Who is Valarie Pettiford?
Valarie Pettiford was born in Queens, New York, United States on July 8, 1960. Her zodiac sign is Cancer and she holds American citizenship. She is a jazz actress, dancer and singer, who is perhaps best known for her portrayal of Big Dee Dee in the comedy series “Half & Half”, which aired from 2002 to 2006 and starred Essence Atkins, Rachel True and Chico Benymon – it follows two totally different half-sisters, living in the same building. The series won one award and was nominated for 18 more.
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Early life and education
Valarie was raised in Queens as an only child by her father Ralph who was an insurance agent and her mother Blanch Pettiford who worked at the same insurance agency.
Valarie was interested in acting from an early age, as she appeared in many plays performed at her school. After completing her primary education, she enrolled in the High School of Performing Arts – during her first year there, she launched her acting career after being chosen to appear in the musical “The Wiz: The Super Soul Musical “Wonderful Wizard of Oz”.
Valarie enrolled in 1978, then decided not to pursue a college education, but to focus on her acting career.
Roles in plays
Valarie appeared in several plays even before listing, such as the musical “Sweet Charity”, Oliver Goldsmith’s comedy “She Stoops to Conquer” and Jean Genet’s “The Balcony” – she also appeared in ” Summer and Smoke”.
She was a swing performer in “A Broadway Musical” in 1978, and some of her next roles were in the musical “Sophisticated Ladies” in late 1978, another musical “Dancin'” in 1979 and in “Grind” by Fay Kanin. Valarie was the choreographer of the play “Ladies and Gentlemen, Jerome Kern” in 1985, then was asked to play one of the main characters in the musical “Big Deal” in 1986. The following year she played Anita in the popular play ‘West Side Story’ – inspired by Shakespeare’s ‘Romeo and Juliet’ – and in 1995 she starred as Julie in the musical ‘Show Boat’.
Three of Valarie’s later roles in plays were in the musical “Gentlemen Prefer Blondes” in 2002, another musical “The Wild Party” in 2005, and William F. Brown and Charlie Smalls’ “The Wiz” in 2006.
Film roles
In 1984, Valarie played a dancer in the crime drama “The Cotton Club”, which starred Richard Gere, Gregory Hines and Diane Lane, and is about jazz singers, dancers and others who gather at the Cotton Club. in the late 1920s – the film was a hit as it won one award and was nominated for eight more including two Oscars.
She then played The Newscaster in the 45-minute mystery crime family film “Isaac Asimov’s Robots”, then was invited to play secondary character Denise in the action-adventure film “Rescue Me” (also known as “Street Hunter”). in 1990. A few of his next notable performances were in the drama “Confidences” in 2001, the sports comedy “Like Mike” in 2002, and the romantic drama “Paris” in 2003.
2007 saw her play Aunt Jackie in the dance drama ‘Stomp the Yard’, and in 2009 Valarie appeared in the critically acclaimed film ‘The Anatomy of Hope: How People Prevail in the Face of Illness. “, which was based on the eponymous novel written by Jerome Groopman.
In 2010, Valarie was Terry’s mom in the comedy “Why Did I Get Married Too?”, and two of her subsequent roles were in the romantic comedy “Jumping the Broom” and the short film compilation “Stars in Shorts”. both in 2012 Three of his most recent notable performances were in the 2015 drama “Will to Love”, the romantic mystery drama “The Preacher’s Son” in 2017 and the drama “Love Is Love Is Love” in early 2020 .
Valarie Pettiford as Olivia
Posted by biological mother on Monday August 27th, 2012
Roles in television series
Valarie made her first appearance on a television series in 1988, when she was invited to play Jackie in the episode “No Place Like Home” of the crime drama “The Equalizer”, then the same year she played the character secondary Detective Courtney Walker in the soap opera. ‘Another World’, which starred Victoria Wyndham, Constance Ford and Hugh Marlowe – the series was hugely popular as it won 43 awards and was nominated for a further 176, including a Primetime Emmy.
In 1990, Valarie began portraying another supporting character, Shelia Price, on the soap opera “One Life to Live”, and she toured for the series until 1994. The following years saw her guest appear in one-off episodes numerous series, such as the 1996 action crime drama “The Sentinel”, the 1997 crime drama “Silk Stalkings”, and the action crime series “Walker, Texas Ranger” the following year.
After appearing in a single episode of more than 10 other series, Valarie was invited to play secondary character Gayle Noland in the crime drama “The District”, which starred Craig T. Nelson, Roger Aaron Brown and Sean Patrick Thomas. , and concerns Newark. PD Chief Jack Mannion, and his attempt to rid Washington DC of crime – the series won two awards and was nominated for 14 more, including a Primetime Emmy.
Valarie’s next notable performance came in 2008, when she was cast as Sandra Lucas in the comedy series ‘Tyler Perry’s House of Payne’, while the next five years saw her appear in a single episode of series such as the superhero drama “The Cape”. in 2011, the procedural drama “The Finder” in 2012, and the fantasy horror drama “True Blood” in 2013.
In 2015, Valarie played secondary character Charlene Cooper in the crime thriller series “The Blacklist”, which starred James Spader, Megan Boone and Diego Klattenhoff, and is about FBI profiler Elizabeth Keen and Raymond Reddington who is a mysterious criminal who just turned himself in – the series won two awards and was nominated for 29 others, including two Golden Globes.
Valarie went on to play supporting characters in 2017’s drama ‘Being Mary Jane’ and military drama ‘Valor’, while three of her most recent roles in TV series were in the British series ‘A Discovery of Witches’. playing lead character Emily Mather since 2018, crime drama “The Family Business” portraying lead character Charlotte Duncan since 2018 as well, and comedy “#blackAF” which she starred in in a single episode as The Grandma in 2020.
Valarie is also a jazz musician, having released her album in 2005 entitled “Hear My Soul”.
Husband Tony Rader
Valarie has hidden details of her love life from the media, but it’s known she’s been married to Tony Rader for almost three decades now – Tony is her manager, is also an actor and a former baseball player for the Phillies of Philadelphia. They were introduced by a mutual friend at a party in the late 80s, and after three years of dating, Tony asked Valarie to marry him in 1991. The ceremony took place privately in the summer 1992, and the two have since been leading seemingly happy lives together – they’ve agreed not to have kids, but to focus on their careers.
Valarie has not spoken of other men she might have dated before meeting Tony, so as of October 2020 she is married and has no children.
Hobbies and other interests
Valarie’s main hobby is travel, and her acting career has taken her all over the United States, visiting almost every state, while she has also traveled to Europe many times and for work and pleasure – two of his dream travel destinations are Miami, Florida and Rome, Italy.
She enjoys watching movies in her spare time, and since Chadwick Boseman was one of her favorite actors, she was devastated to learn that he had passed away from cancer.
Some other actors and actresses she likes to watch are Robert De Niro, Johnny Depp and Natalie Portman, and some of her favorite movies are “The Sleepers”, “Pirates of the Caribbean” franchise and “V for Vendetta”.
Valarie grew up being physically active as her career demanded – in her 20s and 30s she had several gym workouts each week, practiced yoga and followed a strict diet. Valarie no longer trains in the gym, but still does yoga, follows a strict diet, and meditates.
age and size
Valarie’s age is 60. She has long curly brown hair and brown eyes, her height is 5 feet 8 inches (1.74 m) and she weighs around 135 pounds (61 kg).
As of October 2020, his net worth is estimated to be over $3 million.
