Lynne Thigpen, a Tony Award-winning actress for “An American Daughter” and co-star of the CBS drama “The District,” has died, the network said Thursday. She was 54. Thigpen died suddenly Wednesday night in her Los Angeles home. She had been in good health and the cause of death was not immediately known, network spokeswoman Beth Haiken said. Production was shut down Thursday on “The District,” which stars Craig T. Nelson as Washington D.C. police chief Jack Mannion. Thigpen played Mannion’s secretary, Ella Farmer.
“I’m in shock. She was a wonderful actress and a friend,” Nelson said in a statement. “We are all in shock and in mourning,” said John Wirth, the drama’s executive producer. “The beauty, compassion and talent that you saw on the screen was not just superb acting, it was the very essence of this wonderful woman. We will miss her terribly.” The 20th episode was in production this week, Haiken said. A total of 22 was planned for the season.
“Producers, cast and crew are in mourning and no decision has been made yet about how this will affect the show, because our first concern is Lynne’s family,” she said.
Thigpen, who was born and raised in Joliet, Ill., and later made her home in New York, had a distinguished stage career and also worked steadily in films and television. In 1997, she received the Tony Award for best supporting actress for her role as a black Jewish feminist in Wendy Wasserstein’s play “An American Daughter.” Thigpen re-created the role in the 2000 TV movie version of the play. She was nominated for a Tony for her role in “Tintypes,” and won Obie Awards for “Jar the Floor” and “Boesman and Lena” and an L.A. Drama Critics Award for her work in a Los Angeles production of August Wilson’s “Fences.” On TV, she portrayed the chief in the PBS series “Where in the World Is Carmen Sandiego?” and “Where in Time Is Carmen Sandiego?” She appeared in the series “thirtysomething” and “L.A. Law” and the Hallmark Hall of Fame presentations of “Night Ride Home” and “The Boys Next Door.” Her film credits included “The Insider,” “Shaft,” “Random Hearts,” “Lean on Me,” “Bob Roberts” and “Tootsie” and the current “Anger Management.”
Details on survivors and funeral services were not immediately available.
I’m sorry to hear this. I enjoyed seeing that she was in a film or on TV; she always did a great job. I well remember seeing her in the movie version of Godspell, and I think she was also in Bicentennial Man too.
And a friend of mine, whose name is “Lynne” always used to correct people who misspelled her name by saying “It’s Lynne-with-an-E, just like Lynne Thigpen.”
Not to be glib, but I went Googling for her, and found a German site, which translated thusly: “Also in off productions Lynne Thigpen could make several times on itself attentive and win prices . . . In the radio Lynne Thigpen is a firm size . . . In addition it contributed with its gentle voice considerably to the success of the hearing books by Dr. Maya Angelou and other authors.”
Dang, that sucks! She was a terrific actress. The obituary leaves out the two shows that I remember her from: the movie version of Godspell and the TV-movie Having Our Say, in which she played one of the Delany sisters.
She’ll be in the Nicholson-Sandler movie Anger Management later this spring. IIRC, she shows up in the trailer. Not overly familiar with her work, but very sad all the same.
Just watched Godspell (for the first time on video – saw it 9 times in theaters when it first came out).
Was telling my daughter and her friends* that other than Victor Garber and Lynn Thigpen, none of the actors did much after that movie.
They, of course, knew her as “The Chief” on carman sandiego. But she’ll always be “Lynn” from Godspell with the incredible voice.
Hearing her sing “His loving kindness crowns thy da-a-a-ays” is poignant now.
digs
*The middle-schoolers had a hard time believing that “Sydney’s dad” (Victor Garber is Jennifer Garner’s ‘SpyDad’ on Alias) was a Hippie Jesus in the 70’s.
Loved her since Godspell. I wrote her a fan letter when she was in Tintypes, and I still have the autographed photo she sent me. What a great gospel voice!
Come on, admit it–you watched Carmen Sandiego. And now you’re all going to have that theme song stuck in your head!
“Well she sneaks around the world…”
When I first started watching Law and Order, I thought she was the Lt that S. Epatha Merkerson (I probably butchered the spelling) played. Imagine my surprise when in that very same episode she guest starred as a judge.