Suzzanne Douglas

Suzzanne Douglas (April 12, 1957 – July 6, 2021) was an American actress born in Chicago, Illinois, to Lois Mae Thompson and Donald Douglas, Sr. One of four children, she was raised by a single mother in the Altgeld Gardens Homes public housing complex on Chicago's far south side. Douglas attended Thornton Township High School, graduating in 1974, and subsequently earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from Illinois State University. She later completed a Master's degree in music with a specialization in Jazz Vocals at the Manhattan School of Music. Her interest in the arts began in childhood, with the 1965 film The Sound of Music cited as her inspiration for acting.

Douglas built her stage career on Broadway between 1983 and 1989, appearing in productions including The Threepenny Opera, The Tap Dance Kid, Into the Woods, and Little Shop of Horrors. In The Threepenny Opera, she performed the role of Jenny Diver in the production starring Sting. She also performed the role of Dr. Bearing in Wit, becoming the first African American actress to take on that part.

Her film career gained significant attention with the 1989 dance-drama Tap, in which she portrayed Amy Simms alongside Gregory Hines and Sammy Davis Jr. The performance earned her an NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture. Additional film credits include Jason's Lyric (1994), The Inkwell (1994), How Stella Got Her Groove Back (1998), the 2003 Disney/ABC production of Sounder with Carl Lumbly, and the Rel Dowdell film Changing the Game (2011).

On television, Douglas was widely recognized for playing matriarch Geraldine "Jerri" Peterson on The WB sitcom The Parent 'Hood, starring Robert Townsend, which ran from 1995 to 1999. She portrayed Cissy Houston in the 2015 Lifetime television film Whitney, and in May 2019 appeared in the Netflix miniseries When They See Us, directed by Ava DuVernay and produced by Oprah Winfrey's Harpo Films. Her television guest appearances included roles on The Cosby Show, NYPD Blue, Law & Order: Criminal Intent, Touched by an Angel, The Parkers, Bones, The Good Wife, and Bull.

Douglas was a two-time NAACP Image Award winner and also received a Reel Award and the Mary Martin Award. Beyond her performance career, she served as an honorary member of Delta Sigma Theta sorority and held a position on its national executive board as Honorary Co-chair of the Arts and Letters Commission for thirteen years. She was also a lifetime member of the Girl Scouts of the USA, the National Council of Negro Women, Sigma Alpha Lambda, and Jack and Jill of America.

In February 1989, Douglas married neuro-radiologist Roy Jonathan Cobb; the couple had one daughter together and remained married until her death. Douglas died on July 6, 2021, at her home in Martha's Vineyard at the age of 64, following a two-year battle with pancreatic cancer.