Given her stunning looks, it's fitting that Lathan's first name means "work of art" in Swahili. Happily, this bombshell's talent is equal to her aesthetic appeal. The daughter of a Broadway hoofer and a veteran TV director, this "work of art" was inevitably artistically inclined, studying dance and acting as a child. After graduating from the Yale School of Drama, she guested on a number of TV shows, eventually winning a series-regular spot in 1998 on the short-lived
Nightline spoof
Lateline. That same year, Lathan made much more of an impression with a small but memorably oedipal part as Wesley Snipes' mama in the vampire flick
Blade. A string of successively larger roles in African-American-oriented movies upped her profile, two of them---1999's
The Wood and 2000's
Love & Basketball---opposite her then-boyfriend, Omar Epps. In the latter, she and Epps were perfectly matched physically as both lovers and competitive athletes, and Lathan won a number of awards (Image, Black Reel and BET) for her multifaceted performance. But it was her turn as a butt-kicking beauty in the wildly successful 2004 thriller
Alien vs. Predator that made her a familiar face to the masses, even if the flick showed off her body more than her brains. A Tony-nominated turn in the Broadway revival of
A Raisin in the Sun that same year proved she could still deliver a thoughtful performance. In 2006, she signed on to the sexy series
Nip/Tuck as the mysterious boss of two morally challenged plastic surgeons, and in 2009, she began voice-over work on Fox's
The Cleveland Show.
Sanaa Lathan Fast Facts:
- Sanaa is Swahili for "work of art."
- Her father, Stan Lathan, directed series including Sanford and Son, Barney Miller and Hill Street Blues; her mother, Eleanor McCoy, was a New York stage actress and dancer.
- Began her acting career with guest roles on TV shows including Family Matters, NYPD Blue and In the House.
- Received an NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Actress in a Motion Picture for 2000's Love & Basketball.
- Gained 20 pounds for her role in the 2000 TV-movie Disappearing Acts.
- In 2004, starred on Broadway in A Raisin in the Sun, opposite Sean Combs and Phylicia Rashad. She received a Tony nomination for her performance.
- Provides the voice of Donna Tubbs on The Cleveland Show.
- Sanaa Lathan Relationships:
- Ariel Lathan - Half Sister
- Colette Lathan - Half Sister
- Eleanor McCoy - Mother
- Liliane Lathan - Half Sister
- Omar Epps - Ex-significant Other
- Stan Lathan - Father
- Tendaji - Stepbrother
- Sanaa Lathan Awards:
- 2004 Tony: Actress (Featured Role--Play) - Nominee
- College:
- University of California, Berkeley, CA (BA in English); Yale University, School of Drama, New Haven, CT (MFA)