Born August 16, 1958 in New York, New York to a social worker and her husband, Angela Bassett was raised primarily by her mother in Florida after her divorce from her father when she was four.
Having graduated from Yale with a B.A. in African-American Studies in 1980, Bassett studied acting at the Yale School of Drama, obtaining a Master of Fine Arts in 1983. After graduation, she worked as a receptionist for a beauty salon and as a photo researcher. She found work in New York theatre in the mid-1980s, making her TV debut as a prostitute in 1985’s Doubletake. She made her film debut in 1986’s F/X.
Bassett attained industry attention and public recognition for her performances in John Singleton’s Boyz n the Hood in 1991 and Spike Lee’s Malcolm X in 1992, winning an Image Award for the latter.
Bassett’s portrayal of Tina Turner in 1993’s What’s Love Got to Do with It earned her a Golden Globe and an Oscar nomination for Best Actress. She followed that with acclaimed performances in 1995’s Strange Days and Waiting to Exhale and 1996’s Contact in support of Jodie Foster.
Married to fellow actor Courtney B. Vance in 1997, she stood out again in 1999’s Music of the Heart in support of Meryl Streep and 2001’s The Score in support of Robert De Niro, Edward Norton, and Marlon Brando. In 2002, she received an Emmy nomination for The Rosa Parks Story in which she played the legendary civil rights protester.
In 2006, Bassett and Vance became the parents of twins by surrogate as both continued their busy careers.
With much of her work on TV in the early part of the 21st Century, the actress joined the cast of ER, appearing in 21 episodes of the series in its fifteenth and final season from 2008-2009. She later won acclaim for appearing in 48 episodes of Ryan Murphy’s anthology series, American Horror Story from 2013-2018, earning Emmy nominations for Best Supporting Actress in a Miniseries or Movie in 2014 and 2015. In 2017 she received her fourth Emmy nomination for her guest role in the comedy series, Master of None.
Bassett had her most popular role on the big screen in some time in 2018’s Black Panther and on TV in the series, 9-1-1 in which she was its top-billed performer. In 2019 and 2020 she received her fifth and sixth Emmy nominations for Best Narrator of The Flood and The Happiest Place on Earth, respectively. Also, in 2020 she received an Emmy nomination for her guest appearance in the comedy series, A Black Lady Sketch Show.
Reprising her Black Panther role in 2022’s Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, Bassett received her second Oscar nomination, this time in the Best Supporting Actress category.
Nominated for her ninth Emmy for her narration of Good Night Opry in 2023, Bassett was also announced to receive an honorary Oscar later this year. Due to the ongoing actors’ strike, that award is now expected to be given in January 2024.
Angela Bassett continues to head the cast of TV’s 9-1-1, which she produces along with its spinoff, 9-1-1: Lone Star. Her character in the series is exactly ten years younger than the actress herself who continues to look amazing at 65.
ESSENTIAL FILMS
MALCOLM X (1992), directed by Spike Lee
Bassett’s career took off with her back-to-back performances as the concerned mother in John Singleton’s Boyz n the Hood in 1991 and Betty Shabazz, Malcolm X’s wife in Lee’s biographical film of the controversial and influential Black Nationalist leader. Singleton would become the first African-American nominated for a Best Director Oscar for the former, while Denzel Washington would be Oscar nominated for one of his most acclaimed performances in the latter. Washington, Al Freeman, Jr. as his equally controversial mentor, Elijah Muhammed, and Bassett would all win Image Awards for their performances in Malcolm X.
WHAT’S LOVE GOT TO DO WITH IT (1993), directed by Brian Gibson
Bassett would win her second Image Award and receive her first Oscar nomination for her iconic portrayal of Tina Turner in this biography of the singer’s rise to fame and her breakaway from her controlling and abusive husband, stage partner, and manager, Ike Turner. Ike was played by Laurence Fishburne, who was also an Image Award winner and Oscar nominee two years after playing Bassett’s ex-husband in Boyz n the Hood. Bassett’s sensational portrayal of Tina both on stage and in her personal life was the fifth Best Actress nomination for a Black woman following Dorothy Dandridge in Carmen Jones, Diana Ross in Lady Sings the Blues, Cicely Tyson in Sounder, and Whoopi Goldberg in The Color Purple.
MUSIC OF THE HEART (1999), directed by Wes Craven
It took 18 months after the success of What’s Love Got to Do with It for Bassett to receive another film offer but in 1995, she was briefly back on top in four major films including Strange Days and Waiting to Exhale. Soon, however, it was back to supporting roles for her. One of her best was in support of Meryl Streep in an Oscar nominated performance as Roberta Guaspari in Craven’s biographical film of the schoolteacher’s struggle to teach violin to inner-city kids in Harlem. Bassett played the school’s principal who first hires her as a substitute teacher at the urging of mutual friend Aidan Quinn for which she received another Image Award.
BLACK PANTHER/BLACK PANTHER: WAKANDA FOREVER (2018/2022), directed by Ryan Coogler
Bassett re-emerged as an acting force in an impressive 48 episodes of the TV anthology series, American Horror Story from 2013-2018. That led to her being cast as Chadwick Boseman’s mother in the 2018 smash hit, Black Panther based on the Marvel comic. Nominated for seven Oscars and winner of three, the sequel was basically a tribute to the late actor with Bassett the film’s standout as the character’s grieving mother who becomes the ruler of the fictional kingdom after the death of her son. For her performance, Bassett received her second Oscar nomination becoming the first performer nominated for playing a Marvel comic character.
9-1-1 (2018-PRESENT), created by Brad Falchuk, Tim Menear, Ryan Murphy
Bassett’s TV career continued to shine with her portrayal of a Los Angeles police sergeant in this popular series in which she continues to lead a cast that includes Peter Krause as a fire chief, and Oliver Stark, Aisha Hinds, and Kenneth Choi as firemen in Krause’s company. Connie Britton co-starred as a 9-1-1 dispatcher in the first season. Britton was replaced as a dispatcher by Jennifer Love Hewitt as Stark’s sister from the second season on. Also joining the cast in the second season are Ryan Guzman as a single father with a young son with Cerebral Palsy played by real-life Cerebral Palsy sufferer Gavin McHugh who became an overnight sensation.
ANGELA BASSETT AND OSCAR
What’s Love Got to Do with It? (1993) –nominated Best Actress
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (2022) – nominated Best Supporting Actress
Honorary Award (2023) – Oscar – Career Achievement
