# Bahni Turpin

Bahni Turpin (born June 4, 1962 in Pontiac, Michigan) is an American audiobook narrator and stage and screen actor based out of Los Angeles. Her audiobook career includes some of the most popular and critically-acclaimed books in recent years, including The Help and The Hate U Give. She has won 9 Audie Awards, including Audiobook of the Year for Children of Blood and Bone; 14 Earphone Awards; and 2 Odyssey Awards. Turpin has also earned a place on AudioFile magazine's list of Golden Voice Narrators, and in 2016, she was named Audible's Narrator of the Year. In 2018, Audible inducted her into the Narrator Hall of Fame.

## Career

Turpin began her acting career in 1991 with her debut role in the film Daughters of the Dust, the first feature film directed by an African-American woman distributed theatrically in the United States. She has since appeared on television shows such as Criminal Minds.
Turpin is also a member of the Cornerstone Theater Company.
Outside of acting, Turpin has been a long-time yoga instructor.

## Reviews

Discussing the power Turpin brings to every role she plays, Audible wrote, "Turpin’s embodiment of characters helps to further pull you into the author’s world and drive home all of the pain and emotion they are carrying." They continued, stating that "her embodiment of characters that span a wide range of ages and cultural backgrounds is unparalleled."
* House of Rougeaux "Actor Turpin’s skill with a vast array of accents brings the characters of Jaeckel’s multigenerational novel to life. …Turpin’s multifaceted performance enhances this rich tapestry of a novel."
* The Hate U Give: Turpin’s remarkable sensitivity carries this performance to the ranks of greatness.

## Awards and honors
### Awards

| Year | Title | Award | Result |
| 2010 | The Help | Audie Award for Fiction | Winner |
| 2010 | Precious | Earphones Award | Winner |
| 2010 | The True Meaning of Smekday | Earphones Award | Winner |
| 2011 | The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks | Audie Award for Nonfiction | Winner |
| 2011 | The True Meaning of Smekday | Odyssey Award | Winner |
| 2012 | The Mighty Miss Malone | Earphones Award for Children | Winner |
| 2013 | Hold Fast | Listen Up Award for YA/Children's | Finalist |
| 2014 | Sugar | Audie Award for Middle Grade Title | Finalist |
| 2015 | Unstoppable Octobia May | Audie Award for Middle Grade Title | Finalist |
| 2015 | Yellow Crocus | Audie Award for Solo Narration – Female | Winner |
| 2016 | | Audible Narrator of the Year | Winner |
| 2016 | Citizens Creek | Audie Award for Fiction | Finalist |
| 2016 | Jump Back, Paul | Audie Award for Middle Grade Title | Finalist |
| 2016 | The Underground Railroad | Publisher Weekly's Narrator of the Year | Winner |
| 2017 | Sister of Mine | Audie Award for Fiction | Winner |
| 2017 | The Underground Railroad | Audie Award for Audiobook of the Year | Finalist |
| 2017 | The Underground Railroad | Audie Award for Best Female Narrator | Finalist |
| 2017 | The Underground Railroad | Audie Award for Literary Fiction or Classics | Finalist |
| 2018 | | Audible Narrator Hall of Fame | Winner |
| 2018 | Children of Blood and Bone | Audie Award for Audiobook of the Year | Winner |
| 2018 | Children of Blood and Bone | Earphones Award | Winner |
| 2018 | The Hate U Give | Odyssey Award | Winner |
| 2018 | The Hate U Give | Audie Award for Best Female Narrator | Winner |
| 2019 | | AudioFile Golden Voice Narrator | Winner |
| 2019 | Ada Twist and the Perilous Pants | Earphones Award | Winner |
| 2019 | Before She Was Harriet | Audie Award for Young Listeners' Title | Winner |
| 2019 | Look Both Ways | Earphones Award | Winner |
| 2019 | Red at the Bone | Earphones Award | Winner |
| 2019 | The Yellow House | Earphones Award for Biography & Memoir | Winner |
| 2019 | Zora and Langston | Earphones Award | Winner |
| 2020 | The Book of Lost Friends | Earphones Award for Historical Fiction | Winner |
| 2020 | Charlotte's Web | Audie Award for Middle Grade | Winner |
| 2020 | Charlotte's Web | Earphones Award | Winner |
| 2020 | Fighting Words | Earphones Award for Children | Winner |
| 2020 | Pew | Earphones Award for Fiction | Winner |
| 2020 | Red at the Bone | Audie Award for Literary Fiction or Classics | Finalist |
| 2021 | Fighting Words | Odyssey Award | Honoree |
| 2021 | Pew | Audie Award for Literary Fiction or Classics | Finalist |
| 2022 | Blackout | Audie Award for Short Stories/Collections | Winner |
| 2022 | The Best American Short Stories 2021 | Audie Award for Short Stories/Collections | Finalist |
| 2022 | The Final Revival of Opal & Nev | Audie Award for Fiction | |
| 2022 | The Final Revival of Opal & Nev | Earphones Award | Winner |

### Best of the Year lists

| Year | Title | List |
| 2007 | New England White | Listen Up Award for Mystery |
| 2009 | The Help | ListenUp Award for Fiction |
| 2010 | Precious | AudioFile Best of Fiction |
| 2011 | Precious | Amazing Audiobooks for Young Adults |
| 2011 | The True Meaning of Smekday | Amazing Audiobooks for Young Adults |
| 2011 | The True Meaning of Smekday | Notable Children's Recordings |
| 2012 | Bird in a Box | AudioFile Best Children's Audiobooks |
| 2012 | The Mighty Miss Malone | AudioFile Best of 2012: Children's |
| 2012 | The Other Half of My Heart | Notable Children's Recordings |
| 2013 | The Mighty Miss Malone | Notable Children's Recordings |
| 2016 | Jump Back, Paul | Notable Children's Recordings |
| 2016 | The Sun is Also a Star | Publishers Weekly Best Audiobooks of 2016 |
| 2016 | 'Til the Well Runs Dry | Listen List |
| 2016 | The Underground Railroad | Publishers Weekly Best Audiobooks of 2016 |
| 2017 | The Hate U Give | Publishers Weekly Best Audiobooks for Children’s/YA |
| 2017 | A Kind of Freedom | The Washington Post, Best Audiobooks |
| 2017 | Unbound | Notable Children's Recordings |
| 2018 | The Hate U Give | Amazing Audiobooks for Young Adults |
| 2018 | The Hate U Give | Notable Children's Recordings |
| 2018 | The Sun is Also a Star | Amazing Audiobooks for Young Adults |
| 2019 | Ada Twist and the Perilous Pants | AudioFile Best Children & Family Listening |
| 2019 | American Spy | AudioFile Best Mystery & Suspense |
| 2019 | Before She Was Harriet | Notable Children's Recordings |
| 2019 | Children of Blood and Bone | Amazing Audiobooks for Young Adults |
| 2019 | Children of Blood and Bone | Notable Children's Recordings |
| 2019 | The Darkest Child | The Listen List |
| 2019 | Look Both Ways | AudioFile Best Biography & Children & Family Listening |
| 2019 | Red at the Bone | AudioFile Best Fiction, Poetry & Drama |
| 2019 | Zora and Langston | AudioFile Best Biography & History |
| 2020 | Black Enough | Amazing Audiobooks for Young Adults |
| 2020 | On the Come Up | Notable Children's Recordings |
| 2020 | On the Come Up | Amazing Audiobooks for Young Adults |
| 2020 | Red at the Bone | The Listen List |
| 2020 | Roller Girl | Amazing Audiobooks for Young Adults |
| 2020 | Spin | Amazing Audiobooks for Young Adults |
| 2020 | When the Ground is Hard | Notable Children's Recordings |
| 2020 | When Stars Are Scattered | AudioFile Best Children's |
| 2020 | When Stars Are Scattered | Booklist Editors' Choice: Youth Audio |
| 2021 | 145th Street | Amazing Audiobooks for Young Adults |
| 2021 | The 1619 Project: A New Origin Story | Booklist Editors' Choice: Adult Audio |
| 2021 | Fighting Words | Amazing Audiobooks for Young Adults |
| 2021 | Fighting Words | Notable Children's Recordings |
| 2021 | From the Desk of Zoe Washington | Amazing Audiobooks for Young Adults |
| 2021 | From the Desk of Zoe Washington | Notable Children's Recordings |
| 2021 | Look Both Ways | Amazing Audiobooks for Young Adults |
| 2021 | The Snow Fell Three Graves Deep | Amazing Audiobooks for Young Adults |
| 2021 | This is My America | Amazing Audiobooks for Young Adults |
| 2021 | Tiny Imperfections | The Listen List |
| 2022 | Cinderella Is Dead | Amazing Audiobooks for Young Adults |
| 2022 | Sugar Town Queens | Amazing Audiobooks for Young Adults |

## Selected narrations

Books narrated by Bahni Turpin :
| Year | Title | Author(s) | Other Narrator(s) | Note |
| 2006 | A Piece of Cake | Cupcake Brown | | |
| 2009 | The Help | Kathryn Stockett, | Octavia Spencer and Jenna Lamia | |
| 2009 | Precious | Sapphire | | First published in 1996 |
| 2010 | The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks | Rebecca Skloot | Cassandra Campbell | |
| 2011 | Pigeon English | Stephen Kelman | | |
| 2012 | The Mighty Miss Malone | Christopher Paul Curtis | | |
| 2012 | The Twelve Tribes Of Hattie | Ayana Mathis | Adenrele Ojo and Adam Lazarre-White | |
| 2014 | Bad Feminist | Roxane Gay | | |
| 2015 | Everything, Everything | Nicola Yoon | Robbie Daymond | |
| 2016 | Hidden Figures | Margot Lee Shetterly | | |
| 2016 | If Beale Street Could Talk | James Baldwin | | First published in 1974 |
| 2016 | The Sun Is Also a Star | Nicola Yoon | Raymond Lee and Dominic Hoffman | |
| 2016 | The Underground Railroad | Colson Whitehead | | |
| 2016 | Grimm's Fairy Tales | Jacob Grimm and Wilhelm Grimm | Graeme Malcolm, Scott Brick, Davina Porter, Dion Graham, and Edoardo Ballerini | First published in 1909 |
| 2017 | The Hate U Give | Angie Thomas | | |
| 2017 | They Both Die at the End | Adam Silvera | Michael Crouch and Robbie Daymond | |
| 2017 | There's Someone Inside Your House | Stephanie Perkins | | |
| 2018 | Children Of Blood And Bone | Tomi Adeyemi | | |
| 2018 | So You Want to Talk About Race | Ijeoma Oluo | | |
| 2018 | A Spark of Light | Jodi Picoult | | |
| 2019 | Children of Virtue and Vengeance | Tomi Adeyemi | | |
| 2019 | Look Both Ways | Jason Reynolds | Jason Reynolds, Heather Alicia Simms, Chris Chalk, Adenrele Ojo, Kevin R. Free, J.D. Jackson, Guy Lockard, January LaVoy, and David Sadzin | |
| 2019 | On the Come Up | Angie Thomas | | |
| 2019 | The Starless Sea | Erin Morgenstern | Dominic Hoffman, Dion Graham, Fiona Hardingham, Allan Corduner, and Jorjeana Marie | |
| 2019 | American Spy | Lauren Wilkinson | | |
| 2020 | Cinderella Is Dead | Kalynn Bayron | | |
| 2020 | The Southern Book Club's Guide to Slaying Vampires | Grady Hendrix | | |
| 2020 | Transcendent Kingdom | Yaa Gyasi | | |
| 2020 | The Yellow House | Sarah M. Broom | | |
| 2021 | Blackout | Dhonielle Clayton, Tiffany D. Jackson, Nic Stone, Angie Thomas, Ashley Woodfolk, Nicola Yoon | Joniece Abbott-Pratt, Dion Graham, Imani Parks, Jordan Cobb, Shayna Small, A.J. Beckles | |
| 2021 | Chains | Laurie Halse Anderson | | First published in 2008 |
| 2021 | The Other Black Girl | Zakiya Dalila Harris | Aja Naomi King, Joniece Abbott-Pratt, and Heather Alicia Simms | |
| 2021 | Passing | Nella Larsen | | First published in1929 |
| 2022 | The Day the Crayons Came Home | Drew Daywalt with Oliver Jeffers (Illus.) | Barrett Leddy, Jesús E. Martínez, MacLeod Andrews, Ron Butler, Michael Crouch, Taylor Meskimen, Rob Shapiro, Tara Sands, Almarie Guerra, Jamie K. Brown, and Daniel Henning | First published in 2015 |
| 2022 | Recitatif | Toni Morrison | Zadie Smith | First published in 1983 |

## Filmography

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 1991 | Daughters of the Dust | Iona Peazant | |
| 1992 | Rain Without Thunder | 'Baby Bomb' Prisoner | |
| 1992 | Malcolm X | Follower at Temple #7 | |
| 1993 | Law & Order | Theresa Jones | Episode: Night & Fog |
| 1993 | The Saint of Fort Washington | Gloria | |
| 1994 | Getting In | Valerie Bookbinder | |
| 1994 | Rebel Highway | Melba Mason | Episiode: Girls in Prison |
| 1994 | Girls in Prison | Melba | |
| 1994 | Since Lisa | | |
| 1995 | The Jeff Foxworthy Show | Nicki | Episode: The Gene Pool |
| 1996 | Star Trek: Voyager | Ensign Swinn / Swinn | Episodes: Resolutions Tuvix |
| 1996 | In the House | Zelda | Episode: The Curse of Hill House |
| 1996 | Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman | Carly | Episode: Stop the Presses |
| 1997 | Women: Stories of Passion | 'Angel' Actress | Episode: Grip Till It Hurts |
| 1998 | Seinfeld | Waitress #1 | Episode: The Wizard |
| 1998 | Chicago Hope | Sandra, the Kronk's Neighbor | Episode: The Breast and the Brightest |
| 1998 | The Pretender | Nurse Roberts | Episode: Parole |
| 1998 | L. A. Doctors | Miss Corelli | Episode: Leap of Faith |
| 1999 | Brokedown Palace | Jamaican Prisoner | |
| 1999 | Undressed | Dani | Episodes: The Ex-Files If Words Could If Words Could Kill #2 The Ex-Files #2 Twice a Virgin |
| 2000 | Family Law | | Episode: Playing God |
| 2000 | ER | Mrs. Lattimer | Episode: Loose Ends |
| 2000 | Strong Medicine | Charlotte Gould | Episode: Dependency |
| 2000 | Dharma & Greg | Mary | Episode: Love, Honor, and Ole! |
| 2001 | NYPD Blue | Louise Dunner | Episode: Russellmania |
| 2001 | Judging Amy | Atty. Carmen Devere | Episode: Imbroglio |
| 2001 | The Steve Harvey Show | Jeanette | Episode: Stuck on You |
| 2002 | Crossroads | Ms. Jenson | |
| 2003 | The Parkers | Madame Patrice | Episode: Love Potion #83 |
| 2003 | Mister Sterling | | Episode: The Statewide Swing |
| 2003 | Crossing Jordan | Bahni / Bonny | Episodes: Dead Wives' Club Family Ties |
| 2003 | Girlfriends | Anita | Episode: Snoop, There It Is |
| 2004 | The Guardian | Megan's Lawyer | Episode: All Is Mended |
| 2004 | Soul Food | Danielle | Episode: Take It to the Limit |
| 2004 | Pryor Offenses | Patty | |
| 2004-2005 | Cold Case | Lindsey Dunlay | Episodes: Frank's Best Family Maternal Instincts |
| 2005 | Six Feet Under | Wolf's Girlfriend | Episode: Dancing for Me |
| 2005 | The Comeback | Yoga Instructor | Episode: Valerie Gets a Magazine Cover |
| 2006 | The Bernie Mac Show | Kai | Episode: It's Never as Bad as the First Time |
| 2006 | Out of the Woods | | |
| 2006 | What About Brian | Baby Dance Instructor | Episode: What About Second Chances |
| 2007 | Lincoln Heights | Vera | Episodes: Abduction Obsession |
| 2009 | Without A Trace | Shannon | Episode: Daylight |
| 2009 | Mental | Louisa Knox | Episode: Do Over |
| 2009 | Buona Fortuna | Sylvia | |
| 2012 | Pretty Little Liars | Hotline Counselor | Episode: A Hot Piece of A |
| 2016 | Criminal Minds: Beyond Borders | Lieutenant Ananda Doshi | Episode: Iqiniso |
| 2017 | Chance | Watson | Episode: The Collected Works of William Shakespeare |
| 2018 | O. G. | Ludlow | |
| 2018 | Code Black | Meryl | Episode: Better Angels |
| 2019 | The Case for Loving: The Fight for Interracial Marriage | Narrator | |
| 2020 | NCIS | Camille West | Episode: Blood and Treasure |
| 2021 | 9-1-1: Lone Star | Judy | Episode: Dust to Dust |
| 2021 | Farrina | Farrina | Episodes: I Insist Where We Are From Go on and Sit Here |
| 2022 | If Sharks Disappeared | | |