Hattie Winston facts for kids

Hattie Winston is an American actress born on March 3, 1945. She is famous for her roles in movies, TV shows, and on Broadway. You might know her as Margaret Wyborn from the TV show Becker. She also voiced Lucy Carmichael in Rugrats and All Grown Up!. Many people remember her from the PBS children's show The Electric Company.

Early life and education

Hattie Winston was born in Lexington, Mississippi, on March 3, 1945. She grew up in Greenville, Mississippi. At that time, schools were separated by race. When she was 14, Hattie moved to Manhattan, New York, where she finished high school. She then studied music for two years at Howard University.

Acting career highlights

Starting on stage

Hattie Winston began her acting career in New York City in 1965. She was one of the first members of a group called the Negro Ensemble Company. By the late 1960s, she was acting on Broadway. She played Nell in the musical The Me Nobody Knows. Later, she took over the role of Sylvia in Shakespeare's play The Two Gentlemen of Verona. She also appeared in the musical I Love My Wife.

Hattie Winston played the famous singer Billie Holiday in a play called Lady Day in 1981. Her most recent Broadway show was The Tap Dance Kid, where she played Ginnie. She has won two Obie Awards for her stage work. These awards celebrate great off-Broadway performances. Hattie also helped write a musical called Nativity: A Life Story.

The Electric Company

In 1973, Hattie Winston joined the cast of The Electric Company. This was a popular children's TV show on PBS. It was made by the same people who created Sesame Street. Hattie played many characters on the show. Her most well-known role was Valerie the Librarian. Valerie was the girlfriend of Easy Reader, played by Morgan Freeman. Hattie also played several villains in the Spidey Super Stories sketches, where she faced off against Spider-Man. She stayed with the show until it ended in 1977.

Film and television roles

While on The Electric Company, Hattie also acted in the soap opera The Edge of Night. From 1981 to 1982, she was a regular on the show Nurse, playing nurse Toni Gillette. She appeared in the TV film The Hope Division in 1987. In 1990, she was Nurse Flowers in Sesame Street Home Video Visits the Hospital.

From 1991 to 1993, Hattie played Gloria Davis, a housekeeper, in the TV series Homefront. Her work on this show earned her a nomination for an NAACP Image Award in 1994. She also had a recurring role as Alice Morgan in the soap opera Port Charles. She appeared in the Western film The Cherokee Kid in 1996.

Many kids know Hattie Winston's voice as Lucy Carmichael. She voiced this character in the popular Nickelodeon cartoon Rugrats. She also voiced Lucy in The Rugrats Movie in 1998. Hattie continued to voice Lucy in the spin-off series All Grown Up!, which ran from 2003 to 2008. In the 2000s, she played Margaret Turk, the mother of Dr. Christopher Turk, on the sitcom Scrubs.

From 1998 to 2004, Hattie starred as nurse Margaret Wybourn on the CBS sitcom Becker. She acted alongside Ted Danson in this show. In 2001, she received another NAACP Image Award nomination for her role as Margaret.

After Becker, Hattie made guest appearances on several TV shows. These included ER, Cold Case, Castle, and Mike & Molly. She also had a recurring role as Sister Coriann Pearly in the sitcom The Soul Man.

In movies, Hattie Winston played Mrs. Todd in Beverly Hills Cop III (1994). She was Simone in Jackie Brown (1997) and Angela Russel in True Crime (1999). In True Crime, she acted with Clint Eastwood. She also had a small role as a hospital nurse in Living Out Loud (1998).

Personal life

Hattie Winston is married to Harold Wheeler. Harold is a musician who was the musical director for Dancing with the Stars. They have one daughter named Samantha.

Filmography