Latest news with #LynnHamilton
New York Times
22-07-2025
- Health
- New York Times
Empathy and Justice in Global Health
To the Editor: Re 'Why We Risk Ourselves to Care for Others,' by Craig Spencer (Opinion guest essay, July 11): Perhaps I'm not the only one who cried at the end of Dr. Spencer's eloquent portrayal in support of the moral argument for global health. As a nurse, I recognize the congruence of his tenderness in treating a person with Ebola — as well as his own experience of a similar humane touch when he, too, suffered — with nursing's own Code of Ethics. His example epitomized the first provision of that code: 'The nurse practices with compassion and respect for the inherent dignity, worth and unique attributes of every person.' I stand with him and so many others who plead for recognizing and restoring the fundamental value: our mutual obligation to the humanity of us all. Lynn HamiltonAnn Arbor, Mich. To the Editor: Dr. Craig Spencer makes the point that global health activities depend on moral arguments, and he emphasizes the role of empathy. This moral argument may be appropriate for Dr. Spencer's personal decision to provide medical care for Ebola patients in Guinea in 2014. But it is not adequate for reconstructing U.S. global health policy, which has been destroyed by the Trump administration's approach of 'America First.' The Trump approach to global health ethics could be summed up as 'not our problem' and 'not our interest.' Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
Chicago Tribune
16-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Chicago Tribune
Chicago Heights native Lynn Hamilton, who had roles in ‘Sanford and Son' and ‘227,' dies at 95
Actress and Chicago Heights native Lynn Hamilton worked steadily in TV for many years, with recurring roles in the hit shows 'Sanford and Son,' 'The Waltons' and '227.' 'She was a very good actress — it was (due to) the work that she put in,' said actress and Chicago native Marla Gibbs, 94, who starred in '227,' a sitcom that ran from 1985 to 1990. 'She (also) was a very nice person.' Hamilton, 95, died of natural causes on June 19, said her publicist, Calvin Carson. She had lived in Chicago since 2015 after moving to the city from Los Angeles. Born Alzenia Lynn Hamilton in Yazoo City, Mississippi, Hamilton moved with her family to Chicago Heights at age 4. She graduated in 1947 from Bloom High School, where she was a member of the drama club. 'From that point on, I was able to, as I grew up, I was fairly attractive, and I was able to get into the modeling profession, and at which point I discovered the Goodman Theatre, which is in Chicago, and I went to the Goodman Theatre for four years and got my B.A. degree,' Hamilton said in a video interview in 2009. 'I learned all I could about acting, because I felt that were I to become an actress, it was necessary that I know my craft, that I'm able to do everything. I felt that I needed to be versatile.' After receiving a bachelor's degree from the Goodman School of Drama at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Hamilton took roles in local productions. A December 1953 Tribune article listed Hamilton as one of the Skyloft Players — a Black acting company that had gained renown in the 1940s — performing alongside future radio star Herb Kent in a play. Skyloft performed in a former orphanage at 5120 S. Park Way — now Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Drive — in the South Side Washington Park neighborhood. The former orphanage was the home of the Park Way Community House, a social and cultural center for the South Side's Black community, and the Skyloft Players staged work from Black writers like Richard Wright and Langston Hughes. In the 2009 interview, Hamilton noted she was the only Black person in her class at the Goodman. 'And so there weren't any roles for me, and so I was able to supplement my experience by working in a Black theater company on Chicago's South Side, and that was the beginning,' she said. In the late 1950s, Hamilton moved to New York City, working for three years at the New York Shakespeare Festival and performing in four Broadway shows, including the short-lived 1959 play 'Only in America,' which starred Alan Alda. After about a dozen years in New York, Hamilton relocated to Seattle for a year to do repertory theater. She moved to Los Angeles in the late 1960s and pursued television and movie roles. In her first year in Los Angeles, Hamilton scored guest spots on well-known programs, including 'Mannix' and 'Gunsmoke.' Other roles followed, including on 'Hawaii Five-O' and 'Barnaby Jones.' Hamilton was hired for her most notable role in 1972, as a nurse who becomes engaged to wisecracking junk dealer Fred Sanford — played by Redd Foxx — on the sitcom 'Sanford and Son.' Hamilton appeared in 22 episodes of 'Sanford and Son,' and had a recurring role in 18 episodes of the historical drama series 'The Waltons.' Hamilton was initially cast as a landlady in 'Sanford and Son,' and she used her theatrical training to impress the show's producers. In her lone scene as a landlady, her character was asked to evict Lamont, Fred Sanford's son. 'They said you can be as big as you want to be and I thought, oh my God, I can use my stage stuff,' Hamilton said in the 2009 interview. 'And so that one scene, they were so impressed with that one scene that … a month or so later, they decided to give Fred Sanford a girlfriend, and I among, oh, I don't know 100 other actresses in Hollywood auditioned, and we had screen tests.' Red Foxx 'was impressed with my experience and he always said, 'You're so dignified, and I need somebody dignified opposite me.' He was aware of his earthiness, shall we say,' she said. Hamilton continued acting in small TV roles during the 1980s, including on shows like 'Highway to Heaven,' 'Riptide' and 'The New Leave It to Beaver.' She picked up a recurring role on '227' in 1996, appearing with Gibbs in five episodes. In the early 1990s, Hamilton acted in more than 50 episodes of a syndicated nighttime soap opera about female prisoners, 'Dangerous Women.' In a 2002 episode of 'Curb Your Enthusiasm,' she played the mother of comedian Wanda Sykes' character. After Hamilton's husband of 50 years, poet and playwright Frank Jenkins, died in 2014, she returned to live in the Chicago area. She was also preceded in death by a daughter. Hamilton is survived by four grandchildren. A service in Los Angeles is being planned. In the 2009 interview, Hamilton expressed optimism for the opportunities available for African Americans who are interested in pursuing a career in acting. 'If this is your desire, get the proper training, first and foremost, and go for it,' she said. 'Because I think that African-Americans can go straight to the top now. The opportunities are there. We have African-American producers and African-American writers and heads of studios. The opportunities are there.'
New York Times
24-06-2025
- Entertainment
- New York Times
Lynn Hamilton, a Steady Presence on ‘Sanford and Son,' Dies at 95
Lynn Hamilton, who became a familiar presence in American living rooms in the 1970s playing Donna Harris, the elegant and unflinching girlfriend of Redd Foxx's irascible Fred Sanford, on 'Sanford and Son,' and Verdie Foster, a dignified matriarch, on 'The Waltons,' died on Thursday at her home in Chicago. She was 95. Her death was confirmed by her former manager and publicist, the Rev. Calvin Carson. Before landing her breakout television roles, Ms. Hamilton had considerable experience onstage and onscreen. She made her Broadway debut in 1959 in 'Only in America,' in a cast that also included Alan Alda. She appeared in John Cassavetes's first film as a director, 'Shadows' (1958); two films starring Sidney Poitier, 'Brother John' (1971) and 'Buck and the Preacher' (1972); and 'Lady Sings the Blues,' the 1972 Billie Holiday biopic starring Diana Ross. Still, almost no experience could have prepared her for working with Mr. Foxx, a hallowed comedian who grew up on the streets — he palled around Harlem with the young Malcolm X during their hustler days — and made his name with nightclub routines that were socially conscious and unapologetically dirty. 'Sanford and Son,' a groundbreaking NBC hit, broke racial barriers. A predominantly Black sitcom, it starred Mr. Foxx as Fred Sanford, a cantankerous and wholly unfiltered Los Angeles junk man, and Demond Wilson as Lamont, his sensible, long-suffering son. Ms. Hamilton was originally cast, as a landlady, for only one episode during the show's first season. She made enough of an impact to earn a regular role later that season as Donna, Fred's girlfriend and, eventually, fiancée. Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
Yahoo
23-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
‘Sanford and Son', ‘The Waltons' actress Lynn Hamilton dies at 95
Actress Lynn Hamilton, who performed on 'Sanford and Son' and 'The Waltons,' has died. She was 95. Hamilton 'transitioned peacefully' on Thursday at her Chicago home, 'surrounded by her grandchildren, loved ones and caregivers,' her former manager and publicist, Rev. Dr. Calvin Carson, said in posts on Facebook and Instagram. Born in Yazoo City, Mississippi, Hamilton and her family moved to Chicago when she was 4 years old. As the only Black actor in her class at the Goodman School of Drama Theater, Hamilton found roles hard to come by. After working briefly with a theater company on Chicago's South Side, she moved to New York in 1956, where she appeared in four Broadway plays and worked for three years with the New York Shakespeare Festival. She also toured with 'The Miracle Worker' and 'The Skin of Our Teeth' as part of President John F. Kennedy's cultural exchange program before joining the Seattle Repertory Theatre in 1966. Hamilton had some small television roles, starting as an extra in John Cassavetes' 'Shadows,' before being cast as the leading characters' cantankerous landlady in the seventh episode of 'Sanford and Son' in 1972. The sitcom's producers decided a couple of months later 'to give Fred Sanford a girlfriend,' Hamilton told an interviewer in 2009, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Hamilton spent the rest of the show's run in the recurring role of Donna Harris, a nurse who found herself frequently caring for Fred Sanford (Redd Foxx), when they weren't passionately arguing — but not before a serious grilling by his late wife's sisters. The characters got engaged but never married before the series ended in 1977. Starting in 1973, Hamilton also played Verdie Grant Foster on 'The Waltons,' appearing in 16 episodes through 1981 and then in Waltons television movies 'A Walton Thanksgiving Reunion' and 'A Walton Easter' in 1993 and 1997, respectively. More recent roles included 'The Practice,' and 'Golden Girls' among other shows. 'Her illustrious career, spanning over five decades, has left an indelible mark on the world of entertainment, motivating audiences across the globe through her work as a model, stage, film, and television actress,' Carson said in his statement. 'Her passing marks the end of an era, but her legacy will continue to inspire and uplift future generations.' ______
Fox News
22-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Fox News
‘Sanford and Son' and ‘The Waltons' actress Lynn Hamilton dead at 95
Lynn Hamilton, the actress known for her roles in "Sanford and Son" and "The Waltons," has died. She was 95. Hamilton died due to natural causes on Thursday in Chicago, Illinois, the actress's former publicist Rev. Calvin Carson confirmed to Fox News Digital. Carson also issued a statement on behalf of Hamilton's family in an Instagram post, in which he noted that she had passed away while "surrounded by her grandchildren, loved ones and caregivers." "With profound gratitude and admiration, we celebrate the extraordinary life of iconic actress Alzenia 'Lynn' Hamilton-Jenkins, whose remarkable legacy continues to uplift and inspire," the statement read. "Her illustrious career, spanning over five decades, has left an indelible mark on the world of entertainment, motivating audiences across the globe through her work as a model, stage, film, and television actress." "Her passing marks the end of an era, but her legacy will continue to inspire and uplift future generations," the statement read. In addition to her recurring roles on "Sanford and Son" and "The Waltons," Hamilton also made notable appearances on television shows and soap operas, including "Roots: The Next Generation," "The Golden Girls," "Generations," "Dangerous Women," "227" and "The Practice." Born on April 25, 1930, in Yazoo City, Mississippi, Hamilton grew up in Chicago Heights, Illinois. She graduated from the Goodman School of Drama Theater and launched her career in Chicago's community theater scene. Hamilton later moved to New York, where she made her Broadway debut in 1959's "Only in America." She continued acting on Broadway with roles in the plays "The Cool World," "Face of a Hero" and "Tambourines to Glory." The actress spent three years performing with the New York Shakespeare Festival and became a member of President Kennedy's cultural exchange program. While working with the program, she toured around the world, performing in the plays "The Miracle Worker" and "The Skin of Our Teeth." Hamilton joined the Seattle Repertory Theatre in 1966. She made her on-screen debut in John Cassavetes' improvisational film "Shadows." Hamilton went on to make guest appearances in TV series including "Room 222," "Mannix," "The Bill Cosby Show," "Gunsmoke," "Hawaii Five-O" and "Starsky & Hutch." Hamilton made her first appearance on "Sanford and Son" when she played a landlady in the show's seventh episode in February 1972. She was recast in the recurring role of nurse Donna Harris, who becomes the girlfriend and fiancée of series lead Demond Wilson (Lamont Sanford). Hamilton played the role of Donna from 1972 to 1977. The actress portrayed Verdie Grant Foster, a neighbor of the Walton family, in "The Waltons" from 1973 to 1981. Other TV credits include guest roles in "Moesha," "Curb Your Enthusiasm," "NYPD Blue," "Port Charles" and "Judging Amy." Hamilton made her final on-screen appearance in an episode of "Cold Case" in 2009. Hamilton also appeared in the movies "Hangup," "Leadbelly," "The Jesse Owens Story," "Lady Sings the Blues," "Legal Eagles," "The Vanishing" and "Beah: A Black Woman Speaks." Carson's statement noted: "Throughout her remarkable career, Lynn frequently collaborated with her husband, Frank S. Jenkins, on various theater productions, including the acclaimed play 'Nobody, The Bert Williams Story.' Their partnership was a shining example of creativity, love, and dedication." Hamilton was married to Jenkins, a playwright and poet, from 1964 until his death in 2014.
