Danitra Vance
Encyclopedia
Danitra Vance was an American comedienne and actress best known as a cast member
on the NBC
sketch show Saturday Night Live
during its eleventh season
and for work in feature films like Sticky Fingers
(1988), Limit Up
(1990) and Jumpin' at the Boneyard (1992).
, Vance graduated from nearby Thornton Township High School
in 1972. In high school she was active in theater and was a member of the debate
team. She later attended Roosevelt University
and graduated with honors. She then studied drama at Webber Douglas Academy of Dramatic Art
.
Vance was the first African American
woman to become a SNL repertory player (not to be confused with Yvonne Hudson
from season six, who first appeared as a recurring extra and was hired as a feature player), and (as of 2011), the show's only lesbian cast member. She is best remembered for the sketch "That Black Girl", (a spoof of the 1960s sitcom That Girl
), and for her character Cabrini Green Harlem
Watts
Jackson, a teenage mother who dispensed advice on the do's and don'ts of being pregnant. Both were recurring characters during her time on SNL.
Vance appeared on SNL during a time of great transition for the show; Vance herself became frustrated because her roles in sketches were limited both in visibility and in range - she was often cast in a skit as a secretary, a nurse, a waitress, a young unwed mother dependent on welfare (her recurring character, Cabrini Green Jackson, easily fell into this category), or a maid
. This was made evident during the episode hosted by Oprah Winfrey
in spring of 1986 where in the cold opening, Vance played Lorne Michaels
' personal slave who convinces him to force Oprah into performing stereotypically black roles (only to have Oprah strangle him in a headlock before shouting the show's opening line) and, in a short musical sketch on the same episode, sang "I Play The Maids" (a spin on the Barry Manilow
song, "I Write The Songs
"), a satirical song that expressed frustration over black actresses (and herself) being typecast as maids in films and on television shows. Ironically, one of Danitra Vance's celebrity impersonations was of Cicely Tyson
(in The Pee Wee Herman Thanksgiving Special sketch), who never played film or TV roles that stereotyped black women.
Perhaps adding to her frustration was her dyslexia
which, according to an SNL Trivial Pursuit
question and testimony from Al Franken
for the book Live From New York: The Uncensored History of Saturday Night Live, made it hard for her to read from cue card
s and memorize lines (though it wasn't made apparent in most of her appearances).
Vance ultimately chose to leave SNL at the end of the season (along with many other cast members from that season who were fired, including Joan Cusack
, Robert Downey, Jr., Randy Quaid
, Terry Sweeney
-- another cast member who was hired for the 1985-1986 cast—and Anthony Michael Hall
).
in 1986 and later won an Obie Award
for her performance in the theatrical adaptation of Spunk, a collection of short stories written by Zora Neale Hurston
.
Vance was the second female lead opposite Nancy Allen
in Limit Up
, where she played a guardian angel on assignment for God being played by Ray Charles
. She had small roles in The War of the Roses
and Little Man Tate
and a more significant role in Jumpin' at the Boneyard, for which she was nominated for an Independent Spirit Award.
in 1990, Vance underwent a single mastectomy
and incorporated the experience into a solo skit, "The Radical Girl's Guide to Radical Mastectomy." The cancer recurred in 1993 and she died of the disease the following year in Markham, Illinois
. She was survived by her longtime companion, Ms. Jones Miller.
Saturday Night Live cast
The following is a list of Saturday Night Live cast members, past and present. The cast members of Saturday Night Live are often referred to as the "Not Ready For Prime Time Players".-List of cast members:...
on the NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
sketch show Saturday Night Live
Saturday Night Live
Saturday Night Live is a live American late-night television sketch comedy and variety show developed by Lorne Michaels and Dick Ebersol. The show premiered on NBC on October 11, 1975, under the original title of NBC's Saturday Night.The show's sketches often parody contemporary American culture...
during its eleventh season
Saturday Night Live (Season 11)
Saturday Night Live aired its 11th season during the 1985-1986 television season on NBC. The season started on November 9, 1985 and ended on May 24, 1986, 18 episodes were produced....
and for work in feature films like Sticky Fingers
Sticky Fingers (1988 film)
Sticky Fingers is a 1988 film directed by Catlin Adams and co-written with Melanie Mayron.-Cast:*Helen Slater as Hattie*Melanie Mayron as Lolly*Adam Shaw as Jean-Marc*Shirley Stoler as Reeba*Danitra Vance as Evanston*Eileen Brennan as Stella...
(1988), Limit Up
Limit Up (film)
Limit Up is the title of a 1989 film starring Nancy Allen as Chicago commodities trader Casey Falls. The film was directed by Richard Martini and produced by Jonathan D. Krane...
(1990) and Jumpin' at the Boneyard (1992).
Career
Born in ChicagoChicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
, Vance graduated from nearby Thornton Township High School
Thornton Township High School
Thornton Township High School, often simply referred to as Thornton is a public high school founded in 1899. The school is located in Harvey, Illinois one of the south suburbs of the city of Chicago, Illinois. The school is one of three schools administered by Thornton Township High Schools...
in 1972. In high school she was active in theater and was a member of the debate
Debate
Debate or debating is a method of interactive and representational argument. Debate is a broader form of argument than logical argument, which only examines consistency from axiom, and factual argument, which only examines what is or isn't the case or rhetoric which is a technique of persuasion...
team. She later attended Roosevelt University
Roosevelt University
Roosevelt University is a coeducational, private university with campuses in Chicago, Illinois and Schaumburg, Illinois. Founded in 1945, the university is named in honor of both former President Franklin Delano Roosevelt and First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt. The university's curriculum is based on...
and graduated with honors. She then studied drama at Webber Douglas Academy of Dramatic Art
Webber Douglas Academy of Dramatic Art
The Webber Douglas Academy of Dramatic Art, formerly the Webber Douglas School of Singing and Dramatic Art, was a drama school, and originally a singing school, in London. It was one of the leading drama schools in Britain, and offered comprehensive training for those intending to pursue a...
.
Vance was the first African American
African American
African Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who have at least partial ancestry from any of the native populations of Sub-Saharan Africa and are the direct descendants of enslaved Africans within the boundaries of the present United States...
woman to become a SNL repertory player (not to be confused with Yvonne Hudson
Yvonne Hudson
Yvonne Hudson is an American television actress who is best known for being the first African-American female cast member on Saturday Night Live. She joined the cast as a featured player in the show's 1980-1981 season...
from season six, who first appeared as a recurring extra and was hired as a feature player), and (as of 2011), the show's only lesbian cast member. She is best remembered for the sketch "That Black Girl", (a spoof of the 1960s sitcom That Girl
That Girl
That Girl is an American television situation comedy that ran on ABC from 1966 to 1971. It stars Marlo Thomas as the title character, Ann Marie, an aspiring actress, who had moved from her hometown of Brewster, New York to make it big in New York City...
), and for her character Cabrini Green Harlem
Harlem
Harlem is a neighborhood in the New York City borough of Manhattan, which since the 1920s has been a major African-American residential, cultural and business center. Originally a Dutch village, formally organized in 1658, it is named after the city of Haarlem in the Netherlands...
Watts
Watts, Los Angeles, California
Watts is a mostly residential neighborhood in South Los Angeles, California.-History:The area now known as Watts is located on the Rancho La Tajauta Mexican land grant...
Jackson, a teenage mother who dispensed advice on the do's and don'ts of being pregnant. Both were recurring characters during her time on SNL.
Vance appeared on SNL during a time of great transition for the show; Vance herself became frustrated because her roles in sketches were limited both in visibility and in range - she was often cast in a skit as a secretary, a nurse, a waitress, a young unwed mother dependent on welfare (her recurring character, Cabrini Green Jackson, easily fell into this category), or a maid
Maid
A maidservant or in current usage housemaid or maid is a female employed in domestic service.-Description:Once part of an elaborate hierarchy in great houses, today a single maid may be the only domestic worker that upper and even middle-income households can afford, as was historically the case...
. This was made evident during the episode hosted by Oprah Winfrey
Oprah Winfrey
Oprah Winfrey is an American media proprietor, talk show host, actress, producer and philanthropist. Winfrey is best known for her self-titled, multi-award-winning talk show, which has become the highest-rated program of its kind in history and was nationally syndicated from 1986 to 2011...
in spring of 1986 where in the cold opening, Vance played Lorne Michaels
Lorne Michaels
Lorne Michaels, CM is a Canadian-American television producer, writer, and comedian best known for creating and producing Saturday Night Live and producing the various film and TV projects that spun off from it.-Early life:...
' personal slave who convinces him to force Oprah into performing stereotypically black roles (only to have Oprah strangle him in a headlock before shouting the show's opening line) and, in a short musical sketch on the same episode, sang "I Play The Maids" (a spin on the Barry Manilow
Barry Manilow
Barry Manilow is an American singer-songwriter, musician, arranger, producer, conductor, and performer, best known for such recordings as "Could It Be Magic", "Mandy", "Can't Smile Without You", and "Copacabana ."...
song, "I Write The Songs
I Write the Songs
"I Write the Songs" is a popular song written by Bruce Johnston in 1975 and made famous by Barry Manilow. Manilow's version reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in January 1976 after spending two weeks atop the Billboard adult contemporary chart in December 1975...
"), a satirical song that expressed frustration over black actresses (and herself) being typecast as maids in films and on television shows. Ironically, one of Danitra Vance's celebrity impersonations was of Cicely Tyson
Cicely Tyson
Cicely Tyson is an American actress. A successful stage actress, Tyson is also known for her Oscar-nominated role in the film Sounder and the television movies The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman and Roots....
(in The Pee Wee Herman Thanksgiving Special sketch), who never played film or TV roles that stereotyped black women.
Perhaps adding to her frustration was her dyslexia
Dyslexia
Dyslexia is a very broad term defining a learning disability that impairs a person's fluency or comprehension accuracy in being able to read, and which can manifest itself as a difficulty with phonological awareness, phonological decoding, orthographic coding, auditory short-term memory, or rapid...
which, according to an SNL Trivial Pursuit
Trivial Pursuit
Trivial Pursuit is a board game in which progress is determined by a player's ability to answer general knowledge and popular culture questions. The game was created in 1979 in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, by Canadian Chris Haney, a photo editor for Montreal's The Gazette and Scott Abbott, a sports...
question and testimony from Al Franken
Al Franken
Alan Stuart "Al" Franken is the junior United States Senator from Minnesota. He is a member of the Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party, which affiliates with the national Democratic Party....
for the book Live From New York: The Uncensored History of Saturday Night Live, made it hard for her to read from cue card
Cue card
Cue cards, also known as note cards or idiot cards, are cards with words written on them that help actors and speakers remember what they have to say. They are typically used in television productions where they can be held off-camera and are unseen by the audience...
s and memorize lines (though it wasn't made apparent in most of her appearances).
Vance ultimately chose to leave SNL at the end of the season (along with many other cast members from that season who were fired, including Joan Cusack
Joan Cusack
Joan Mary Cusack is an American film, stage and television actress. Throughout her career, Cusack has appeared in many films as well as appearing in stage productions....
, Robert Downey, Jr., Randy Quaid
Randy Quaid
Randall Rudy "Randy" Quaid is an American actor perhaps best known for his role as Cousin Eddie in the National Lampoon's Vacation movies, as well as his numerous supporting roles in films, including his Oscar nominated performance in The Last Detail, Independence Day, Kingpin and Brokeback Mountain...
, Terry Sweeney
Terry Sweeney
Terry Sweeney is an American writer, comedian and actor.-Saturday Night Live:Sweeney is best known for his appearances as a regular cast member of Saturday Night Live during that program's 1985-86 season....
-- another cast member who was hired for the 1985-1986 cast—and Anthony Michael Hall
Anthony Michael Hall
Michael Anthony Hall , known professionally as Anthony Michael Hall, is an American actor, film producer and director who starred in several teen-oriented films of the 1980s. Hall began his career in commercials and on stage as a child, and made his screen debut in 1980...
).
Recurring characters on SNL
- That Black Girl, a black actress looking to hit the big time (parody of the Marlo Thomas sitcom That GirlThat GirlThat Girl is an American television situation comedy that ran on ABC from 1966 to 1971. It stars Marlo Thomas as the title character, Ann Marie, an aspiring actress, who had moved from her hometown of Brewster, New York to make it big in New York City...
) - Cabrini Green Jackson, a professional teenage mother who gives advice on pregnancy.
Celebrity impersonations
- Diahann Carroll in a spoof of DynastyDynasty (TV series)Dynasty is an American prime time television soap opera that aired on ABC from January 12, 1981 to May 11, 1989. It was created by Richard & Esther Shapiro and produced by Aaron Spelling, and revolved around the Carringtons, a wealthy oil family living in Denver, Colorado...
- Lola FalanaLola FalanaLola Falana is an American singer, dancer, and actress of Cuban and African American descent. Falana's father left Cuba to become a welder in the United States, where he met his wife...
- Cicely TysonCicely TysonCicely Tyson is an American actress. A successful stage actress, Tyson is also known for her Oscar-nominated role in the film Sounder and the television movies The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman and Roots....
- Leslie UggamsLeslie UggamsLeslie Uggams is an American actress and singer, perhaps best known for her work in Hallelujah, Baby! She is a member of Delta Sigma Theta sorority.-Singing:...
Other work
She was awarded an NAACP Image AwardNAACP Image Award
An NAACP Image Award is an accolade presented by the American National Association for the Advancement of Colored People to honor outstanding people of color in film, television, music, and literature....
in 1986 and later won an Obie Award
Obie Award
The Obie Awards or Off-Broadway Theater Awards are annual awards given by The Village Voice newspaper to theatre artists and groups in New York City...
for her performance in the theatrical adaptation of Spunk, a collection of short stories written by Zora Neale Hurston
Zora Neale Hurston
Zora Neale Hurston was an American folklorist, anthropologist, and author during the time of the Harlem Renaissance...
.
Vance was the second female lead opposite Nancy Allen
Nancy Allen (actress)
Nancy Anne Allen is a Golden Globe nominated American actress and cancer activist.Allen began an acting and modelling career as a child, and from the mid-1970s appeared in small film roles, most notably the anchor of Robert Zemeckis's ensemble comedy I Wanna Hold Your Hand...
in Limit Up
Limit Up (film)
Limit Up is the title of a 1989 film starring Nancy Allen as Chicago commodities trader Casey Falls. The film was directed by Richard Martini and produced by Jonathan D. Krane...
, where she played a guardian angel on assignment for God being played by Ray Charles
Ray Charles
Ray Charles Robinson , known by his shortened stage name Ray Charles, was an American musician. He was a pioneer in the genre of soul music during the 1950s by fusing rhythm and blues, gospel, and blues styles into his early recordings with Atlantic Records...
. She had small roles in The War of the Roses
The War of The Roses
The War of the Roses is a novel by Warren Adler.http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9806E0D91138F93BA15755C0A967948260-Plot introduction:...
and Little Man Tate
Little Man Tate
Little Man Tate is a 1991 motion picture drama directed by and starring Jodie Foster.It tells the story of Fred Tate, a 7-year-old child prodigy who struggles to self-actualize in a social and psychological construct that largely fails to accommodate his intelligence...
and a more significant role in Jumpin' at the Boneyard, for which she was nominated for an Independent Spirit Award.
Death
Diagnosed with breast cancerBreast cancer
Breast cancer is cancer originating from breast tissue, most commonly from the inner lining of milk ducts or the lobules that supply the ducts with milk. Cancers originating from ducts are known as ductal carcinomas; those originating from lobules are known as lobular carcinomas...
in 1990, Vance underwent a single mastectomy
Mastectomy
Mastectomy is the medical term for the surgical removal of one or both breasts, partially or completely. Mastectomy is usually done to treat breast cancer; in some cases, women and some men believed to be at high risk of breast cancer have the operation prophylactically, that is, to prevent cancer...
and incorporated the experience into a solo skit, "The Radical Girl's Guide to Radical Mastectomy." The cancer recurred in 1993 and she died of the disease the following year in Markham, Illinois
Markham, Illinois
Markham is a city in Cook County, Illinois, United States. The population was 12,620 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Markham is located at .According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of , all of it land....
. She was survived by her longtime companion, Ms. Jones Miller.
Filmography
| Film | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Film | Role | Notes |
| 1988 | Sticky Fingers' | Evanston | |
| 1989 | Limit Up Limit Up (film) Limit Up is the title of a 1989 film starring Nancy Allen as Chicago commodities trader Casey Falls. The film was directed by Richard Martini and produced by Jonathan D. Krane... |
Nike | |
| The War of the Roses The War of the Roses (film) The War of the Roses is a 1989 American comedy film based upon the 1981 novel The War of the Roses by Warren Adler. It is a black comedy about a wealthy couple with a seemingly perfect marriage. When their marriage begins to fall apart, material possessions become the center of an outrageous and... |
Manicurist Trainee | ||
| 1991 | Hangin' with the Homeboys Hangin' with the Homeboys Hangin' with the Homeboys is a 1991 American coming-of-age comedy-drama film directed by Joseph Vasquez. It premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in 1991. It was released by New Line Cinema.-Synopsis:... |
Pool hall couple | |
| Little Man Tate Little Man Tate Little Man Tate is a 1991 motion picture drama directed by and starring Jodie Foster.It tells the story of Fred Tate, a 7-year-old child prodigy who struggles to self-actualize in a social and psychological construct that largely fails to accommodate his intelligence... |
Clinic doctor | ||
| 1992 | Jumpin' at the Boneyard | Jeanette | |
| Television | |||
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 1985–1986 | Saturday Night Live Saturday Night Live Saturday Night Live is a live American late-night television sketch comedy and variety show developed by Lorne Michaels and Dick Ebersol. The show premiered on NBC on October 11, 1975, under the original title of NBC's Saturday Night.The show's sketches often parody contemporary American culture... |
Various | 18 episodes |
| 1987 | Miami Vice Miami Vice Miami Vice is an American television series produced by Michael Mann for NBC. The series starred Don Johnson and Philip Michael Thomas as two Metro-Dade Police Department detectives working undercover in Miami. It ran for five seasons on NBC from 1984–1989... |
Annette McAllister | 1 episode |
| 1989 | The Cover Girl and the Cop | Television movie | |
| Trying Times | Emma St. John | 1 episode | |
| 1990 | Sisters | Brenda | Television movie |
| 1991 | Great Performances Great Performances Great Performances, a television series devoted to the performing arts, has been telecast on Public Broadcasting Service public television since 1972... |
Miss Pat/The Woman/Normal Jean Reynolds | 1 episode |
External links
- Biography from the website of the Los Angeles Women's Theatre Festival