Shirley Jo Finney | |
|---|---|
 Finney (left) with Jason Bernard in 1977 | |
| Born | July 14, 1949 Merced, California, U.S. |
| Died | October 10, 2023 (aged 74) Bellingham, Washington, U.S. |
| Education | |
| Occupations |
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| Years active | 1973–2023 |
Shirley Jo Finney (July 14, 1949 – October 10, 2023) was an American actress and theater director.[1][2][3]
Finney was born in Merced, California, in 1949, and grew up primarily in Sacramento, California.[4] She graduated from Sacramento State College with a degree in theater in 1971, where she met and befriended Wilma Rudolph. She graduated from the University of California, Los Angeles in 1973 with a master's degree in theater arts, and thereafter began an acting career.[4] She portrayed Wilma Rudolph in the 1977 television film Wilma.[3][4] Finney continued to act into the 1990s.[4] She attended the American Film Institute's Directing Workshop for Women.[2]
As a director, Finney worked with The Fountain Theatre for many years, where she directed eight productions.[1] She also directed plays at the Mark Taper Forum, the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, and the Humana Festival.[2] Her work earned her recognition from the Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle, the Ovation Awards and the NAACP.[2] In 2008, she was attached to direct a Broadway revival of for colored girls who have considered suicide / when the rainbow is enuf, but the production was scrapped due to a lack of funding.[4] Finney directed plays across the United States, and her last credit was a 2023 production of Clyde's at The Ensemble Theatre in Houston.[1][2]
Finney died from multiple myeloma at a hospital in Bellingham, Washington, on October 10, 2023, at the age of 74.[2][4]
Filmography
- Temperatures Rising (1973)
- Police Woman (1974)
- Police Story (1974)
- Nashville Girl (1976)
- The River Niger (1976)
- The Blue Knight (1976)
- Wilma (1977)
- Mork & Mindy (1979)
- Tenspeed and Brown Shoe (1980)
- Lou Grant (1980)
- Hey Good Lookin' (1982)
- Echo Park (1986)
- Hill Street Blues (1986)
- Amen (1987)
- Uncle Tom's Cabin (1987)
- Nuts (1987)
- Moving (1988)
- Night Court (1989)
- CBS Schoolbreak Special (1990)
- Where I Live (1993)
References
- 1 2 3 Thompson, Jaden (October 14, 2023). "Shirley Jo Finney, Theater Director and 'Wilma' Star, Dies at 74". Variety. Retrieved October 20, 2023.
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 Perman, Stacy (October 14, 2023). "Shirley Jo Finney, actress and theater director who championed Black works, dies at 74". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved October 20, 2023.
- 1 2 Tinoco, Armando (October 15, 2023). "Shirley Jo Finney Dies: 'Wilma' Star And Theater Director Was 74". Deadline. Retrieved October 20, 2023.
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 Sandomir, Richard (November 13, 2023). "Shirley Jo Finney, 74, Dies; Addressed the Black Experience Onstage". The New York Times. Retrieved November 13, 2023.