Lynn Hamilton, a television, stage and film actress best known for playing Donna Harris on Sanford and Son, has died. She was 95.
Hamilton “transitioned peacefully” on Thursday, June 19, surrounded by her grandchildren, loved ones and caregivers, her former manager and publicist Rev. Calvin Carson said in a statement on Instagram.
She died of natural causes at her home in Chicago, Carson told The Hollywood Reporter.
Born in Yazoo City, Mississippi in 1930, Alzenia Lynn Hamilton moved with her family to the Chicago area when she was a child, according to her IMDb page.
She attended high school in Illinois, and worked in community theater in Chicago after deciding on a career in show business.
Hamilton moved to New York, and debuted on Broadway in “Only in America” in 1959. She landed roles in productions on and off Broadway, and also worked as a model. She married playwright Frank Jenkins, who died in 2014.
“Throughout her remarkable career, Lynn frequently collaborated with her husband, Frank S. Jenkins, on various theater productions, including the acclaimed play “Nobody,” her former manager and publicist Calvin Carson said. “Their partnership was a shining example of creativity, love, and dedication.”
Hamilton began to book parts on popular TV shows in the ’60s and ’70s, including on Gunsmoke, The Bill Cosby Show, Hawaii Five-O, and Ironside.
She played Verdie Grant Foster on The Waltons from 1973-1981, and matriarch Vivian Potter on the NBC daytime drama Generations from 1989-91.
Hamilton portrayed Cousin Georgia Anderson on the 1979 miniseries Roots: The Next Generations, and Judge P. Fulton on The Practice. She also appeared in the sitcoms The Golden Girls; 227; Sister, Sister; Murphy Brown; and Moesha.
She was best known for playing nurse Donna Harris, Fred Sanford’s girlfriend and later fiancée on Sanford and Son from 1972-1977.
On the big screen, Hamilton had roles in John Cassavetes’ Shadows (1958), Brother John (1971), Buck and the Preacher (1972), Lady Sings the Blues (1972), Gordon Parks’ Leadbelly (1976), and Legal Eagles (1986).
Hamilton’s career spanned over five decades.
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