L. Scott Caldwell

**L. Scott Caldwell** is an episodic actress on The CW's *Dynasty*, portraying the role of Lo Cox in "Trashy Little Tramp".

## Biography

### Early Life

Born the middle child in Chicago, Illinois, to working-class parents, Scott grew up in the Woodlawn neighborhood on the South Side. While attending Hyde Park High School, she joined the drama club, and in 1967, she attended Northwestern University. She left after one year and went to work full-time as an operator at Illinois Bell. She got married and had a son. She transferred her credits to Loyola University-Chicago and earned a bachelor's degree in Theater Arts and Communications.

### Career

Caldwell planned on a teaching career and taught at Chicago High School of the Performing Arts. She also worked a year for the Chicago Council on Fine Arts as an artist-in-residence. While in Chicago Caldwell performed in local theatrical productions at the Body Politic, Court Theater, and Eleventh Street Theater. She went to New York in 1978 to audition for Uta Hagen's school HB Studio. While waiting to audition she saw an ad for The Negro Ensemble Company. After her audition at Hagen's school, she took the subway to the NEC.

Caldwell was initially rebuffed by the person who interviewed her but she insisted on meeting with Ward. She used the three pieces she performed at her audition for Hagen. She was accepted by both Hagen and Ward. During her first season at NEC, Caldwell performed in several plays. One of those plays, *Home*, by Samm Art Williams, took her to Broadway's Cort Theatre in 1980. The play was critically acclaimed and earned a Tony Award nomination for Charles Brown. After *Home* closed Caldwell worked in several regional theater productions including *Boesman and Lena* at Milwaukee Repertory Theatre and *A Raisin in the Sun* at Studio Arena Theatre in Buffalo, New York.

In December 1984, while working in *Play of Giants*, Caldwell was struck by a car while hailing a cab on Columbus Avenue in New York. She suffered a severe back injury and was unable to work for nearly two years. Her first audition after her recovery was for August Wilson's *Joe Turner's Come and Gone*. Her performance as Bertha Holly earned her a 1988 Tony Award. Soon after winning the Tony, she moved to southern California to work in television and film. She returned to Broadway in 1997 as the lead in Neil Simon's short-lived *Proposals*. After *Proposals* closed, Caldwell performed the role of Leah, Little Augie's sister, in New York City Center's "Encores! Great American Musicals in Concert" production of *St. Louis Woman*.

From 2004 to 2010, Caldwell portrayed Rose Nadler in ABC's *Lost*. After recurring throughout the show's run, she was promoted to series regular for the series finale.

In 2006, she made her Goodman Theatre debut in Regina Taylor's *The Dreams of Sarah Breedlove*. In 2011, she took on the role of Lena Younger in the Ebony Repertory Theatre production of the Lorraine Hansberry classic *A Raisin in the Sun*. The play was directed by Phylicia Rashad. Caldwell, along with the entire cast, was nominated for the LA Stage Alliance 2011 Ovation Award for her work as Lena, for which she won the 2011 Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle Award.

From 2008 to 2013, Caldwell portrayed Margaret Shakur in ABC Family's *The Secret Life of an American Teenager*.

Caldwell is an active member of Unite For Strength, the Screen Actors Guild coalition in favor of joining with AFTRA. On September 19, 2008, she won a seat as an alternate on the national board of directors and the Hollywood division board of directors. Caldwell was elected to a second one-year term on September 24, 2009. She served on the Seniors, Legislative, Women, Holiday Host, Honors and Tributes, and EEOC committees. In September 2010, she was elected to a one-year term on the national board of directors. She served as the national chair of the Women's committee. In 2011, Caldwell is on the SAG national board of directors ballot for a fourth consecutive year. She won a three-year term on the national and Hollywood boards. She will serve as national chair of Women, and Healthcare Safetynet committees.

In 2016, she was part of the six-part PBS Civil War drama miniseries *Mercy Street*.

In 2018, Caldwell portrayed Lo Cox, the grandmother of Jeff and Monica Colby, in an episode of The CW's *Dynasty*. The role was recast with Roxzane Mims in 2021, ahead of the series' fourth season.