Octavia Spencer
| Octavia Spencer | |
|---|---|
 Spencer at the White House in 2016 | |
| Born | Octavia Lenora Spencer (1972-05-25) May 25, 1972 Montgomery, Alabama, U.S. |
| Other names | Octavia L. Spencer |
| Alma mater | Auburn University |
| Occupation | Actress, author |
| Years active | 1996–present |
| Awards | Full list |
Octavia Lenora Spencer (born May 25, 1972)[1] is an American actress and author. She is the recipient of several accolades, including an Academy Award, a British Academy Film Award, and a Golden Globe Award. She is one of two black actresses to have received three Academy Award nominations and is the only black actress to receive two consecutive nominations.[2]
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 Help, for which she won several awards, including the Academy Award, Golden Globe, and BAFTA for Best Supporting Actress. For her performance in Ryan Coogler's drama Fruitvale Station (2013), she received the National Board of Review Award for Best Supporting Actress.
Spencer went on to appear in such films as Smashed (2012), Snowpiercer (2013), Get on Up (2014), The Divergent Series (2015–2016), and Gifted (2017). She received Academy Award nominations for Best Supporting Actress for playing two more women in 1960s America, the mathematician Dorothy Vaughan in the biographical drama film Hidden Figures (2016) and a cleaning woman in the romantic dark fantasy drama film The Shape of Water (2017).
As an author, Spencer has started a children's book series titled 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).[3]
Contents
1 Early life
2 Career
3 Filmography
3.1 Film
3.2 Television
4 Awards and nominations
5 See also
6 References
7 External links
Early life
Octavia Lenora Spencer[4] was born in Montgomery, Alabama, and has six siblings, including sisters Rosa and Areka.[5] Her mother, Dellsena Spencer (1945-1988),[6] worked as a maid.[7] Her father died when she was thirteen.[8] Spencer graduated from Jefferson Davis High School in 1988.[9] She studied at Auburn University at Montgomery,[10] and graduated from Auburn University, where she majored in English with a double minor in journalism and theater.[11] Spencer has dyslexia.[12]
Career
Spencer worked as an intern on the set of The Long Walk Home, a film starring Whoopi Goldberg.[13] In 1997 she moved to Los Angeles on the advice of her friend Tate Taylor, the future director of The Help, in which Spencer would later star.[14]
Spencer made her film debut as a nurse in Joel Schumacher's A Time to Kill, based on the book by John Grisham. She was originally hired to work on casting, but asked Schumacher if she could audition for a part.[15] Other film credits include: Never Been Kissed, Big Momma's House, Bad Santa, Spider-Man, Coach Carter, Win a Date with Tad Hamilton! and Pretty Ugly People. She has made a number of guest appearances on television series, including Raising the Bar, CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, The Big Bang Theory, Wizards of Waverly Place, Grounded for Life, ER, Titus, Becker, 30 Rock and Dharma & Greg, plus a recurring role on Mom. She is best known for her starring roles as Serenity Johnson on Comedy Central's Halfway Home, and Constance Grady, the amorous INS caseworker on Ugly Betty.
In 2003, Spencer made her stage debut in Los Angeles, in Del Shores' play, The Trials and Tribulations of a Trailer Trash Housewife, starring opposite veteran actress Beth Grant. It was her first and only play, as, she once explained, she suffers from what she called "intense stage fright".[16] Later that year, she starred opposite Allison Janney in Tate Taylor's short feature Chicken Party.
The Help cast at 18th Screen Actors Guild Awards (Spencer in the middle)
In 2008, Spencer's brief appearance in Seven Pounds as Kate, Rosario Dawson's home care nurse, garnered her high praise and media attention.[17] In April 2009, Entertainment Weekly listed Spencer as among its "25 Funniest Actresses in Hollywood."[18]
In August 2009, Spencer appeared in Rob Zombie's Halloween II. She also had a role in the American remake of the Danish classic Love at First Hiccup, opposite Scout Taylor-Compton. Spencer starred in the feature film Herpes Boy, alongside Beth Grant, Ahna O'Reilly and Byron Lane. She played the voice of "Minny" on the audio version of novel The Help, by Kathryn Stockett. Later that year, Spencer's short film The Captain was honored by the CICFF as a finalist for the REEL Poetry Award.
In August 2010, Spencer joined Viola Davis, Emma Stone and Bryce Dallas Howard in The Help, an adaptation of the novel. She played the feisty and unflappable Minny Jackson. The film was written, produced and directed by Tate Taylor, and produced by Brunson Green, Chris Columbus, Michael Barnathan, and Mark Radcliffe. She won the 2012 Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress – Motion Picture for her work in The Help.[19] On February 12, 2012, Spencer won a BAFTA for Best Supporting Actress for her Performance in The Help, and on February 26 she won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for the same performance; it was her first Oscar nomination and first win. Spencer was given a standing ovation at the ceremony, and was moved to tears during her acceptance speech. In June 2012, Spencer was invited to join the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.[20]
In 2013, she appeared alongside Michael B. Jordan in Fruitvale Station, a film chronicling the last day of Oscar Grant, who was killed at a Bay Area Rapid Transit station in 2009.[21]
In September 2013, it was announced that she would reunite with The Help director Tate Taylor in the biopic on singer James Brown Get On Up, opposite her The Help co-star Viola Davis. The film was released in 2014.[22] From September 2014 until February 2015, she starred in Steven Spielberg's Fox drama television series Red Band Society.[23]
Spencer co-starred alongside Kevin Costner in the drama film Black or White (2014)[24] and co-starred as Johanna Reyes in the second installment of the Divergent series, The Divergent Series: Insurgent (2015).[25] She reprised the role in The Divergent Series: Allegiant (2016). She voiced an otter, Mrs. Otterton, in Disney's Zootopia, which marks her first animated film.
Spencer at the Hidden Figures premiere in 2016
In 2016, she starred alongside Taraji P. Henson and Janelle Monáe in Hidden Figures, a film about African-American mathematicians at NASA who were critical to its success in the 1960s in the Space Race, and who each had careers there. She played mathematician and human computer Dorothy Vaughan. The role garnered her a Golden Globe Award and Screen Actors Guild Award for her performance and earned Spencer a second nomination for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress, making her the only black actress to follow up an Oscar victory with another nomination, having previously won for The Help.[2] In honor of Martin Luther King Jr. Day, Spencer bought out a Los Angeles screening of Hidden Figures to treat low-income families that would have been unable to afford to see the film otherwise.[26]
In 2017, Spencer co-starred with Sally Hawkins in Guillermo del Toro's fantasy drama film The Shape of Water, which follows a mute custodian at a high-security government laboratory who befriends a captured humanoid-amphibian creature. The film was screened in the main competition section of the 74th Venice International Film Festival, where it premiered to positive reviews on August 31, 2017,[27] and was awarded the Golden Lion for best film in the competition.[28] It also screened at the 2017 Toronto International Film Festival.[29] Spencer earned Golden Globe and BAFTA Award nominations for her portrayal, while receiving her third Academy Award nomination in the Best Supporting Actress category, making her the first black actress to receive two consecutive Oscar nods in back-to-back years as well as the most nominated black actress to date, along with The Help co-star Viola Davis.[2]
Filmography
Film
| Year | Title | Role | Director(s) | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1996 | A Time to Kill | Roark's Nurse | Joel Schumacher | |
| 1997 | The 6th Man | Nativity Watson | Randall Miller | |
| 1997 | Sparkler | Wanda | ||
| 1999 | Never Been Kissed | Cynthia | Raja Gosnell | |
| 1999 | Being John Malkovich | Woman in Elevator | Spike Jonze | |
| 1999 | Blue Streak | Shawna | Les Mayfield | |
| 2000 | The Sky Is Falling | Nurse No. 2 | Florrie Laurence | |
| 2000 | Everything Put Together | Nurse B | Marc Forster | |
| 2000 | American Virgin | Agnes Large | Jean-Pierre Marois | |
| 2000 | What Planet Are You From? | Baby Nurse | Mike Nichols | |
| 2000 | Auto Motives | Rhonda | ||
| 2000 | Big Momma's House | Twila | Raja Gosnell | |
| 2000 | Four Dogs Playing Poker | Waitress | Paul Rachman | |
| 2001 | Sol Goode | Unemployment Clerk | Danny Comden | |
| 2001 | The Journeyman | Black Belly | ||
| 2002 | Spider-Man | Check-In Girl | Sam Raimi | |
| 2003 | Legally Blonde 2: Red, White & Blonde | Security Guard | Charles Herman-Wurmfeld | |
| 2003 | S.W.A.T. | Neighbor in Alley | Clark Johnson | |
| 2003 | Chicken Party | Laqueta Mills | Tate Taylor | |
| 2003 | Bad Santa | Opal | Terry Zwigoff | |
| 2004 | Win a Date with Tad Hamilton! | Janine | Robert Luketic | |
| 2004 | Breakin' All the Rules | Stylist | Daniel Taplitz | |
| 2005 | Coach Carter | Mrs. Battle | Thomas Carter | |
| 2005 | Pretty Persuasion | Woman | Marcos Siega | |
| 2005 | Marilyn Hotchkiss' Ballroom Dancing and Charm School | Ayisha Lebaron | Randall Miller | |
| 2005 | Miss Congeniality 2: Armed and Fabulous | Octavia – Bookstore | John Pasquin | |
| 2005 | Beauty Shop | Big Customer | Bille Woodruff | |
| 2005 | Wannabe | Lady Chanet Janney Jones | ||
| 2006 | Pulse | Landlady | Jim Sonzero | |
| 2007 | The Nines | Streetwalker | ||
| 2008 | Next of Kin | Grace | ||
| 2008 | Pretty Ugly People | Mary | Tate Taylor | |
| 2008 | The Spleenectomy | Nurse | ||
| 2008 | Seven Pounds | Kate (Home Health Care Nurse) | Gabriele Muccino | |
| 2009 | The First Time (Love At First Hiccup) | Mrs. Hambrick | Barbara Topsøe-Rothenborg | |
| 2009 | Drag Me to Hell | Bank Co-Worker No. 1 | Sam Raimi | |
| 2009 | Jesus People: The Movie | Angel Angelique | ||
| 2009 | The Soloist | Troubled Woman | Joe Wright | |
| 2009 | Just Peck | Detention Room Teacher | Michael A. Nickles | |
| 2009 | Halloween II | Nurse Daniels | Rob Zombie | |
| 2009 | Herpes Boy | Rochelle | ||
| 2009 | Small Town Saturday Night | Rhonda Dooley | Ryan Craig | |
| 2010 | Dinner for Schmucks | Madame Nora | Jay Roach | |
| 2011 | The Help | Minny Jackson | Tate Taylor | Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress |
| 2011 | Peep World | Allison | Barry W. Blaustein | |
| 2011 | Flypaper | Madge Wiggins | Rob Minkoff | |
| 2012 | Blues for Willadean | LaSonia Robinson | Del Shores | |
| 2012 | Smashed | Jenny | James Ponsoldt | |
| 2013 | Fruitvale Station | Wanda | Ryan Coogler | Also co-executive producer |
| 2013 | Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters | Martha | Thor Freudenthal | Voice |
| 2013 | Snowpiercer | Tanya | Bong Joon-ho | |
| 2013 | Paradise | Loray | Diablo Cody | |
| 2014 | Get On Up | Aunt Honey Washington | Tate Taylor | |
| 2015 | The Great Gilly Hopkins | Miss Harris | Stephen Herek | |
| 2015 | Black or White | Rowena Jeffers | Mike Binder | |
| 2015 | The Divergent Series: Insurgent | Johanna Reyes | Robert Schwentke | |
| 2015 | Fathers and Daughters | Dr. Korman | Gabriele Muccino | |
| 2016 | Zootopia | Mrs. Otterton | Byron Howard & Rich Moore | Voice |
| 2016 | The Divergent Series: Allegiant | Johanna Reyes | Robert Schwentke | |
| 2016 | The Free World | Linda Workman | Jason Lew | |
| 2016 | Bad Santa 2 | Opal | Mark Waters | |
| 2016 | Hidden Figures | Dorothy Vaughan | Theodore Melfi | Nominated–Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress |
| 2017 | The Shack | Papa | Stuart Hazeldine | |
| 2017 | Small Town Crime | Kelly Banks | Eshom Nelms & Ian Nelms | Also executive producer |
| 2017 | Gifted | Roberta Taylor | Marc Webb | |
| 2017 | The Shape of Water | Zelda Fuller | Guillermo del Toro | Nominated–Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress |
| 2018 | A Kid Like Jake | Judith "Judy" Lawson | Silas Howard | |
| 2018 | Instant Family | Karen | Sean Anders | |
| 2019 | Luce | Julius Onah | In post-production | |
| 2019 | Ma | Tate Taylor | In post-production | |
| 2020 | The Voyage of Doctor Dolittle | Dab-Dab (voice) | Stephen Gaghan | In post-production |
Television
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1997 | 413 Hope St. | Job Counselor #1 | Episode: "Pilot" |
| 1998 | Moesha | Gloria | Episode: "Teacher" |
| 1998 | To Have & to Hold | Clerk | Episode: "Right My Fire" |
| 1998 | ER | Maria Jones | Episode: "Hazed and Confused" |
| 1999 | Brimstone | Duty Nurse | Episode: "Faces" |
| 1999 | Lansky | Evelyn the Maid | TV movie |
| 1999 | L.A. Doctors | Bus Driver | Episode: "Forty-Eight Minutes" |
| 1999 | Chicago Hope | Nurse Jane | Episode: "Oh What a Piece of Work Is Man" |
| 1999 | Roswell | Nurse | Episode: "Leaving Normal" |
| 1999 | The X-Files | Nurse Octavia | Episode: "Millennium" |
| 2000 | Missing Pieces | Elegant Guest | TV movie |
| 2000 | Just Shoot Me! | Nurse | Episode: "Finch on Ice" |
| 2000 | Becker | Ticket Woman | Episode: "One Wong Move" |
| 2000 | Malcolm in the Middle | Cashier | Episode: "High School Play" |
| 2000 | City of Angels | Nurse Bernice | 5 episodes |
| 2001 | Grounded for Life | Admitting Nurse | Episode: "Jimmy's Got a Gun" |
| 2001 | Follow the Stars Home | Hildy | TV movie |
| 2001 | Dharma & Greg | Gloria | Episode: "Wish We Weren't Here" |
| 2001–2002 | The Chronicle | Ruby Rydell | 6 episodes |
| 2001–2002 | Titus | Ms. Alice Hays | 2 episodes |
| 2002 | Little John | Waitress | TV movie |
| 2002 | Presidio Med | Sheryl Washington | Episode: "Do No Harm" |
| 2002–2005 | NYPD Blue | Dawna Cahill / Eleanor Jackson | 2 episodes |
| 2004–2005 | LAX | Flight Attendant | 6 episodes |
| 2005 | CSI: NY | Child Welfare Rep | Episode: "On the Job" |
| 2005 | Medium | Jurist | Episode: "Judge, Jury and Executioner" |
| 2006 | Huff | Demetria | Episode: "Red Meat" |
| 2006 | Standoff | Rapid Air Clerk | Episode: "Pilot" |
| 2006–2007 | The Minor Accomplishments of Jackie Woodman | Cheryl / Female Security Guard | 4 episodes |
| 2007 | Ugly Betty | Constance Grady | 4 episodes |
| 2007 | Halfway Home | Serenity Johnson | 10 episodes |
| 2008 | Wizards of Waverly Place | Dr. Evilini | 2 episodes |
| 2008 | CSI: Crime Scene Investigation | Sherry | Episode: "Drops' Out" |
| 2008 | The Big Bang Theory | DMV Employee | Episode: "The Euclid Alternative" |
| 2009 | Worst Week | Nurse | Episode: "The Epidural" |
| 2009 | Dollhouse | Professor Jackie | Episode: "Echoes" |
| 2009 | Raising the Bar | Arvina Watkins | 5 episodes |
| 2010 | Hawthorne | Emily Thomkins | Episode: "Afterglow" |
| 2013 | 30 Rock | Herself | Episode: "Game Over" |
| 2013 | American Dad! | Shonteeva (voice) | Episode: "For Black Eyes Only" |
| 2013 | Call Me Crazy: A Five Film | Dr. Nance | TV movie |
| 2013–2015 | Mom | Regina | Recurring; 9 episodes |
| 2014–2015 | Red Band Society | Nurse Dena Jackson | Main role; 13 episodes |
| 2015 | Drunk History | Harriet Tubman | Episode: "Spies" |
| 2017 | Saturday Night Live | Herself (host) | Episode: "Octavia Spencer/Father John Misty" |
Awards and nominations
Spencer has received three nominations for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress, including one win. She is the first black actress to receive two consecutive Academy Award nominations in back-to-back years, the first black actress to receive two Academy Award nominations after a win, and is tied with Viola Davis as the most nominated black actress to date.[2]
She has also won three Screen Actors Guild Awards, three National Board of Review Awards, two Satellite Awards, two Critics' Choice Movie Awards, a Golden Globe Award, and a BAFTA Award.
See also
- List of actors with two or more Academy Award nominations in acting categories
References
^ "Octavia Spencer Biography: Film Actress, Television Actress (1972–)". Biography.com (FYI / A&E Networks). Archived from the original on August 11, 2016. Retrieved January 16, 2017..mw-parser-output cite.citationfont-style:inherit.mw-parser-output qquotes:"""""""'""'".mw-parser-output code.cs1-codecolor:inherit;background:inherit;border:inherit;padding:inherit.mw-parser-output .cs1-lock-free abackground:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/65/Lock-green.svg/9px-Lock-green.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center.mw-parser-output .cs1-lock-limited a,.mw-parser-output .cs1-lock-registration abackground:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d6/Lock-gray-alt-2.svg/9px-Lock-gray-alt-2.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center.mw-parser-output .cs1-lock-subscription abackground:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/aa/Lock-red-alt-2.svg/9px-Lock-red-alt-2.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registrationcolor:#555.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription span,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration spanborder-bottom:1px dotted;cursor:help.mw-parser-output .cs1-hidden-errordisplay:none;font-size:100%.mw-parser-output .cs1-visible-errorfont-size:100%.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration,.mw-parser-output .cs1-formatfont-size:95%.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-left,.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-wl-leftpadding-left:0.2em.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-right,.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-wl-rightpadding-right:0.2em
^ abcd Nolfi, Joey (2018-01-23). "Oscars: Octavia Spencer makes history with The Shape of Water nomination". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved 2018-01-23.
^ "Octavia Spencer's first book, 'Randi Rhodes, Ninja Detective". USA Today. January 2013. Retrieved February 21, 2015.
^ "Octavia Spencer before she was a star". Montgomery/Dothan, Alabama: WSFA. February 26, 2012. Archived from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved January 16, 2017.
^ Shanahan, Mark; Goldstein, Meredith (January 17, 2012). "Areka Spencer Thrilled for Sister". The Boston Globe. Archived from the original on September 25, 2017. Retrieved February 2, 2015.
^ Public Record of Dellsena Spencer retrieved 2/21/2015
^ Calkin, Jessamy (July 16, 2009). "The maid's tale: Kathryn Stockett examines slavery and racism in America's Deep South". The Daily Telegraph. London.
^ "Octavia Spencer interview: The Help star and Oscar winner on becoming". Retrieved November 2, 2018.
^ "Local News - The Montgomery Advertiser - montgomeryadvertiser.com". February 21, 2015. Archived from the original on February 21, 2015.CS1 maint: BOT: original-url status unknown (link)
^ Carlton, Bob (August 7, 2011). "Montgomery actress Octavia Spencer may become a star with The Help". The Birmingham News. Retrieved February 28, 2012.
^ Greene, Teri (August 14, 2011). "Montgomery native stars in 'The Help'". Retrieved July 8, 2012.
^ "Chris Evans, Octavia Spencer and Mckenna Grace open up about 'Gifted'" (Video). Good Morning America. April 6, 2017. Retrieved April 8, 2017 – via Youtube.
^ Dreier, Peter (February 27, 2012). "Will The Help's Oscar Revive Interest in The Long Walk Home?". Huffington Post. Retrieved May 25, 2012.
^ Onstad, Katrina (2016-11-03). "Octavia Spencer Cracks a Few Hollywood Equations". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2017-04-03.
^ Riley, Jenelle (April 5, 2005). "Octavia Spencer: The Quip Queen". allbusiness.com. Retrieved August 8, 2011.
^ Riley, Jenelle (August 8, 2011). "How Octavia Spencer Landed the Role of a Lifetime". Backstage. Archived from the original on March 16, 2016. Retrieved August 8, 2011.
^ Rosen, Lisa (February 4, 2009). "Big impressions in brief roles". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved June 27, 2011.
^ "Octavia Spencer – The 25 Funniest Actresses in Hollywood". Entertainment Weekly. 13 April 2009. Retrieved June 27, 2011.
^ "Could Viola Davis, Emma Stone & Octavia Spencer Get Oscar Nods for 'The Help'?" from iVillage website
^ Thompson, Arienne (June 29, 2012). "McConaughey, Spencer invited to join Academy". USA Today. Retrieved July 19, 2013.
^ Kit, Borys (April 17, 2012). "Oscar Winner Octavia Spencer to Star in Movie About Controversial Police Killing (Exclusive)". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved July 19, 2013.
^ "Tate Taylor Reunites With 'The Help's Viola Davis, Octavia Spencer On James Brown Pic". Deadline. September 30, 2013. Retrieved October 23, 2013.
^ Chris Harnick. "Red Band Society Stars Octavia Spencer and Dave Annable on Looking for Life and Laughs in Sickness and Tragedy". E Oline. Retrieved 18 September 2014.
^ "Octavia Spencer Will Battle Kevin Costner For Custody In Drama 'Black And White'". indiewire.com. 8 May 2013. Retrieved 18 July 2013.
^ "CASTING NEWS: Octavia Spencer To Play Johanna In 'Insurgent'". Archived from the original on November 13, 2014. Retrieved September 18, 2014.
^ "'Hidden Figures' Stars Octavia Spencer & Taraji P. Henson Share the Love After Another Big Box Office Weekend". Entertainment Tonight. Retrieved 2017-04-03.
^ Anderson, Ariston (July 27, 2017). "Venice Competition Includes Films From George Clooney, Guillermo del Toro, Darren Aronofsky". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved July 27, 2017.
^ "Guillermo del Toro's The Shape of Water wins Venice Golden Lion". The Guardian. Retrieved September 9, 2017.
^ "Toronto Film Festival 2017 Unveils Strong Slate". Deadline Hollywood. Penske Business Media, LLC. Retrieved July 25, 2017.
External links
 | Wikimedia Commons has media related to Octavia Spencer. |
Octavia Spencer on IMDb
"Perfect Casting", BlogStage, Backstage magazine, May 2010
"Octavia Spencer's Surprising Post-Oscars Splurge". Parade. February 22, 2012. Archived from the original on February 26, 2012 – via Kitsap Sun (Bremerton, Washington)....the 39-year old...
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