CCH Pounder

Carol Christine Hilaria Pounder was born in British Guiana (now Guyana) Her name was given in honor of her grandmothers and godmothers. She was raised on a sugar plantation managed by her father, Ronald Arlington Pounder. At one point, her family moved to London, where her mother, Betsy Enid Arnella (née James), worked at the United States Embassy. Pounder attended a Catholic boarding school in Sussex, England. Pounder enrolled at Hastings College of Arts and Technology where she studied painting, but dropped out in her first year after moving to the United States. Her family had already settled in New York while she was attending school. Pounder graduated from Ithaca College in 1975. She said her parents did not support her choice to be an actress; her mother wanted her to be a newscaster. ==Career==

'' co-star Laz Alonso in December 2009|left Pounder made her film debut in Bob Fosse's musical drama All that Jazz (1979). She continued her career in New York City theater, where she starred in Shakespeare in the Park productions of Coriolanus She starred in the film Bagdad Café'', and has made smaller appearances in many other films. Pounder focused primarily on her television career. In the early 1980s, she first appeared in guest roles on Hill Street Blues, and then on several shows (The Cosby Show, L.A. Law, The X-Files, Living Single, and Quantum Leap) before landing a long-running recurring role as Dr. Angela Hicks on ER from 1994 to 1997. She also co-starred in the Tales From the Crypt feature film Demon Knight (1995). She then returned to guest appearances on other shows, including The Practice, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, Millennium, The West Wing (where she was considered for the role of C. J. Cregg), and the short-lived sitcom Women in Prison. at the Peabody Awards in 2006 From 2002 to 2008, she starred as Detective Claudette Wyms in the FX police drama The Shield. For this role she was nominated for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series in 2005 and an NAACP Image Award. as well as the video game Batman: Arkham Origins, its sequel Batman: Arkham Origins Blackgate, and another animated film that takes place in continuity with the games, Batman: Assault on Arkham. Pounder was also one of the readers for the HBO film Unchained Memories: Readings from the Slave Narrative (2003). She appeared on the Syfy series Warehouse 13 from 2009 until its finale on May 19, 2014. Pounder also was one of the stars of Fox's cancelled 2009 sitcom Brothers. Pounder was nominated for the Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series for her appearance in the BBC/HBO series ''The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency. She had a recurring role as DA Thyne Patterson on the FX crime drama series Sons of Anarchy (2013–14). She co-starred in The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones'' (2013). In Disney's The Lion Guard she voices Kongwe, the wise old turtle. In 1996, Pounder served as a guest judge for the 1996 Miss USA Pageant, in South Padre Island, Texas. ==Advocacy==

As one of the founders of Artists for a Free South Africa (later renamed Artists for a New South Africa) in 1989, along with a number of other Hollywood actors, including Alfre Woodard, Pounder helped to energize awareness of post-apartheid and HIV/AIDS issues. In an interview, she said about the pandemic: "When it's this massive disease, and it's affecting things in 5,000 different ways, it requires great strength and power – and there is power in numbers. So we need to involve as many people as we can, like we do with ANSA. I call it my little engine that could. It is a remarkable, tiny organization with a huge outreach. We use actors and artists with the biggest voices so they can use every opportunity to talk about AIDS." ==Filmography==

Film Television Video games == Stage appearances ==