Biography for
Jackée Harry More at IMDbPro »

Date of Birth

Height

Mini Biography

Jackée Harry started acting after she was bored as a high school history teacher. Eventually, she appeared on Broadway in "Eubie!" and "The Wiz". Her tv roles are usually brash, wisecracking, man-hungry women.

Spouse

Trivia

National spokesperson for the Thurgood Marshall Scholarship Fund and supports the United Negro College Fund

Studied acting at the Henry Street Settlement on the Lower East Side, NYC

Grew up in New York City

In 1987 she became the very first and as of 2004 the only African American Actress to win an Emmy award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series for her role as Sandra Clark in "227".

Was second choice to play Oda Mae Brown in Ghost. The first choice, Whoopi Goldberg, was unsure if she could fit the movie into her schedule and Jackee was verbally offered the part. Goldberg, of course, was able to fit it into her work schedule and eventually won the Oscar for her role.

Around the time of 227's end, Harry briefly dropped her surname (for professional purposes) and went by her first name, Jackée.

Joined the cast of the TV series "The Royal Family" (1991) after the sudden death of its star Redd Foxx.

Graduated from the Long Island University.

On the musical stage she earned much attention for her Billie Holiday interpretation in "Lady Day At Emerson's Bar And Grill" in 1994.

She tried to segue into her own series after her Emmy-winning success on "227". The first was a spin-off of 227 titled "Jackée" but the pilot episode failed with audiences and now it is shown as an episode of "227".

She was orginally going to join the cast of Designing Women in the last season.

Personal Quotes

(on her departure from 227) When Sandra took off and I took off with her, the truth is it did indeed create a lot of tension. There were problems on Marla's part, which was truly ridiculous because she had all the power. It was her show. Maybe the problem stemmed from the fact that from the beginning Marla wanted someone else for the part, but the network insisted on me. They were all pushing Sandra, and they were pushing me. That changed when I got big, maybe too big, in Marla's eyes. Not that Marla and I ever had any arguments. She was never rude to me, and we always remained cordial. But on the biggest night of my life, when I won my Emmy, not only wasn't there a party given for me, but there was also not a flower or a word of congratulations. Ever. There was nothing, and that hurt. Afterward, my part got less and less each week, and it became clear to me that it was time to leave and I did.

	You may report errors and omissions on this page to the IMDb database managers. They will be examined and if approved will be included in a future update. Clicking the 'Update' button will take you through a step-by-step process.
	With our Resume service you can add photos and build a complete resume to help you achieve the best possible presentation on the IMDb. Click here to add your resume and/or your photos to IMDb.

Browse biographies section by name

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z