Anna Deavere Smith - wikipedia Anna Deavere Smith Anna Deavere Smith Smith in 2009 ( 1950 - 09 - 18 ) September 18, 1950 ( age 67 ) Baltimore, Maryland, U.S. Occupation Actress, playwright, professor Website Official website Projects website Anna Deavere Smith ( born September 18, 1950 ) is an American actress, playwright, and professor. She is currently the artist - in - residence at the Center for American Progress. Smith is widely known for her roles as National Security Advisor Dr. Nancy McNally in The West Wing ( 2000 -- 06 ), and as hospital administrator Gloria Akalitus in the Showtime series Nurse Jackie ( 2009 -- 15 ). She is a recipient of The Dorothy and Lillian Gish Prize ( 2013 ), one of the richest prizes in the American arts, with a remuneration of $300,000, and was named the Jefferson Lecturer for 2015. Contents 1 Early life 2 Career 2.1 Theater 2.2 Film and television 2.3 Teacher 2.4 Author 3 Honors 4 Works 4.1 Film 4.2 Television 4.3 Stage 4.4 Bibliography 5 References 6 External links Early Life Smith was born in Baltimore, Maryland, the daughter of Anna Rosalind ( née Young ), an elementary school principal, and Deaver Young Smith, Jr., a coffee merchant. She has four younger siblings. Smith is an alumna of the historic Western High School. She then studied acting at Beaver College ( now Arcadia University ), graduating in 1971. She received her M.F.A. in Acting from the American Conservatory Theater in San Francisco, California. Career Theater At the beginning of her career, Smith appeared in a wide range of stage productions, including the role of Mistress Quickly in an Off - Broadway production of Shakespeare 's The Merry Wives of Windsor with the Riverside Shakespeare Company, produced by Joseph Papp and the New York Shakespeare Festival, set in New Orleans in post-Civil War America. For the role, Smith transformed herself into a `` Cajun voodoo woman, '' an indication of the actress ' transformational power that would manifest itself in her future work. Smith is best known for her `` documentary theatre '' style in plays such as Fires in the Mirror and Twilight : Los Angeles, 1992, both of which featured Smith as the sole performer of multiple and diverse characters and won her the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding One - Person Show two years in a row. Fires in the Mirror dealt with the 1991 Crown Heights riot ; Twilight : Los Angeles, 1992 dealt with the 1992 Los Angeles riots. Both of these plays were constructed using material solely from interviews. House Arrest ( 2000 ) and Let Me Down Easy ( 2008 ) continued in this style. Let Me Down Easy, which explored the resiliency and vulnerability of the human body, debuted at the Long Wharf Theatre in January 2008. It was also performed at the American Repertory Theater in September and October 2008. A revised version of the show had its New York City premiere Off - Broadway at Second Stage Theatre in October 2009 and enjoyed favorable reviews and an extension into January 2010. It was also a featured program as part of PBS 's Great Performances series on January 13, 2012. She debuted her one - woman play, The Arizona Project in Phoenix, Arizona, in November 2008. The piece, which explored `` women 's relationships to justice and the law, '' was commissioned by Bruce Ferguson, director of Future Arts Research ( F.A.R. ), a new artist - driven research program at Arizona State University in Phoenix. As of July 2009, Smith is the artist - in - residence with the Center for American Progress and is developing a new show called The Americans, which documents change in Washington, D.C. In Spring 2012, Smith was the first artist - in - residence at Grace Cathedral, San Francisco, a program founded by the Very Rev Jane Shaw, Dean of Grace Cathedral, who shared Smith 's vision of `` bringing together art and religion ''. Commissioned by Grace Cathedral and the Cockayne Fund, Smith wrote and performed the play, On Grace, based on interviews relating to the meaning of God 's grace. The performances were accompanied by American cellist Joshua Roman. Film and television Stephen Gaghan and Smith at the 2012 Sundance Film Festival Smith has appeared in several films, including Philadelphia ( 1993 ), Dave ( 1993 ), The American President ( 1995 ), Rent ( 2005 ), and Rachel Getting Married ( 2008 ). She had recurring roles on The Practice ( 2000 ) and as Dr. Nancy McNally on The West Wing ( 2000 -- 06 ). Smith also appeared as hospital administrator Gloria Akalitus in the Showtime dark comedy series Nurse Jackie, which premiered in June 2009. Early in her television career, she appeared on the long running soap opera All My Children in the recurring role of `` Hazel the shampoo girl ''. In February 2014, Smith appeared as a mentor in Anna Deavere Smith : A YoungArts Masterclass, part of the HBO documentary series Masterclass. Teacher Smith teaches in the Department of Art & Public Policy at the Tisch School of the Arts at New York University. From 1990 to 2000, she was a professor in the drama department at Stanford University and prior to that taught at Carnegie Mellon University. She also teaches at NYU School of Law. Author In 2000, Smith published her first book, Talk to Me : Travels in Media and Politics. In 2006, she released another, Letters to a Young Artist : Straight - up Advice on Making a Life in the Arts -- For Actors, Performers, Writers, and Artists of Every Kind. Honors As a dramatist, Smith was nominated for the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1993 for Fires in the Mirror which won her a Drama Desk Award for Outstanding One - Person Show. She was nominated for two Tony Awards in 1994 for Twilight : one for Best Actress and another for Best Play. The play won her a Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Solo Performance and a Theatre World Award. Smith was one of the 1996 recipients of the MacArthur Fellowship, often referred to as the `` genius grant. '' She also won a 2006 Fletcher Foundation Fellowship for her contribution to civil rights issues, as well as a 2008 Matrix Award from the New York Women in Communications, Inc. In 2009, she won a Fellow Award in Theater Arts from United States Artists. She has received honorary degrees from Swarthmore College, University of Pennsylvania, Spelman College, Arcadia University, Bates College, Smith College, Skidmore College, Macalester College, Occidental College, Pratt Institute, Holy Cross College, Haverford College, Wesleyan University, School of Visual Arts, Northwestern University, Colgate University, California State University Sacramento, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Wheelock College, Williams College, Yale University, and the Cooper Union. The United Solo Theatre Festival board awarded her with the award for outstanding solo performer during the inaugural edition in November 2010. Smith won The Dorothy and Lillian Gish Prize ( 2013 ), one of the richest prizes in the American arts with a remuneration of $300,000. In 2013, she received the 2012 National Humanities Medal from President Barack Obama. In 2015 the National Endowment for the Humanities selected her for the Jefferson Lecture, the U.S. federal government 's highest honor for achievement in the humanities, delivering a lecture entitled `` On the Road : A Search for American Character ''. Works Film Year Title Role Notes 1982 Soup for One Deborah Unfinished Business Anna 1993 Philadelphia Anthea Burton 1993 Dave Mrs. Travis 1995 The American President Robin McCall 2000 Twilight : Los Angeles, 1992 Various Writer and producer ; adaptation of Smith 's 1994 play 2003 The Human Stain Mrs. Silk The Manchurian Candidate Political pundit 2005 Rent Mrs. Jefferson 2005 Cry_Wolf Headmaster Tinsley 2007 The Kingdom Maricella Canavesio 2007 Life Support Mrs. Wallace 2008 Rachel Getting Married Carol 2018 Can You Ever Forgive Me ? Filming Television Year Title Role Notes All My Children Hazel American Experience Narrator Episode : `` Hawaii 's Last Queen '' 2000 The Practice Kate Brunner 4 episodes 2000 -- 06 The West Wing Dr. Nancy McNally 20 episodes 2001 100 Centre Street Ms. Davis Episode : `` No Good Deed Goes Unpunished '' 2001 Life 360 Herself Episode : `` Six Degrees of Separation '' 2002 Presidio Med Dr. Letty Jordan 4 episodes 2009 -- 15 Nurse Jackie Gloria Akalitus 2013 The Surgeon General Vice President TV movie 2014 Anna Deavere Smith : A YoungArts Masterclass Herself / Mentor Documentary 2015 Black - ish Alicia 2015 Madam Secretary Attorney General Mary Campbell 2016 Law & Order : Special Victims Unit Warden Lucille Fenton Episode : `` Nationwide Manhunt '' 2016 Legends of Tomorrow Chay - Ara ( 19th Century incarnation ) Episode : `` The Magnificent Eight '' 2016 Berlin Station Polygraph Examiner Episode : `` False Negative '' Stage Year Title Role Location Notes Horatio The savage American Conservatory Theater 1976 Alma, the Ghost of Spring Street Marie Laveau La MaMa Experimental Theatre Club 1980 Mother Courage and Her Children Kiowa woman / Their children New York Shakespeare Festival 1982 -- 83 On the Road Clear Space Theatre Berkeley Repertory Theatre The Merry Wives of Windsor Mistress Quickly Off - Broadway A Birthday Party and Aunt Julia 's Shoes Ward - Nasse Gallery Original poems Tartuffe Doreen Geva Theatre Center 1984 Charlayne Hunter Gault Ward - Nasse Gallery 1984 Aye, Aye, Aye, I 'm Integrated The American Place Theatre 1985 Building Bridges, Not Walls National Conference of Women and the Law 1986 On the Road, ACT American Conservatory Theater 1988 Voices of Bay Area Women Phoenix Theatre, San Francisco American Conservatory Theater 1988 Chlorophyll Post-Moderism and the Mother Goddess : A Convers / Ation Hahn Cosmopolitan Theatre Fires in the Mirror Various The Public Theater Writer ; one - woman show Twilight : Los Angeles, 1992 Various Cort Theatre Writer ; one - woman show 1997, 1999 House Arrest Arena Stage Mark Taper Forum Writer 2008 The Arizona Project Various Herberger Theater Center Writer ; one - woman show 2008 -- 10 Let Me Down Easy Various Long Wharf Theatre American Repertory Theater Second Stage Theatre Writer ; one - woman show 2014 On Grace Various Harris Theater Writer ; collaboration with Joshua Roman 2015 Reclaiming Grace in the Face of Adversity Various One - woman show 2015 Never Givin ' Up The Broad Stage One - woman show 2015 Notes from the Field : Doing Time in Education -- The California Chapter Various Berkeley Repertory Theatre One - woman show 2016 Notes from the Field : Doing Time in Education Various American Repertory Theatre One - woman show 2016 Notes from the Field : Doing Time in Education Various Second Stage Theatre One - woman show Bibliography Talk to Me : Travels in Media and Politics. New York : Random House. 2000. ISBN 978 - 0 - 3755 - 0150 - 0. Letters to a Young Artist : Straight - up Advice on Making a Life in the Arts -- For Actors, Performers, Writers, and Artists of Every Kind. New York : Random House. 2006. ISBN 978 - 1 - 4000 - 3238 - 9. References Jump up ^ Wynn Rousuck, J. ( April 25, 1993 ). `` Anna Deavere Smith brings play to public TV ''. The Baltimore Sun. Retrieved January 3, 2014. Jump up ^ `` Smith, Anna Y ''. The Baltimore Sun. September 19, 2003. Retrieved January 3, 2014. Jump up ^ Henry Louis Gates, Jr., Finding Your Roots, Season 2 : The Official Companion to the PBS Series. ^ Jump up to : `` Asking Questions with Anna Deavere Smith ''. Arena Stage. Archived from the original on March 8, 2014. Retrieved March 8, 2014. Jump up ^ Wynn Rousuck, J. ( February 10, 1999 ). `` Making right from wrongs ''. The Baltimore Sun. Retrieved January 3, 2014. ^ Jump up to : Ferington, Esther. `` Anna Deavere Smith ''. National Endowment for the Humanities. Retrieved January 3, 2014. Jump up ^ Sterritt, David ( July 21, 1983 ). `` How many liberties can you take with the Bard ? ''. The Christian Science Monitor. Retrieved January 3, 2014. Jump up ^ O'Haire, Patricia ( July 26, 1983 ). `` '' Wives of Windsor '' make merry in city parks ``. Daily News. New York. ^ Jump up to : Johnson, Reed ( April 25, 2012 ). `` Anna Deavere Smith revisits ' Twilight : Los Angeles, 1992 ' ''. Los Angeles Times. Retrieved January 3, 2014. Jump up ^ Lipton, Brian Scott ( December 7, 2007 ). `` Anna Deavere Smith 's Let Me Down Easy to Premiere at Long Wharf ''. Theater Mania. Retrieved January 3, 2014. Jump up ^ `` American Repertory Theater presents Let Me Down Easy written and performed by Anna Deavere Smith ''. American Repertory Theater. August 4, 2008. Retrieved February 21, 2014. Jump up ^ Healy, Patrick ( April 7, 2009 ). `` Playwright Finds a New Stage Home in New York ''. The New York Times. Retrieved January 3, 2014. Jump up ^ `` ' Let Me Down Easy Reviews '' criticometer.blogspot.com, October 8, 2009. Jump up ^ Arboleda, Yazmany ( December 23, 2009 ). `` Let Me Down Easy ''. The Huffington Post. Retrieved January 8, 2009. Jump up ^ Jones, Kenneth ( November 5, 2008 ). `` Anna Deavere Smith 's Arizona Project, About Women in Justice System, Dawns in AZ Nov. 5 ''. Playbill. Archived from the original on January 3, 2014. Retrieved January 3, 2014. Jump up ^ `` Anna Deavere Smith Joins the Center for American Progress as Artist - In - Residence ''. Center for American Progress. April 27, 2009. Retrieved February 21, 2014. Jump up ^ Harmanci, Reyhan ( February 10, 2012 ). `` Mixing Art and Religion for a Loving Reunion ''. The New York Times. Retrieved January 3, 2014. Jump up ^ Dusenbery, Lisa ( December 16, 2011 ). `` Anna Deavere Smith at Grace Cathedral ''. The Rumpus. Retrieved January 3, 2014. Jump up ^ Krasny, Michael, `` Art and Spirituality at Grace Cathedral '', Forum with Michael Krasny, KQED, February 1, 2012 Jump up ^ `` Announcing Our First Artist in Residence : Anna Deavere Smith '' Archived January 3, 2014, at the Wayback Machine. gracecathedral.org, December 13, 2011. Jump up ^ Arobateau, Red Jordan, `` Red and Anna Deavere Smith '', Red Jordan Arobateau Blog, February 23, 2012. Jump up ^ Franco, Jean `` On Grace -- Anna Deavere Smith '' Jump up ^ Starr, Michael ( June 30, 2008 ). `` Nurse ' Edie ''. New York Post. Retrieved January 3, 2014. Jump up ^ Obenson, Tambay A. ( February 12, 2014 ). `` HBO Documentary ' Anna Deavere Smith : A YoungArts Masterclass ' Debuts Feb. 17 ( Watch Preview ) ''. Indiewire. Retrieved March 11, 2014. ^ Jump up to : `` Speaker biography '', Royce Carlton Incorporated, accessed August 29, 2011. Jump up ^ Rabinowitz, Paula ( April 16, 2005 ). `` Introduction to Anna Deavere Smith, `` Snapshots : Glimpses of America in Change '' ``. University of Minnesota. Retrieved January 3, 2014. ^ Jump up to : `` Anna Deavere Smith ''. Tisch School of the Arts. New York University. Retrieved February 21, 2014. ^ Jump up to : Landis, Alysha ( September 5, 2011 ). `` Actor, playwright and professor Anna Deavere Smith to present keynote address Sept. 13 ''. Goshen College. Retrieved January 3, 2014. Jump up ^ `` Barbara Block, Anna Deavere Smith win MacArthur grants ''. Stanford University. June 17, 1996. Retrieved January 3, 2014. Jump up ^ Hetrick, Adam ( December 31, 2007 ). `` Anna Deavere Smith Among 2008 Matrix Award Recipients ''. Playbill. Archived from the original on January 3, 2014. Retrieved January 3, 2014. Jump up ^ `` Yale awards 12 honorary degrees at 2014 graduation ''. Yale University. May 19, 2014. Retrieved August 22, 2014. Jump up ^ Tran, Diep ( November 22, 2010 ). `` United Solo Festival Winners Announced ''. Backstage. Retrieved January 3, 2014. Jump up ^ Boehm, Mike ( January 18, 2013 ). `` Anna Deavere Smith wins $300,000 Dorothy and Lillian Gish Prize ''. Los Angeles Times. Retrieved January 3, 2014. Jump up ^ `` President Obama to Award 2012 National Medal of Arts and National Humanities Medal ''. The White House. July 3, 2013. Retrieved January 3, 2014. Jump up ^ Schuessler, Jennifer ( February 19, 2015 ). `` Anna Deavere Smith to Deliver Jefferson Lecture ''. The New York Times. Retrieved February 28, 2015. Jump up ^ `` Law & Order : Special Victims Unit ''. The Futon Critic. Retrieved March 3, 2016. Jump up ^ Norder, Virginia ( March 16, 2015 ). `` Deavere Smith opens IMPACT with one - woman play ''. The Vanderbilt Hustler. Archived from the original on March 24, 2015. Retrieved March 18, 2015. Jump up ^ Byrd, Craig ( April 15, 2015 ). `` Curtain Call : Anna Deavere Smith Examines Race Relations in Her New Play ''. Los Angeles. Retrieved April 16, 2015. Jump up ^ Fancher, Lou ( July 8, 2015 ). `` Chatting with Anna Deavere Smith ''. SF Weekly. Retrieved July 10, 2015. ^ Jump up to : Goodwin, Jeremy D. ( August 18, 2016 ). `` In ' Notes From the Field ' at ART, Anna Deavere Smith intends to educate and engage ''. Boston Globe. Retrieved September 6, 2016. External links Anna Deavere Smith on IMDb Anna Deavere Smith at the Internet Broadway Database Anna Deavere Smith PBS Now, 2006 Anna Deavere Smith at TED TED Talk : Anna Deavere Smith : Four American characters ( TED2005 ) Speech by Anna Deavere Smith at Bates College Commencement 2007 on YouTube Smith Weaves Multiple Stories of Healthcare Struggles into New Solo Performance -- video report by Democracy Now ! Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Solo Performance Ian McKellen ( 1984 ) Whoopi Goldberg ( 1985 ) Eric Bogosian ( 1986 ) Barbara Cook ( 1987 ) -- ( 1988 ) -- ( 1989 ) Robert Morse ( 1990 ) Eileen Atkins ( 1991 ) Patrick Stewart ( 1992 ) Anna Deavere Smith ( 1993 ) Anna Deavere Smith ( 1994 ) James Lecesne ( 1995 ) Mary Louise Wilson ( 1996 ) Fiona Shaw ( 1997 ) John Leguizamo ( 1998 ) David Hare ( 1999 ) Dame Edna Everage ( 2000 ) Pamela Gien ( 2001 ) Elaine Stritch ( 2002 ) Tovah Feldshuh ( 2003 ) Jefferson Mays ( 2004 ) Billy Crystal ( 2005 ) Antony Sher ( 2006 ) Vanessa Redgrave ( 2007 ) Laurence Fishburne ( 2008 ) Lorenzo Pisoni ( 2009 ) Jim Brochu ( 2010 ) John Leguizamo ( 2011 ) Cillian Murphy ( 2012 ) Michael Urie ( 2013 ) John Douglas Thompson ( 2014 ) Benjamin Scheuer ( 2015 ) Jesse Tyler Ferguson ( 2016 ) Ed Dixon ( 2017 ) VIAF : 29379758 LCCN : nr89009259 ISNI : 0000 0001 1049 1657 GND : 174022409 SUDOC : 092203078 BNF : cb14658760h ( data ) IATH : w6dz0pf9 Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Anna_Deavere_Smith&oldid=816061719 '' Categories : 1950 births African - American academics African - American dramatists and playwrights American dramatists and playwrights American musical theatre actresses American soap opera actresses American stage actresses Center for American Progress people Living people MacArthur Fellows Actresses from Baltimore Arcadia University alumni Tisch School of the Arts faculty American women dramatists and playwrights National Humanities Medal recipients Carnegie Mellon University faculty American television actresses African - American actresses American actresses American film actresses Academics from Maryland Hidden categories : Webarchive template wayback links All articles with dead external links Articles with dead external links from October 2016 Articles with permanently dead external links Use mdy dates from January 2014 Pages using deprecated image syntax Articles with hCards Articles with IBDb links Wikipedia articles with VIAF identifiers Wikipedia articles with LCCN identifiers Wikipedia articles with ISNI identifiers Wikipedia articles with GND identifiers Wikipedia articles with BNF identifiers Wikipedia articles with SNAC - ID identifiers Talk Contents About Wikipedia Asturianu Deutsch Español فارسی Français Italiano Polski Português Svenska Edit links This page was last edited on 19 December 2017, at 00 : 30. 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Question: who played nancy mcnally on the west wing
Answer: Anna Deavere Smith