Lynn Hamilton (actress)

For other people with the same name, see Lynn Hamilton (disambiguation).

Lynn Hamilton (born April 25, 1930)^[1] is an American retired actress whose acting debut came in 1959 in John Cassavetes' Shadows. She is best known for her recurring role as Donna Harris; Fred's girlfriend and later fiancée on the sitcom Sanford and Son (1972–1977) Cousin Georgia Anderson in Roots The Next Generation, and as Verdie Foster on The Waltons. She also appeared on the detective series Mannix in the season 3 episode 13 as the wife of a police detective who hires Mannix to save her son.

Lynn Hamilton
Hamilton attending The Waltons 40th Anniversary celebration, 2012
Born	(1930-04-25) April 25, 1930 (age 95) Yazoo City, Mississippi, U.S.
Occupation	Actress
Years active	1958–2009
Known for	Donna Harris – Sanford and Son
Spouse	Frank S. Jenkins ​ ​ (m. 1964; died 2014)​
Children	1

Early years

Hamilton was born Alzenia Lynn Hamilton in Yazoo City, Mississippi, to Nancy^[2] and Louis Hamilton and moved to Chicago Heights, Illinois, when she was twelve years old.^[3] She attended Bloom High School.^[2][4] She studied acting at Goodman Theatre.^[5]

Career

Hamilton began her career in community theatre in Chicago and debuted on Broadway in Only in America in 1959.^[6] She appeared in three other Broadway plays, many Off-Broadway plays and spent three years with the New York Shakespeare Festival.^[5]

From 1972 to 1977, after an initial credited one-time appearance in the seventh episode of the series as a landlady, Hamilton starred as Fred Sanford's girlfriend and on again/off again fiancée Donna Harris on the television sitcom Sanford and Son. Donna was a nurse and sometimes took care of Fred. When the show returned in 1980 under a reworked title Sanford (TV series), Hamilton was not asked to return and her character was written out of the series.^[7][8] There are many internet claims that she was the younger sister of actress LaWanda Page, who portrayed Esther Anderson on Sanford and Son, confirmed only via LaWanda Page's obituary in the Los Angeles Times. However, they are neither related nor sisters, though they became good friends.^[9]

In addition to Hamilton's role on Sanford and Son, she also had a recurring role as Verdie Grant Foster on The Waltons,^[7] and made numerous appearances in television sitcoms, soap operas and miniseries such as Good Times, 227, Dangerous Women, Generations, Port Charles, The Golden Girls, Gunsmoke (guest starring as ”Mother Tabitha” in the 1969 episode “The Sisters” (S15E14), and Roots: The Next Generations. Hamilton also appeared in the show Barnaby Jones, playing a character named Laura Padget, in episode titled "Sunday: Doomsday" on February 4, 1973. Hamilton also had a recurring role as Judge Fulton on The Practice.^{[citation needed]}

Personal life

Hamilton was married to poet and playwright Frank Jenkins for 49 years, from November 1964 until his death in August 2014.^[4][10] LaWanda Page, who costarred with Hamilton on Sanford and Son, had a younger sister coincidentally also named "Lynn Hamilton". This caused a rumor that the two actresses were sisters. Series lead Demond Wilson confirmed the rumor to be false in 2016.^[11]

Filmography

Year	Title	Role actress - Cousin Georgia Anderson	Notes
1958	Shadows	Girl at Party
1960	The New Girl	Miss Thompson (Secretary)	Short film
1971	Brother John	Sarah
1971	The Seven Minutes	Avis
1972	Buck and the Preacher	Sarah
1972	Lady Sings the Blues	Aunt Ida
1972–1977	Sanford and Son	Donna Harris (Recurring Role)
1973–1981	The Waltons	Verdie Foster (Recurring Role)
1974	Hangup	Mrs. Ramsey
1976	Leadbelly	Sally Ledbetter
1984	The Jesse Owens Story	Mamma Solomon	TV movie
1986–1989	227	Emma Johnson (Recurring role)
1986	Legal Eagles	Doreen
1993	The Vanishing	Miss Carmichael
1998	Moesha	Ruth Mitchell
2003	Beah: A Black Woman Speaks	Dr. Oberholser