Carol Lynn Maillard

Carol Lynn Maillard, born March 4, 1951, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, is an American actress, singer, and composer whose work spans Broadway, Off-Broadway, television, film, and recording. She is one of the four original founding members of the Grammy Award-winning a cappella ensemble Sweet Honey in the Rock.

Maillard's Broadway career ran from 1978 to 1980 and included four productions: for colored girls who have considered suicide / when the rainbow is enuf, Eubie!, Comin' Uptown, and It's So Nice to Be Civilized. Beyond Broadway, her stage work encompassed several productions with the Negro Ensemble Company, among them Zooman and the Sign, as well as productions mounted by the New York Shakespeare Festival. Her screen credits include the television adaptation of For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide When the Rainbow Is Enuf and Hallelujah!, and the films Beloved and Thirty to Life. She has also served as a guest vocalist for artists including Horace Silver and Betty Buckley.

Maillard first joined Sweet Honey in the Rock in 1973 and remained with the group until 1977. She rejoined in 1989, initially as a part-time substitute for member Evelyn Maria Harris, then transitioned to a full-time substitute role in 1990. When Harris departed the group in 1992, Maillard resumed her standing as a full-time member and has continued with the ensemble since. In addition to performing with the group, she has composed and arranged many of its songs, with the majority of her solo compositions published through 4 Jagelish Music. Sweet Honey in the Rock received multiple Grammy nominations and won a Grammy Award for their contribution to the Smithsonian Folkways album A Vision Shared. The group has also received multiple Washington Area Music Awards, known as Wammies.

Maillard has a son, Jordan Maillard Ware, a Los Angeles-based musician who appears alongside her in the documentary Sweet Honey in the Rock: Raise Your Voice.