Madge Sinclair

Madge Sinclair
Born	Madge Dorita Walters (1938-04-28)28 April 1938 Kingston, Jamaica
Died	Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Cause of death	Leukemia
Resting place	Cremated
Ethnicity	Jamaican
Occupation	Actress
Years active	1966–1995
Spouse(s)	Royston Sinclair (1951–1969) Dean Compton (1982–95; her death)
Children	Garry Sinclair (b. 1962) Wayne Sinclair (b. 1964)
Awards	1991 Outstanding Supporting Actress - Drama Series: Gabriel's Fire

Madge Dorita Walters-Sinclair (April 28, 1938 – December 20, 1995) was a Jamaican American actress, best known for her roles in Cornbread, Earl and Me, Coming to America, Trapper John, M.D., and the ABC TV miniseries Roots. She also voiced the character of Sarabi, Mufasa's mate and Simba's mother, in the animated feature film The Lion King. Sinclair won the 1991 Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress - Drama Series for her role as Empress Josephine in Gabriel's Fire.

Early life

Born Madge Dorita Walters in Kingston, Jamaica, to Herbert and Jemima Walters. She was a teacher in Jamaica until 1968 when she left for New York to pursue her career in acting.

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".

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. 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. 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 starship captain to appear in Star Trek, though Joanne Linville had appeared as a Romulan commander 18 year 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 police officer, and had two sons, Garry Sinclair and Wayne Sinclair. In 1982, she was remarried to actor Dean Compton. She died of leukemia in 1995. She was cremated and her ashes were scattered in her hometown in Jamaica.

Filmography

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1972	Madigan	Episode: "The Midtown Beat"
1972	The Witches of Salem: The Horror and the Hope	Tituba
1974	I Love You... Good-bye	Salesgirl
1974	Conrack	Mrs. Scott
1974	Medical Center	Arbiter	Episode: "Tainted Lady"
1974	The Waltons	Minnie Doze	Episode: "The Visitor"
1975	Cornbread, Earl and Me	Leona Hamilton
1975	Guess Who's Coming to Dinner	Sarah Prentiss	TV movie
1975	Joe Forrester	Sheila Gates	Episode: "Stake Out"
1975	Doctors' Hospital	Unknown	Episode: "Come at Last to Love"
1976	I Will, I Will... for Now	Dr. Williams
1976	Leadbelly	Miss Eula
1976	Executive Suite	Judge Gillespie	Episode: "Who Shall Hall Bring Mercy"
1977	Roots	Belle Reynolds	3 episodes Nominated—Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series
1977	Serpico	Michelle	Episode: "One Long Tomorrow"
1978	Convoy	Widow Woman
1978	ABC Afterschool Specials	Mrs. Bradsbury	Episode: "The Rag Tag Champs"
1978	Uncle Joe Shannon	Margaret
1979	The White Shadow	Louelia Judd	Episode: "Sudden Death"
1980-1986	Trapper John, M.D.	Ernestine Shoop	129 episodes Nominated—Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series (1983-1985)
1984	ABC Afterschool Specials	Miss Thomas	Episode: "Backwards: The Riddle of Dyslexia"
1986	Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home	Saratoga Captain	Uncredited
1987	Mathnet	Amelia Airliver	Episode: "Problem of the Trojan Hamburger"
1987	Ohara	Gussie Lemmons	11 episodes
1987	Starman	Lorraine Michaels	Episode: "The Test"
1987	Look Away	Elizabeth Keckley	TV movie
1988	Coming to America	Queen Aoleon
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	The End of Innocence	Nurse Bowlin
1990-1991	Gabriel's Fire	Empress Josephine	22 episodes Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series
1991	The Orchid House	Lally	4 episodes
1991-1992	Pros and Cons	Josephine Austin	12 episodes
1992	L.A. Law	Jessica Rollins	Episode: "Diet, Diet My Darling"
1992	Tales from the Crypt	Lucille	Episode: "Curiosity Killed"
1993	Star Trek: The Next Generation	Captain Silva La Forge	Episode: "Interface"
1994	The Lion King	Sarabi	Animated film, voice only
1994-1995	Me and the Boys	Mary Tower	19 episodes
1995	Dream On	Mrs. Charles	Episode: "Little Orphan Eddie"

External links

• Madge Sinclair at the Internet Movie Database
• Madge Sinclair at the Internet Off-Broadway Database
• Madge Sinclair at AllMovie
• Madge Sinclair at Memory Alpha (a Star Trek wiki)
• Madge Sinclair at Find a Grave