227’s Nemesis

Background:

Emmy Award-winning African-American actress Jackee Harry became famous while portraying neighborhood vamp Sandra Clark on the popular NBC sitcom “227” (1985-1989), in which she nabbed her Emmy Award. With the award on her pocket, she became the first African-American to win an Emmy for the role of supporting actress in a sitcom. Harry gained further recognition with her role as Tia Mowry’s adopted mother, Lisa Landry, on the sitcom “Sister, Sister” (1994-1999), from which she was handed two Images Awards. Besides her performances on the sitcoms, one of television’s most well-liked personalities, Harry has also acted in such shows as “Another World” (1983-1986), “The Royal Family” (1991-1992) and more recently “Everybody Hates Chris” (2006-2007). She has occasionally appeared on the big screen movies, including Ladybugs (1992) and All You’ve Got (2006).


History Teacher

Childhood and Family:

Daughter of Flossie Harry, Jacqueline Harry, who would later be popular as Jackee Harry, was born on August 14, 1956, in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. She grew up in New York City and attended High School of Music and Art. She went on to study American History at the University of Long Island in Brooklyn, New York, and upon receiving her BA, pursued a career as a history teacher at a Brooklyn high school. Jackee later departed her profession and switched to acting. She was trained at the Henry Street Settlement on the Lower East Side in New York City.

On December 1, 1996, Jackee was married to Elgin Charles Williams. They divorced after seven years, in 2003.


Sister, Sister

Career:

Jackee Harry left her job as a high school history teacher to start a career in acting. She made her stage debut with a small part in a play by Richard Wesley in 1973 and went professional in 1978 when she won a role in the chorus of the off-Broadway production of “A Broadway Musical,” directed by Gower Champion. Unfortunately for Harry, she was given a featured part when the show moved to the Great White Way. Next, she made appearances on and off-Broadway plays like “I’m Getting My Act Together and Taking It On the Road,” “Eubie!” and “The Wiz.”

Harry segued to television in 1983, when she landed the role of Lily Mason on the daytime soap “Another World,” in which she acted opposite other African-American performers such as Michele Shay, Petronia Paley and a then-unknown Morgan Freeman. She stayed with the show until 1986. While working on the NBC series, in 1985, Harry won the supporting role of Sandra Clark, the enticing arch-rival to Marla Gibbs, in the sitcom “227” (also NBC). Sandra Clark soon became her signature role thanks to an Emmy that she won in 1987. She went on to score a nomination in 1988 and a Golden Globe nomination in 1989. She left the show in 1989, after disputing problems with Gibbs.

In addition to playing on the sitcom, the actress also portrayed Ida Early in the made-for-TV film The Incredible Ida Early (1987), a driving instructor, Edna Savage, in the NBC film Crash Course (1987) and Etta Mae in the ABC miniseries “The Women of Brewster Place” (1989), opposite Oprah Winfrey and Mary Alice. In 1988, she also had a recurring role in the comedy series “Amen.”

1990 saw the actress join Tim Allen, Nick Bakay and Beth Broderick, among other artists, for the “ABC TGIF,” playing Lisa, and play Yvonne in the television film We’ll Take Manhattan, and after Redd Foxx’s death, she started her role as Ruth ‘Co’ Royal, the wayward sister to Della Reese’s Victoria, on “The Royal Family,” which she played from 1991 to 1992. Still in 1992, she also made guest appearance in “Designing Women,” as Vanessa Chamberlain, and acted as the assistant of Rodney Dangerfield in the film Ladybugs.

Harry’s next breakthrough arrived when she was cast as Lisa Landry on the sitcom “Sister, Sister.” As the free-spirited single mother of Tia Mowry, she was handed Images for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series for two consecutive years in 1999 and 2000. “Sister, Sister” aired on ABC for two seasons before being cancelled. The WB Network then picked up the show and ran it twice per week until it came to an end in 1999. Meanwhile, Harry could be seen in guest roles in “Dave’s World” (1994) and “Unhappily Ever After” (1996) and provided the voice of Bo Peep in the animated series “Happily Ever After: Fairy Tales for Every Child” (1995). On stage, she starred as Billie Holiday in “Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar & Grill” (1994).

Harry returned to the stage after six years by playing a role in NYC revival of “For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide/When the Rainbow Is Enuf” (2000). She maintained her television presence by guest starring in “Twice in a Lifetime” (2000) and serving as a guest panelist on the 2000 revival of “To Tell the Truth.” In 2003, she appeared as Ms. Beane in an episode of “7th Heaven” and as Jackée, The Baker in the comedy/musical The Nick at Nite Holiday Special. The following year, Harry appeared in a feature film, You Got Served, playing Mama, before returning to TV with guest spots on such series as “That’s So Raven” and “One on One” (both 2005). The same year, she appeared on VH1’s “Celebrity Fit Club 2,” where she lost 39 pounds total after 100 days. Her achievement marked one of the top weight losses in the history of the show.

In 2006, Harry took on the recurring role of Vanessa, an energetic, spirited beautician and friend to Rochelle, on the sitcom “Everybody Hates Chris,” a gig she had until 2007. On the movie front, she appeared alongside Faizon Love, Efren Ramirez and Ciara on the sport-themed film All You’ve Got (2006), as a sales person.


Awards

• Image: Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series, “Sister, Sister,” 2000
• Image: Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series, “Sister, Sister,” 1999
• Emmy: Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series, “227,” 1987