Lynne Thigpen

Lynne Thigpen, born Cherlynne Theresa Thigpen on December 22, 1948, in Joliet, Illinois, was an American actress whose career spanned stage, film, and television over more than three decades. The daughter of George and Celia (Martin) Thigpen, she earned a degree in teaching and briefly taught high school English before pursuing an acting fellowship at the University of Illinois. She relocated to New York City in 1971 to begin her professional stage career.

Thigpen first drew attention through the off-Broadway musical Godspell, in which she played a character named Lynne and performed the number "O Bless the Lord, My Soul." She reprised that role in the 1973 film adaptation, appearing alongside Victor Garber and David Haskell. Her Broadway career extended from 1972 to 1997 and encompassed a wide range of productions, including But Never Jam Today, Working, the revue Tintypes, A Month of Sundays, and An American Daughter. Her performance as Dr. Judith Kaufman in An American Daughter earned her the 1997 Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Play. Tintypes had previously brought her a Tony nomination for Best Featured Actress in a Musical in 1981. Beyond Broadway, Thigpen served as associate artistic director of Circle Repertory Company in 1995 while Austin Pendleton held the position of artistic director, and in 1994 she originated a role in Adrienne Kennedy's short play Motherhood 2000.

Her film work included a supporting role as a radio DJ, seen only from the nose down, in Walter Hill's The Warriors (1979), and the role of Leonna Barrett, the mother of an expelled student, in Lean on Me (1989). She appeared in Bicentennial Man (1999) as the Second President of the World Congress, and in the 2000 remake of Shaft as the mother of a murder victim. Her final film, Anger Management (2003), starring Adam Sandler and Jack Nicholson, was released one month after her death and included a tribute to her in the end credits.

Television audiences recognized Thigpen most readily for her role as the Chief of ACME Crimenet on the PBS children's geography game show Where in the World Is Carmen Sandiego?, a role she carried into the successor series Where in Time Is Carmen Sandiego? and into three related computer games released in 1996 and 1997. She also voiced Luna, the moon, in the Playhouse Disney series Bear in the Big Blue House. Her television work earned her six Daytime Emmy Award nominations across both series, including a posthumous nomination for Bear in the Big Blue House. She held a recurring role as Grace Keefer on the ABC daytime drama All My Children and a supporting role as crime analyst Ella Mae Farmer on the CBS drama The District from 2000 until her death in 2003. Guest appearances throughout her career included episodes of The Cosby Show, Law & Order, Roseanne, Homicide: Life on the Street, L.A. Law, and Sesame Street, among others. She was also a regular cast member on the short-lived NBC sketch comedy series The News Is the News. In addition to her on-screen work, Thigpen appeared in radio sketches for Garrison Keillor's The American Radio Company of the Air and lent her voice to more than twenty audiobooks.

Her stage honors included two Obie Awards, one in 1992 for Boesman and Lena and one in 2000 for Jar the Floor. She also received a 1987 Los Angeles Drama Critics Award nomination for Fences and multiple NAACP Image Award nominations.

Thigpen died on March 12, 2003, at her home in Marina del Rey, California, following several days of headaches. She was 54 years old. The coroner's autopsy identified acute cardiac dysfunction and hemorrhage in the brain as contributing causes. She was entombed at Elmhurst Cemetery in Joliet, Illinois. Following her death, her family and friends established the Lynne Thigpen–Bobo Lewis Foundation to support and mentor young actors pursuing careers in New York theater. An elementary school in Joliet was subsequently named in her honor.