Lorraine Toussaint

When deciding upon a career, Lorraine Toussaint let her fingers do the walking. At age 11, when questioned what she wanted to do with her life, Lorraine opened the telephone directory and turned to the “A” section. She found a variety of advertisements for acting schools staring her in the face. Toussaint decided to give it a try,

called the school with the largest ad, and quickly found herself hooked.

Lorraine Toussaint got her start studying performing arts at the renowned High School of Performing Arts and continued her studies at The Julliard School. On her graduation day, she landed her first paying job as Lady MacBeth with Shakespeare & Company. That was just the beginning for Toussaint, who spent 12 years working in New York theater prior to moving to Los Angeles.

No stranger to Series Television, veteran Lorraine Toussaint has recently concluded a highly successful three year run on the TNT show Saving Grace, where she starred opposite Holly Hunter. For four seasons she starred as Rene Jackson on Lifetime’s critically acclaimed series, Any Day Now. For her work on the show she was nominated for four NAACP Image Awards and the TV Guide Award for “Best Actress in a Drama Series.” Lorraine is also the recipient of The Wiley A. Branton Award from The National Bar Association.

Ms. Toussaint starred opposite Halle Berry in Their Eyes Were Watching God. In 2002, Toussaint joined the cast of NBC’s Crossing Jordan portraying assertive medical examiner, Elaine Duschamps. Since 1990 she has recurred as Shambala Green on the NBC Emmy Award winning drama Law & Order. Some of her additional Series Television credits include Series Lead roles on Leaving LA, Where I Live, and Amazing Grace. Ms. Toussaint has also appeared in recurring roles on Ugly Betty, Friday Night Lights, and Threat Matrix to name a few. Toussaint also appeared in the HBO telefilms Cherokee Kid, America’s Dream, and If These Walls Could Talk. Her feature film credits include Point of No Return, Black Dog, Psalms From the Underground, Breaking In, Hudson Hawk and most recently, The Soloist. Ms Toussaint has received critical acclaim for her role in Ava Du Vernay’s Sundance Award-Winning film, Middle Of Nowhere. This film opens in theatres in October 2012.

As an Executive Producer, Ms Toussaint is most recently credited with the Hallmark Television Award Winning telefilm, An Accidental Friendship. An avid writer, she has now turned her sights to long form. She is currently working on her first novel, and hopes to finish by Christmas of 2012.

Lorraine Toussaint and her daughter currently reside in Los Angeles.