CCH Pounder
Pounder (left) at the Revlon Run Walk, May 2007
Born	Carol Christine Hilaria Pounder December 25, 1952 (1952-12-25) (age 56) Georgetown, Guyana
Spouse(s)	Boubacar Kone

Carol Christine Hilaria Pounder (born December 25, 1952), known professionally as C. C. H. Pounder (styled "CCH Pounder"), is a Guyanese-American film and television actress. She has appeared in numerous films, made-for-television films, television miniseries and plays, and has made guest appearances on notable television shows. She stars as a Na'vi queen in the upcoming film Avatar.

[edit] Early life

Pounder was born on Christmas Day 1952 in Georgetown, Guyana, the daughter of Betsy Enid Arnella (née James) and Ronald Urlington Pounder.^[1] She was educated in England and moved to the U.S. in 1970.^[2] Pounder made her acting debut in the 1979 film All That Jazz.

[edit] Career

Pounder starred in the film Bagdad Café,^[3] and has made smaller appearances in many other successful films. She has focused primarily on her television career. In the early 1980s, Pounder first appeared in guest roles on Hill Street Blues, and then on several other popular shows (Miami Vice, Robocop III, L.A. Law, The X-Files, Living Single and Quantum Leap) before landing a long-running recurring role as Dr. Angela Hicks on ER from 1994 to 1997. In the midst of this she had a large co-starring role in the 1995 Tales From the Crypt feature film Demon Knight. She then returned to guest appearances on other shows, including The Practice, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, Millennium, The West Wing (where she was considered for the role of C.J. Cregg) and the short-lived sitcom Women in Prison.

From 2002 to 2008, she starred as Detective Claudette Wyms in the FX Networks police drama The Shield. For this role she was nominated for an Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in 2005. She had previously been nominated for Emmys in 1995 (for guest starring in The X-Files) and in 1997 (for her supporting role on ER). She has also lent her voice to several video games and animated projects, including Aladdin and the King of Thieves, "True Crime: Streets of LA", Gargoyles as Desdemona and Coldfire, and most recently Justice League Unlimited as Amanda Waller, a role she reprised for the animated movie adaption of the comic book Superman/Batman: Public Enemies.^[4] She currently appears on the Syfy series Warehouse 13. Pounder also is one of the stars of the new Fox sitcom "Brothers". Pounder was nominated for the Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series for her appearance in HBO's The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency.

[edit] Personal life

Pounder is married to Senegalese anthropologist Boubacar Kone. The couple was married in an African ceremony in Dakar, Senegal and again remarried in Los Angeles, California six months later. Kone is the founder of The Boribana Museum in Dakar, Senegal for the study of cultures of the African diaspora. Their union produced three children, Nicole (b. 1971), Libya (b. 1973), and Matthew (b. 1982). The couple has no grandchildren at the moment.

Pounder used to own a jewelry shop called Banji Girls with her business partner Conni Marie Brazelton, but now sells jewelry through her website.

[edit] Advocacy

As one of the founders of Artists for a New South Africa, Pounder has energized awareness of post-apartheid and HIV/AIDS issues.^[5] In an interview, she said about the pandemic: "When it's this massive disease, and it's affecting things in five thousand different ways, it requires great strength and power—and there is power in numbers. So we need to involve as many people as we can, like we do with ANSA. I call it my little engine that could. It is a remarkable, tiny organization with a huge outreach. We use actors and artists with the biggest voices so they can use every opportunity to talk about AIDS."^[6]

[edit] Film appearances

[edit] Television appearances

[edit] Notes

[edit] External links

• Official website
• CCH Pounder at the Internet Movie Database
• Roxbury Film Festival
• "C.C.H. Pounder of 'The Shield'" (NPR's Fresh Air)