Tonya Pinkins

Tonya Pinkins: Profile

Additionally, Pinkins starred in the Jeff Pollack/Benny Medina feature film ABOVE THE RIM alongside Bernie Mac, Tupac Shakur and Marlon Wayans. And this fall, Pinkins can be seen in John Turturro's film ROMANCE AND CIGARETTES with James Gandolfini, Susan Sarandon, Kate Winslet and Mandy Moore, among others. Pinkins not only has a recording deal in the works, she is also working titled GET OVER YOURSELF: How To Drop The Drama And Claim Thje LIfe You Deserve due out in fall 2005 by Hyperion Publishing. She teaches a workshop called "Tonya Pinkins: The Actorpreneur Attitude."

With rumors of yet another potential Tony Award for "Caroline, or Change," Pinkins portrays "Caroline," a long-suffering maid living in the South who is befriended by a Jewish schoolboy in Louisiana. Written by playwright-librettist Tony Kushner, ("Angels in America" which was just adapted by HBO) "Caroline, or Change" takes place in 1963 and addresses issues such as race, class, grief, death and most importantly money just before the assassination of John F. Kennedy. Pinkins describes this as "the most exciting show of her career."

As a native of Chicago, Illinois, Pinkins was born to hard working, civil servant parents. Although her father was a police officer and insurance salesman and her mother, a postal worker and now a CTA driver, Pinkins always saw herself as an artist. In high school, she studied acting at the Goodman Theatre Young People's Program and a star was born. Over the next 15 years, she performed on Broadway, television and regionally.

Between jobs this overachiever returned to college, earning her undergraduate degree from Columbia College in Chicago, attending Carnegie Mellon's music theater program, and even a year at law school in California. Similar to "Caroline," Pinkins is also a devoted single mother of four, starting her own family early at age 25. "In every way, I identify with Caroline," Pinkins said. "I have known financial struggle, and what it is like to have had an abusive relationship with an ex-husband." This contemporary Renaissance woman, who is named one of "Oprah Magazine's 10 Women Who Will Take Your Breath Away," for the First Annual Chutzpah Awards, also represented herself in a custody battle with her first husband and successfully fought to have the judge removed because of his bias against women.

On the work front, Pinkins has appeared in television shows such as "University Hospital" and "As the World Turns," as well as guest appearances on "The Guardian," "Law & Order" and "The Cosby Show." She also starred in such films as SEE NO EVIL, HEAR NO EVIL, and ABOVE THE RIM and in TV movies including "Strapped" and "Against Their Will: Women in Prison." Next up is John Turturro's ROMANCE AND CIGARETTES, a big-screen musical that is being described as PENNIES FROM HEAVEN meets "The Honeymooners" complete with a star-studded cast.

Pinkins is making an album from her one-woman cabaret show that was recently sold out when she performed at the well-known Joe's Pub in New York. The album, titled "My Shining Hour," is devoted to the works of composer Harold Arlen and celebrates the 99th anniversary of the composer, who penned such classics as "Somewhere Over the Rainbow," "Stormy Weather," and "Paper Moon."

Tonya also teaches "The Actorpreneur Attitude," a course for actors that teaches no acting because its premise is that theatrical achievement is not so much about vocal technique or sense memory or looks as about removing "hidden emotional blocks to success." Pinkins developed the workshop from principles she learned as an adherent of the Agape Church of Religious Science. According to the church's teachings, success and prosperity are "spiritual attributes" that belong to all people, if only they knew how to use them. She is writing a book based on this workshop. Pinkins is also a strong champion of positive thinking and "making things happen." She is an activist for and co-creator of "Operation Z," an organization that stands for zero tolerance of violence against women and children.

Needless to say, Pinkins is a modern day Renaissance woman. Just watch her perform and you will know why Oprah says that she will take your breath away!