Odessa Cleveland
- Actress
Actress, writer and educator, a graduate of Louisiana's Grambling State University with an M.A. in business management and education. A life member of the Actor's Studio, Odessa Cleveland became best known to television audiences as Nurse Ginger Bayliss, a recurring character in 26 episodes of M*A*S*H (1972). She also played nurses in the spin-off series Trapper John, M.D. (1979), as well as in Rich Man, Poor Man - Book II (1976) and The Greatest American Hero (1981). Cleveland began her career as a receptionist and writer for the Watts Writer's Workshop in South Los Angeles and subsequently spent three decades as a Teacher for the Los Angeles Unified School District. Now retired from both acting and teaching, she has remained active as a writer. Her first book, 'Thank You', was published in 2008. A volume of poetry entitled 'Of Age and Edges' was released in 2017.
