Lynn Hamilton, the veteran actress best known for her television roles on The Waltons, Sanford and Son and Generations, has died at the age of 95, her publicist Calvin Carson shared on Instagram.
Carson added that she “transitioned peacefully” on Thursday, 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. 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,” he wrote, in part.
Born on April 25, 1930 in Yazoo City, MS and raised in Chicago, Hamilton graduated from the Goodman School of Drama, being the sole Black actor among her peers. She soon gained experience performing with a South Side theater company, per The Hollywood Reporter, and translated that burgeoning skillset to Broadway for four plays from the late ’50s to early ’60s. Her experience on stage included productions of Shakespeare’s works and a world tour of adaptations of The Miracle Worker and The Skin of Our Teeth as a member of President John F. Kennedy’s cultural exchange program. In 1966, she joined the Seattle Repertory Theatre.
Among her TV credits are episodes of Gunsmoke, The Bill Cosby Show, Hawaii Five-O, Ironside, The Young and the Restless, Starsky and Hutch, The Rockford Files, Roots: The Next Generations, Days of Our Lives, The Jesse Owens Story (TV movie), The Golden Girls, 227, Sunset Beach, Moesha, Port Charles, NYPD Blue, The Practice and Curb Your Enthusiasm.
Her most significant arcs in television include her role as practical Nurse Donna Harris, Redd Foxx’s onscreen fiancée on NBC’s sitcom Sanford and Sun; Verdie Foster on CBS’ historical drama The Waltons and Vivian Potter on NBC sudser Generations. She also starred as ex-con Cissie Johnson on the early ’90s syndicated nighttime soap Dangerous Women. Hamilton also reprised her character from The Waltons for holiday-themed TV movies released in 1993 and 1997.
Hamilton was married to poet and playwright Frank S. Jenkins (Driving While Black in Beverly Hills) from 1964 until his death in 2014, and the two frequently collaborated together on various theater productions, including Nobody: The Bert Williams Story.
