Lynda Gravátt

Lynda Gravátt (May 24, 1947 – February 23, 2024) was an American actress whose career spanned theatre, film, and television across more than five decades. Born in Harlem and raised by adoptive parents, Gravátt made her Broadway debut at the age of four in The King and I and performed in recitals at Carnegie Hall at age nine. She attended Fairmont Heights High School before enrolling at Howard University, where she appeared in numerous productions and graduated in 1971. During her college years she also acted at the Living Stage, of which she was a founding member, and performed with the DC Black Repertory, a company founded by Robert Hooks and Vantile Whitfield.

Gravátt's Broadway career extended from 2001 to 2016. She made her return to Broadway in 2001 portraying Ruby in King Hedley II, followed that same year by the role of Bessie James in 45 Seconds from Broadway. In 2008 she played Big Mama in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, and in 2016 she appeared as Mrs. Muller in Doubt. Beyond Broadway, Gravátt performed at a wide range of regional and institutional venues, including the Kennedy Center, Hartford Stage, Ford's Theatre, McCarter Theatre, Berkeley Repertory Theatre, the Mark Taper Forum, the Alabama Shakespeare Festival, and the Alley Theatre. Her stage résumé included productions such as A Raisin in the Sun, Crowns, Miss Witherspoon, The Little Foxes, Skeleton Crew, The House That Will Not Stand, and Dividing the Estate. Her final theatre appearance came in 2018 with The Revolving Cycles Truly and Steadily Roll'd.

Gravátt received a Theatre World Award in 1999 for her portrayal of Quilly McGrath in The Old Settler. She earned an AUDELCO Award in 2004 for her performance as Mrs. Dickson in Intimate Apparel and was also the recipient of a Helen Hayes Award in 2004. Over the course of her career she received four AUDELCO nominations and two Drama League Award nominations.

Her screen career began with a role in Good to Go. Television credits included a recurring role on One Life to Live, as well as appearances on The Hoop Life, three Law & Order series, Sex and the City, The Good Wife, 30 Rock, Person of Interest, Elementary, Madam Secretary, Ramy, East New York, and Dear Edward. Her film work included The Bounty Hunter (2010), Delivery Man (2013), Roman J. Israel, Esq. (2017), and The Outside Story (2020).

In addition to performing, Gravátt was a founding faculty member at the Duke Ellington School of the Arts and taught at both Howard University and Rutgers University. She was the half-sister of June Cross and is survived by two children and five grandchildren. Gravátt died on February 23, 2024, at a hospital in New Brunswick, New Jersey, at the age of 76.