LisaGay Hamilton facts for kids

Quick facts for kids LisaGay Hamilton
Hamilton with her Peabody Award, 2005
Born	1964 (age 60–61) Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Education	Carnegie Mellon University New York University (BFA) Juilliard School (GrDip)
Occupation	Actress
Years active	1985–present
Spouse(s)	Robin D. G. Kelley ​ (m. 2009)​

LisaGay Hamilton (born in 1964) is an American actress who has appeared in movies, on television, and in stage plays. She is famous for playing the smart and determined lawyer Rebecca Washington in the TV show The Practice from 1997 to 2003.

You might also know her from other popular shows. She played Melissa Thoreau in the comedy-drama Men of a Certain Age and Celia Jones in the Netflix series House of Cards. She has also had roles in many movies, including 12 Monkeys, Jackie Brown, Beautiful Boy, and Vice.

Beyond acting, Hamilton is also a talented director. In 2005, she won a special honor called a Peabody Award for a documentary film she created called Beah: A Black Woman Speaks.

Early Life and Education

LisaGay Hamilton was born in Los Angeles, California, but she grew up in Stony Brook, New York. Her father, Ira, was an engineer and later a general contractor. Her mother, Tina, worked for the Girl Scouts for many years. Both of her parents went to historically black colleges and were successful in their careers.

From a young age, Hamilton loved the theater. As a teenager, she saw many plays that inspired her to become an actress. She decided to study acting in college. First, she went to Carnegie Mellon University. Then, she was accepted into the famous Tisch Drama School at New York University, where she earned her degree in 1985. She continued her studies at the prestigious The Juilliard School, graduating in 1989.

Career on Stage and Screen

Theater Beginnings

Hamilton started her career in classical theater. One of her first big roles was in a Shakespeare play, Measure for Measure, at the New York Shakespeare Festival. She quickly became known as a talented and serious actress.

For her role in the play Valley Song, she won an Obie Award, which is a special award for plays performed in smaller New York theaters. She later won a second Obie Award for her role in a play called The Ohio State Murders. She has also performed on Broadway in plays by the famous playwright August Wilson.

Movie and Television Roles

Hamilton has acted in dozens of movies and TV shows. She worked with director Jonathan Demme on the films The Truth About Charlie and Beloved. She also appeared in True Crime, directed by Clint Eastwood.

Some of her other well-known films include The Sum of All Fears, The Soloist, and Beastly. She has also appeared in many popular TV shows, such as Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, Grey's Anatomy, and The Lincoln Lawyer.

Directing and Teaching

In 2003, Hamilton directed a documentary called Beah: A Black Woman Speaks. The film tells the story of Beah Richards, an important Black actress who was a role model for many. Hamilton met Richards on the set of the movie Beloved and recorded over 70 hours of their conversations. The film won a top prize at the AFI Film Festival and earned Hamilton a Peabody Award.

Hamilton also turned one of Beah Richards' poems into a children's book called Keep Climbing Girls, which was published in 2006.

In 2010, Hamilton became a professor at the California Institute of the Arts. She now teaches acting to the next generation of performers.

Selected Roles

Hamilton has had a long and successful career. Here are some of her most notable roles in movies and on TV.

Notable Films

• 12 Monkeys (1995) as Teddy
• Jackie Brown (1997) as Sheronda
• Beloved (1998) as Younger Sethe
• True Crime (1999) as Bonnie Beechum
• The Sum of All Fears (2002) as Capt. Lorna Shiro
• Nine Lives (2005) as Holly
• The Soloist (2009) as Jennifer Ayers
• Take Shelter (2011) as Kendra
• Beastly (2011) as Zola Davies
• Life of a King (2013) as Sheila King
• Beautiful Boy (2018) as Rose
• Vice (2018) as Condoleezza Rice
• Ad Astra (2019) as Adjutant General Amelia Vogel
• The Boogeyman (2023) as Dr. Weller

Notable Television Shows

• The Practice (1997–2003) as Rebecca Washington
• ... and the City (2002) as Kendall
• ER (2005) as Nadine Hopkins
• Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (2006–2013) as Teresa Randall
• Men of a Certain Age (2009–2011) as Melissa Thoreau
• Grey's Anatomy (2013) as Dr. Connie Ryan
• House of Cards (2016) as Celia Jones
• The First (2018) as Kayla Price
• The Dropout (2022) as Judith Baker
• The Lincoln Lawyer (2022) as Judge Mary Holder
• Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty (2022–2023) as Christine Johnson
• Will Trent (2023–2025) as Evelyn Mitchell
• Genius (2024) as Alberta Williams King

See also

In Spanish: Lisa Gay Hamilton para niños