Madge Sinclair

Madge Dorita Sinclair[2][1] (née Walters; April 28, 1938 – December 20, 1995) was a Jamaican actress, best known for her roles in Cornbread, Earl and Me (1975), Coming to America (1988), Trapper John, M.D. (1980–1986), and the ABC TV miniseries Roots (1977). Sinclair also voiced the character of Sarabi, Mufasa's wife and Simba's mother, in the animated feature film The Lion King. Sinclair won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress - Drama Series for her role as Empress Josephine in Gabriel's Fire in 1991.
== Early life ==
Born Madge Dorita Walters in Kingston, Jamaica to Jamaican parents Herbert and Jemima Walters, Sinclair studied at Shortwood College for Women. After completing her studies, Sinclair worked as a teacher in Jamaica until 1966 when she left for New York to pursue her career in acting. Sinclair began acting with the New York Shakespearean Festival and at Joseph Papp's Public Theatre.[3][1]
== Career ==
Following Roots, she starred in the 1978 film Convoy as the Widow Woman, and she played Leona Hamiltons in Cornbread, Earl and Me. Sinclair received an Emmy Award nomination for her role as Belle in the miniseries Roots. Also in 1978, she co-starred in the short-lived sitcom Grandpa Goes to Washington. Sinclair went on to a long-running stint in the 1980s as nurse Ernestine Shoop on the series Trapper John, M.D. opposite Pernell Roberts. She received three Emmy nominations for her work on the show, and critic Donald Bogle praised her for "maintaining her composure and assurance no matter what the script imposed on her".[citation needed] In 1988, Sinclair played Queen Aoleon alongside James Earl Jones' King Jaffe Joffer in the Eddie Murphy comedy Coming to America, which reunited her on screen with her Roots husband and co-star John Amos. Later, both Sinclair and Jones would reunite as Queen and King for the roles of Sarabi, Simba’s mother, and Mufasa, Simba’s father, in the blockbuster Disney animated film The Lion King (1994), respectively. The film became one of the best-selling titles ever on home video. It would also be her last film role. The two also collaborated on the series Gabriel's Fire, which earned Sinclair an Emmy in 1991 for Best Supporting Actress in a Dramatic Series, famously beating out the expected winner, L.A. Law's Diana Muldaur.
Sinclair played the role of Lally in the 1991 Channel 4 television miniseries The Orchid House (based on Phyllis Shand Allfrey's novel of the same name), directed by Horace Ové, and also received critical praise for her supporting role in the 1992 television movie Jonathan: The Boy Nobody Wanted with JoBeth Williams. In 1993, Sinclair came to London to appear on stage at the Cochrane Theatre in The Lion, by Michael Abbensetts, directed by Horace Ové for the Talawa Theatre Company.[4] In 1994, she played a supporting role in the short-lived ABC-TV sitcom Me and the Boys, which starred Steve Harvey. Sinclair, in her brief role as the captain of the USS Saratoga in Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home, is commonly cited as the first female Starfleet starship captain to appear in Star Trek. (Joanne Linville had appeared as a Romulan commander 18 years earlier.) Years later, Sinclair played Geordi La Forge's mother, captain of the USS Hera, in Star Trek: The Next Generation's "Interface". Her final acting role was on the sitcom Dream On just one month later before her death.
== Personal life and death ==
Sinclair was married to Royston Sinclair, a Jamaican police officer from 1956 until 1969,[2][1] and had two sons with him, Garry and Wayne Sinclair.[2] In 1982, Sinclair married actor Dean Compton, whom she was still married to at the time of her death.[2] Sinclair died on December 20, 1995 after a 13-year battle with leukemia.[5] Her remains were cremated[2] and her ashes were scattered in her hometown in Jamaica.
== Filmography ==
=== Film ===
Year	Title 	Role 	Notes
1972	The Witches of Salem: The Horror and the Hope	Tituba 	
1974	I Love You... Good-bye 	Salesgirl 	
1974	Conrack 	Mrs. Scott 	Nominated—NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Actress in a Motion Picture
1975	Cornbread, Earl and Me 	Leona Hamilton 	
1976	I Will, I Will... for Now 	Dr. Williams 	
1976	Leadbelly 	Miss Eula 	
1978	Convoy 	Widow Woman 	
1978	Uncle Joe Shannon 	Margaret 	
1986	Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home 	Saratoga Captain	Uncredited
1988	Coming to America 	Queen Aoleon 	
1990	The End of Innocence 	Nurse Bowlin 	
1994	The Lion King 	Sarabi 	Voice only
=== Television films ===
Year	Title 	Role 	Notes
1975	Guess Who's Coming to Dinner 	Sarah Prentiss 	
1978	One in a Million: The Ron LeFlore Story	Georgia LeFlore 	
1987	Look Away 	Elizabeth Keckley	
=== Television series ===
Year 	Title 	Role 	Notes
1972 	Madigan 	Boots 	Episode: "The Midtown Beat"
1974 	Medical Center 	Arbiter 	Episode: "Tainted Lady"
1974 	The Waltons 	Minnie Doze 	Episode: "The Visitor"
1975 	Joe Forrester 	Sheila Gates 	Episode: "Stake Out"
1975 	Doctors' Hospital 	N/A 	Episode: "Come at Last to Love"
1976 	Executive Suite 	Judge Gillespie 	Episode: "Who Shall Hall Bring Mercy"
1977 	Roots 	Bell Reynolds 	3 episodes
Nominated—Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series
1977 	Serpico 	Michelle 	Episode: "One Long Tomorrow"
1978 	ABC Afterschool Specials 	Mrs. Bradsbury 	Episode: "The Rag Tag Champs"
1979 	The White Shadow 	Louelia Judd 	Episode: "Sudden Death"
1980–86	Trapper John, M.D. 	Ernestine Shoop 	129 episodes
Nominated—Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series (1983–85)
1984 	ABC Afterschool Specials 	Miss Thomas 	Episode: "Backwards: The Riddle of Dyslexia"
1987 	Mathnet 	Amelia Airliver 	Episode: "Problem of the Trojan Hamburger"
1987 	Ohara 	Gussie Lemmons 	11 episodes
1987 	Starman 	Lorraine Michaels 	Episode: "The Test"
1989 	Gideon Oliver 	Angela Holmes 	Episode: "By the Waters of Babylon"
1989 	Roseanne 	Muriel Johnston 	Episode: "Guilt by Disassociation"
1989 	Midnight Caller 	Ida May 	Episode: "Take Back the Streets"
1990–91	Gabriel's Fire 	Empress Josephine 	22 episodes
Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series
Nominated—Viewers for Quality Television Award for Best Supporting Actress in a Quality Drama Series
1991–92	Pros and Cons 	Josephine Austin 	12 episodes
1991 	The Orchid House 	Lally 	4 episodes
1992 	L.A. Law 	Jessica Rollins 	Episode: "Diet, Diet My Darling"
1992 	Tales from the Crypt 	Lucille 	Episode: "Curiosity Killed"
1993 	Alex Haley's Queen 	Dora 	Episode 3
1993 	Star Trek: The Next Generation	Captain Silva La Forge	Episode: "Interface"
1994–95	Me and the Boys 	Mary Tower 	19 episodes
1995 	Dream On 	Mrs. Charles 	Episode: "Little Orphan Eddie"