Ernestine Jackson

Ernestine Jackson is an American actress and singer born on September 18, 1942, in Corpus Christi, Texas. Her Broadway career spanned from 1964 to 1980 and encompassed a range of significant productions and roles.

Jackson made her Broadway debut in 1967, playing Irene Molloy in the all-black cast of Hello, Dolly!, which starred Pearl Bailey. That same year she appeared in a revival of Finian's Rainbow at New York City Center, and she had previously been seen in the 1966 revival of Show Boat at the New York State Theater. Her Broadway work during this period also included Applause and The Bacchae.

In 1973, Jackson originated the role of Ruth Younger in Raisin. The performance earned her the Theatre World Award and a nomination for the Tony Award for Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Musical. She returned to Broadway in the 1976 all-black revival of Guys and Dolls, a production that brought her a Tony Award nomination for Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Musical as well as a Drama Desk Award nomination for Outstanding Featured Actress in a Musical. Her Broadway credits also include Tricks.

Beyond Broadway, Jackson portrayed Alberta Hunter in Cookin' at the Cookery: The Music and Times of Alberta Hunter, a revue that originated at the Hippodrome State Theatre in Gainesville, Florida in 1997 and subsequently played at venues including the Lyceum Stage in San Diego, California in 2003 and the Boston University Theatre, presented by the Huntington Theatre Company, in June 2003. In 2005, she played Billie Holiday in the Long Wharf Theatre production of Lady Day at Emerson's Bar and Grill in Connecticut. Two years later, in 2007, she portrayed Ethel Waters in Ethel Waters: His Eye is On the Sparrow at the Bristol Riverside Theatre in Bristol, Pennsylvania.

Jackson's film credits include The Bonfire of the Vanities, Freedomland, Steam, and Forged. On television, she has appeared in Roots: The Next Generations, A Man Called Hawk, Law & Order, The West Wing, and Law & Order: Criminal Intent.