Octavia Spencer | |
|---|---|
_(cropped).jpg) Spencer at the White House in 2016 | |
| Born | Octavia Lenora Spencer May 25, 1970 Montgomery, Alabama, U.S. |
| Education | Auburn University at Montgomery Auburn University (BA) |
| Occupation | Actress |
| Years active | 1996–present |
| Awards | Full list |
Octavia Lenora Spencer (born May 25, 1970)[1][a] is an American actress. She is the recipient of several accolades, including an Academy Award, a British Academy Film Award, and a Golden Globe Award, in addition to a nomination for a Primetime Emmy Award.
Spencer made her film debut in the 1996 drama A Time to Kill. Following a decade of brief roles in film and television, her breakthrough came in 2011 when she played a maid in 1960s America in the drama film The Help, which won her the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress. In ensuing years, she won the National Board of Review Award for Best Supporting Actress for her role in Ryan Coogler's biopic Fruitvale Station (2013), had a recurring role in the CBS sitcom Mom (2013–2015), and starred in the Fox drama series Red Band Society (2014–2015).
Spencer's roles as other black women in 1960s America, as Dorothy Vaughan in the biopic Hidden Figures (2016) and a cleaning woman in the fantasy The Shape of Water (2017), earned her two consecutive nominations for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress, becoming the first black actress to achieve such feat, as well as the first, and to date only, to be nominated twice after winning. She has since starred in The Divergent Series (2015–16), The Shack (2017), Gifted (2017), Instant Family (2018), Luce (2019), Ma (2019), Onward (2020), and Spirited (2022). She led the Apple TV+ drama series Truth Be Told (2019–2023) and was nominated for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Limited Series or Movie for her portrayal of Madam C. J. Walker in the Netflix miniseries Self Made (2020).
As an author, Spencer created the children's book series Randi Rhodes, Ninja Detective. She has published two books in the series, titled The Case of the Time-Capsule Bandit (2013) and The Sweetest Heist in History (2015).[4]
- ^ Mike Rose, cleveland com (May 25, 2024). "Famous birthdays list for today, May 25, 2024 includes celebrities Octavia Spencer, Ian McKellen". cleveland. Retrieved June 2, 2024.
- ^ "Octavia Spencer Biography: Film Actress, Television Actress (1972–)". Biography.com. Archived from the original on August 11, 2016. Retrieved January 16, 2017.
- ^ Spencer at 00:10 in video on her verified Instagram account (Archived from the original on June 27, 2020). Reported in outlets including "Octavia Spencer revises her age upwards for her birthday". RTÉ. May 27, 2020. Archived from the original on May 27, 2020. Retrieved May 27, 2020.
The big 5-0. Ugh! Yeah, I know I've been saying I'm 48.
- ^ Deutsch, Lindsay (January 16, 2013). "Cover reveal: Octavia Spencer's first book, 'Randi Rhodes, Ninja Detective'". USA Today. Retrieved February 21, 2015.
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