starred as Cassandra in Red Pill, to be released in 2020.

Filmography Film Year Title Role Notes 1980 Growing Up Young Carol Short 1984 Beat Street Angela 1986 Hotshot - 1989 See No Evil, Hear No Evil Leslie 1994 Above the Rim Mailika Watson 2000 Redemption Dr. Jones Short 2002 Love Hurts Auntie V 2004 Love, Mom Mom Short 2005 Romance & Cigarettes Female Medic 2006 Premium Marva True Grits Woman #1 Short 2007 Kuriocity Ruby Riggs Enchanted Phoebe Banks 2008 Noah's Arc: Jumping the Broom Mrs. Robinson 2013 Newlyweeds Patrice Fading Gigolo Othella Home Esmin 2015 Ori Inu: In Search of Self Mama Lola Short 2016 Collective: Unconscious Ripa Fearless Love Det. Cambridge Short 2017 Aardvark Abigail Principal Wilder My Days of Mercy Agatha Mary Church Terrell Short 2018 Write When You Get Work Roberta Simmons Paris Blues in Harlem Shirley Short Mr. Talented Valerie Brown Short 2019 The Artist's Wife Liza Caldwell 2020 The Surrogate Karen Weatherston-Harris Red Pill CassandraAlso writer and director

Television Year Title Role Notes 1981 American Dream - Episode: "American Dream" 1984–86 As the World Turns Heather Dalton Regular cast 1986 Rage of Angels: The Story Continues Sharon TV movie 1987 Crime Story Junkie Prostitute Episode: "Justice Hits the Skids" 1990 Iris Episode: "Elvin Pays for Dinner" Guiding Light Alanon Woman 2 Episode #1.11039 Law & Order Woman Episode: "Subterranean Homeboy Blues" 1991–94 All My Children Livia Frye Regular cast 1993 Strapped A.T.F. Officer TV movie 1994 Against Their Will: Women in Prison Sondra TV movie 1995 University Hospital Nurse Mary Jenkins Main cast 2000 Great Performances - Episode: "Play On!" 2002 Melinda Tralins Episode: "In Loco Parentis" 2004–09 All My Children Livia Frye Regular cast 2005 Sleeper Cell Anita Al-Sayeed Episode: "Family" 2006 Criminal Minds Det. Nora Bennett Episode: "A Real Rain" Cold Case Dina Miller Episode: "The River" Law & Order Angela Young Episode: "Hindsight" 2007 Unfabulous Ms. Best Episode: "The Toot" 2008 Donna Taft Episode: "Split Ends" 2009 24 Alama Matobo Recurring cast: season 7 Army Wives Viola Crawford Recurring cast: season 3 2013 Hostages Beth Nix Episode: "2:45 PM" 2015 Nurse Jackie Charlane Episode: "Deal" & "Nice Ladies" For Justice Marian Horn TV movie 2015–16 Gotham Ethel Peabody Recurring cast: season 2, guest: season 3 2016 11.22.63 Mia Mimi Corcoran Recurring cast 2016–19 Madam Secretary Susan Thompson Recurring cast: season 3-6 2017 Scandal Sandra Episode: "Extinction" & "A Traitor Among Us" Francis Episode: "Belly of the Beast" 2018 Random Acts of Flyness Ripa The Reaper Recurring cast Elementary Judge Marilyn Whitfield Episode: "Fit to Be Tied" Fear the Walking Dead Martha Recurring cast: season 4 2019 NCIS: New Orleans Julie Episode: "Reckoning" Bull Judge Maynard Episode: "When the Rains Came" Wu-Tang: An American Saga Burgess Episode: "Impossible" 2020 Katy Keene Busker Episode: "Pilot" God Friended Me Marsha Recurring cast: season 2 Black Lady Goddess Professor Davis TV movie 2021 Better Than My Last Mrs. Carter TV movie 2021–23 Run the World Gwen Greene 2 episodes 2022 Women of the Movement Alma Carthan Main cast East New YorkShirley HaywoodEpisode: "Snapped" 2024–present Sistas Marie Willis Main cast 2025 GoosebumpsPattiEpisode: "Stay Out of the Basement, Part II"

Podcasts Year Title Role Notes 2018 Adventures in New America Sam Episode: "Love in the First Degree" 2019 The Two Princes Upendo Recurring cast

Stage Year Title Role(s) Venue(s) Notes Ref 1981 Merrily We Roll Along Gwen Wilson Alvin Theater, Broadway Broadway debut 1988 Just Say No Eustacia Vye WPA Theater, Off-Broadway 1991 Approximating Mother Ellie, Sylvia and Grace Judith Anderson Theater, Off-Broadway 1992 Jelly's Last Jam Anita Virginia Theater, Broadway Tony AwardDrama Desk Award 1994 The Merry Wives of Windsor Mistress Ford Delacorte Theater, Off-Broadway 1995 Chronicle of a Death Foretold Clotilde Plymouth Theater, Broadway 1997 Play On! Lady Liv Brooks Atkinson Theater, Broadway Tony Award nomination 1998 Goodman Theatre, ChicagoSeattle Repertory Theatre 2000 The Wild Party Kate Virginia Theater, Broadway The Vagina Monologues Performer Westside Theater, Off-Broadway Thoroughly Modern Millie Muzzy La Jolla Playhouse World premiere 2003 House of Flowers Madame Fleur New York City Center Caroline, or Change Caroline Thibodeaux The Public Theater, Off-Broadway 2004 Eugene O'Neill Theatre, Broadway Tony Award nominationDrama Desk Award nomination 2006 Royal National Theatre, London Olivier Award nomination 2007 Radio Golf Mame Wilkins McCarter Theatre Center, PrincetonCort Theater, Broadway 2008 And Her Hair Went With Her Jasmine The Fountain Theatre, Los Angeles 2009 Black Pearl Sings! Alberta 'Pearl' Johnson Ford's Theatre, Washington, D.C. 2011 All's Well That Ends Well Countess of Rousillon Delacorte Theater, Off-Broadway Measure for Measure Mistress Overdone Milk Like Sugar Myrna La Jolla PlayhousePlaywrights Horizons, Off-Broadway 2012 Hurt Village Big Mama Signature Theatre Company, Off-Broadway Storefront Church Jessie Cortez Atlantic Theater Company, Off-Broadway 2013 A Time to Kill Gwen Lee John Golden Theatre, Broadway 2014 Holler If Ya Hear Me Mrs. Weston Palace Theater, Broadway The Fabulous Miss Marie Miss Marie Castillo Theater, Off-Broadway War Roberta Yale Repertory Theatre, New Haven 2015 Rasheeda Speaking Jaclyn Signature Theatre Company, Off-Broadway Drama Desk Award nomination Mother Courage and Her Children Mother Courage Classic Stage Company, Off-Broadway 2017 Time Alone Anna Jackson Los Angeles Theatre Center 2022 A Raisin in the Sun Lena The Public Theater, Off-Broadway 2026 The Wild Party Dolores Montoya New York City Center Encores, Off-Broadway 2026 La Cage Aux Folles Jacqueline New York City Center Encores, Off-Broadway