Hattie Winston facts for kids

Hattie Winston, born on March 3, 1945, is a talented American actress. She has starred in many movies and TV shows, and also performed on Broadway. You might know her voice as Lucy Carmichael from the popular cartoon Rugrats and its spin-off All Grown Up!. She was also a cast member on the fun PBS children's show The Electric Company.

Early Life and Education

Hattie Winston was born in Lexington, Mississippi. She grew up in Greenville, Mississippi, where she went to local schools. When she was 14, she moved to Manhattan, New York, and finished high school there. After high school, she studied music at Howard University for two years.

Hattie Winston's Acting Journey

Starting on Stage: Broadway and Theater

Hattie Winston began her acting career in New York City in 1965. She was one of the first members of the Negro Ensemble Company, a group that helped Black actors and playwrights. By the late 1960s, she was acting on Broadway, which is the highest level of theater in the United States.

She played Nell in the musical The Me Nobody Knows from 1970 to 1971. Then, she took over the role of Sylvia in Shakespeare's comedy The Two Gentlemen of Verona from 1972 to 1973. She also appeared as Cleo in the musical I Love My Wife in 1979.

In 1981, Hattie Winston played the famous singer Billie Holiday in a play called Lady Day. Her most recent Broadway show was The Tap Dance Kid from 1983 to 1984, where she played Ginnie. She has won two Obie Awards for her amazing work in plays like Mother Courage and Her Children. Hattie also helped write a musical called Nativity: A Life Story, which has been performed many times.

The Electric Company: A Fun Learning Show

In 1973, Hattie Winston joined the cast of The Electric Company, a children's TV series on PBS. This show was made by the same people who created Sesame Street. Hattie took over from another actress and quickly became a favorite.

One of her most famous characters was Valerie the Librarian, who was the girlfriend of Easy Reader, played by Morgan Freeman. She also played many different villains in the Spidey Super Stories sketches, where she faced off against Spider-Man. Some of her villain roles included the Fox and the Queen Bee. Hattie stayed with The Electric Company until it finished in 1977.

On the Big and Small Screens: Film and Television

While she was on The Electric Company, Hattie Winston also appeared in other shows. She played Veronique on the soap opera The Edge of Night in 1976. From 1981 to 1982, she was a regular as Nurse Toni Gillette in the show Nurse. She also acted in the TV movie The Hope Division in 1987.

In 1991, Hattie got the role of Gloria Davis, a housekeeper, in the TV series Homefront. She played this character until 1993. For her work on Homefront, she was nominated for an NAACP Image Award in 1994. She also appeared in the soap opera Port Charles and the Western movie The Cherokee Kid in 1996.

One of her most well-known voice roles was Lucy Carmichael 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, she played Nurse Margaret Wybourn on the CBS sitcom Becker, which starred Ted Danson. Many people thought Hattie was a very important part of the show. In 2001, she received another NAACP Image Award nomination for her role as Margaret.

After Becker, Hattie Winston made guest appearances on other popular TV shows like 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), Simone in Jackie Brown (1997), and Angela Russel in True Crime (1999), where she acted alongside Clint Eastwood. She also had a small role as a hospital nurse in Living Out Loud (1998).

Family Life

Hattie Winston is married to Harold Wheeler, who is a talented musician. He was the musical director for the TV show Dancing with the Stars. Hattie and Harold have one daughter named Samantha.

Film and Television Roles

Movies Hattie Winston Appeared In

Television Shows Hattie Winston Appeared In