Brenda Sykes is an African-American actress who made a number of films and appeared in television series in the 1970s. She was discovered on The Dating Game

The Dating Game

The Dating Game is an ABC television show that first aired on December 20, 1965 and was the first of many shows created and packaged by Chuck Barris from the 1960s through the 1980s...

.

Biographical details

Sykes was born in Shreveport, Louisiana

Louisiana

Louisiana is a state located in the southern region of the United States of America. Its capital is Baton Rouge and largest city is New Orleans. Louisiana is the only state in the U.S. with political subdivisions termed parishes, which are local governments equivalent to counties...

, the daughter of a postal worker.

Sykes played Jim Brown

Jim Brown

James Nathaniel "Jim" Brown is an American former professional football player who has also made his mark as an actor. He is best known for his exceptional and record-setting nine-year career as a running back for the NFL Cleveland Browns from 1957 to 1965. In 2002, he was named by Sporting News...

's love interest in Black Gunn

Black Gunn (1972)

Black Gunn is a 1972 blaxploitation film starring Jim Brown and Martin Landau and directed by Robert Hartford-Davis.- Plot Summary :Set in Los Angeles, the film begins with the nighttime robbery of an illegal mafia bookmaking operation carried out by the militant african-american organization BAG...

. According to Brown, he was responsible for her being cast in the role, an effort he made because he was attracted to her in real life. She played the character Mandy, one of Jimmie Walker

Jimmie Walker

James Carter "Jimmie" Walker is an American actor and stand-up comedian, known for portraying J. J. Evans on the television series Good Times, which ran from 1974 to 1979...

's girlfriends on the 1970s sitcom, Good Times

Good Times

Good Times is an American sitcom that originally aired from February 8, 1974, until August 1, 1979, on the CBS television network. It was created by Eric Monte and Michael Evans, and developed by Norman Lear, the series' primary executive producer...

. Sykes was married to musician Gil Scott-Heron

Gil Scott-Heron

Gilbert "Gil" Scott-Heron was an American soul and jazz poet, musician, and author known primarily for his work as a spoken word performer in the 1970s and '80s...

 and is the mother of poet Gia Scott-Heron.

Filmography (partial list)

• The Liberation of L.B. Jones
  The Liberation of L.B. Jones
  The Liberation of L.B. Jones is a 1970 American drama film directed by William Wyler, his final project in a career that spanned 45 years.The screenplay by Jesse Hill Ford and Stirling Silliphant is based on Ford's 1965 novel The Liberation of Lord Byron Jones. The novel, in turn, was based on...
  
  (1970), played Jelly
• Skin Game
  Skin Game
  Skin Game is a 1971 movie comedy western starring James Garner and Louis Gossett, Jr.- Plot :Quincy Drew and Jason O'Rourke travel from town to town in the south of the United States during the slavery era. Drew claims to be a down-on-his-luck slave owner who is selling O'Rourke as a slave...
  
  (1971), played Naomi
• Black Gunn (1972)
• Cleopatra Jones
  Cleopatra Jones
  -Plot:Cleopatra Jones is a strikingly beautiful black model with an array of flamboyant outfits. Modeling, however, is only a cover for her real job as a secret government agent. Jones is a Bond-like heroine with power and influence; an object of awe for her flashy wardrobe, her ’73 silver and...
  
  (1973), played Tiffany
• Mandingo
  Mandingo (film)
  Mandingo is a 1975 film, based on the novel Mandingo by Kyle Onstott and upon the play based thereon by Jack Kirkland. The film was directed by Richard Fleischer and featured James Mason, Susan George, Perry King, Lillian Hayman, boxer-turned-actor Ken Norton, and bodybuilder and pro...
  
  (1975), played Ellen