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Donzaleigh Abernathy is an American actress, producer/director and writer.

Contents 1 Biography 2 Filmography 3 Books 4 References 5 External links

[edit] Biography

Abernathy is the youngest daughter of Civil Rights Movement Co-Founder Ralph David Abernathy, and is a graduate of the Quaker College Preparatory school, George School in Newtown, Pennsylvania and Emerson College in Boston, Massachusetts where she earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts.

Abernathy's maternal grandparents, dairy farmers Alex Jones and Ella Gilmore Jones were listed in the 1940s as "the Most Successful Black Farmers" by Tuskegee Institute.^{[citation needed]} The Jones' 300+ acre farm, as well as the 500 acre Abernathy family farm were places of refuge for the Abernathy Family during the difficult days of the Civil Rights Movement.

She authored Partners To History: Martin Luther King, Ralph David Abernathy and the Civil Rights Movement, a pictorial history book for Random House Publishing Company, which was nominated as one of the Best Books for 2004 by the American Library Association.^{[citation needed]} Robert F. Kennedy Jr. wrote the foreword.

She has appeared in films including Gods and Generals and Grilled. For four years, she was a series regular on the Lifetime Television dramatic series Any Day Now as a 30-year old and 70-year old Mother. Abernathy has also appeared in made-for-TV films including HBO's Don King: Only in America, the NBC production of Shakespeare's The Tempest, Murder in Mississippi, Miss Evers' Boys, and the western Ned Blessing: The True Story of My Life. She has had recurring roles on five TV series -- Lincoln Heights, Commander-in-Chief, EZ Streets, Dangerous Minds, and Amazing Grace -- and has Guest Starred on other series such as 24 and Judging Amy.

She is married and her life has been profiled in the books Fearless Women, and No Mountain High Enough: Secrets of Successful African American Women.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] Filmography

• Murder in Mississippi (TV) (1990) -- Sue
• Ghost Dad (1990) -- E.R. Nurse
• Grass Roots (TV) (1992) -- Cora Mae Turner
• Ned Blessing: The True Story of My Life (TV) (1993) -- Effie Pettit
• Night of the Running Man (1994) -- Francine, The Hacker
• Out of Darkness (TV) (1994) -- MHA
• NYPD Blue (TV) (1994) -- Mrs. Danton
• Camp Nowhere (1994) -- Dorothy Welton
• Family Album (TV) (1994) -- Lorrie
• Dangerous Minds (TV) (1996) -- Irene Timmons
• Miss Evers' Boys (TV) (1997) -- Nurse Betty
• EZ Streets (TV) (1997) -- City Councilperson
• The Burning Zone (TV) (1997) -- Nora Dawson
• Don King: Only in America (TV) (1997) -- Henrietta King
• The Pretender (TV) (1998) -- Susan Healy
• Chicago Hope (TV) (1998) -- Porschia Tate
• The Tempest (TV) (1998) -- Mambo Azaleigh
• Stranger In My House (1999) -- Nurse
• Any Day Now (1998-2002) -- Sara Jackson
• 24 (2003) -- Assistant
• Gods and Generals (2003) -- Martha
• Strong Medicine (TV) (2003) -- Child Psychologist
• Leprechaun: Back 2 tha Hood (2003) -- Esmerelda
• The Closer (2005) -- Mistress of Ceremonies
• House, M.D. (TV) (2006) -- Brady
• Commander-in-Chief (TV) (2005-2006) -- Reporter
• Grilled (2006) -- Karen
• CSI:Crime Scene Investigation (TV) (2008) -- Carolina Bell
• Lincoln Heights (TV) (2008-2009) -- Hazel Glass

[edit] Books

• Partners to History: Martin Luther King Jr., Ralph David Abernathy, and the Civil Rights Movement (Crown, 2003) ISBN 978-0-609-60914-9

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Donzaleigh Abernathy at the Internet Movie Database
• Donzaleigh Abernathy at Allmovie